Roast beef tenderloin with horseradish yogurt sauce
65 min · 35 g protein · 248 cals / serving
The Christmas Eve centerpiece that looks spectacular and is surprisingly easy: a whole beef tenderloin crusted with Dijon, garlic, rosemary and cracked pepper, seared hard and roasted rosy pink over cremini mushrooms and shallots. Sliced thick and served with a cool, nose-tingling horseradish and chive sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lb beef tenderloin, center-cut tenderloin roast, trimmed and tied
- 1 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper, coarsely cracked
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 3 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 2 tsp fresh thyme, leaves
- 1 lb crimini mushroom, halved
- 4 shallots, peeled and halved
Horseradish yogurt
- 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp horseradish, prepared horseradish
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp fresh chives, snipped
- a pinch salt
Steps
- An hour before cooking, pat the tenderloin dry and season it all over with the salt and cracked pepper. Leave it at room temperature. Heat the oven to 425°F.
- Heat half the oil in a large ovenproof skillet over high heat and sear the beef on every side until deeply browned, 6–8 minutes in all. Take it off the heat, stir the Dijon, garlic, rosemary and thyme into a paste and brush it over the top and sides.
- Toss the mushrooms and shallots with the rest of the oil and a pinch of salt in a roasting pan and set the beef on top of them.
- Roast for 20–30 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part reads 125°F for rosy medium-rare, or 135°F for medium; the USDA's safe minimum for whole cuts of beef is 145°F after a 3-minute rest. Lift the beef onto a board, cover loosely with foil and rest it for 15 minutes; it will climb a few degrees.
- Meanwhile, stir the yogurt, horseradish, Dijon, lemon juice, chives and salt together. Taste: add more horseradish if you like it fiery.
- Remove the string, slice the beef into thick slices and lay them over the mushrooms and shallots. Spoon the pan juices over the top and serve with the horseradish yogurt.
Good to know
How do I get an even pink all the way through?
Tie the roast every 2 inch and tuck the thin tail end under, so it is the same thickness from end to end. Take it out by temperature, not time: a thermometer is the whole trick with tenderloin.
Can I prep it ahead?
Season and tie it the day before and leave it uncovered in the fridge; the surface dries and sears better. Make the sauce up to two days ahead.
Is tenderloin worth the price?
It is the leanest, most tender cut of beef and has no waste once trimmed, so 2 1/2 lb really does feed eight. An eye of round roast cooked the same way costs far less and scores about 83 instead of 77; slice it very thin.
Per
- Calories
- 122
- Protein
- (57%)
- 17 g
- Fat
- (33%)
- 4 g
- Carbohydrates
- (11%)
- 4 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 302 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1986 kcal goes into the pot and 2053 g of ingredients comes out as about 1630 g of food: 122 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.