• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
101 Cooking For Two
  • 👨‍🍳RECIPES
  • 📋About
  • ❓FAQs/Help
  • 🛒Shop
  • 📮Subscribe
menu icon
go to homepage
  • 👨‍🍳RECIPES
  • 📋About
  • ❓FAQs/Help
  • 🛒Shop
  • 📮Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • 👨‍🍳RECIPES
    • 📋About
    • ❓FAQs/Help
    • 🛒Shop
    • 📮Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    🏠Home » Recipes » Beef Recipes

    Roasted Whole Beef Tenderloin

    Jan 3, 2010 · Modified: Jan 25, 2023 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · Leave a Comment

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.20 from 5 votes

    Whole oven-roasted beef tenderloin is the best meal you can offer for extra special occasions. Just follow these easy instructions.

    sliced beef tenderloin on wooden board ©ricka_kinamoto - stock.adobe.com©ricka_kinamoto - stock.adobe.com
    Sliced beef tenderloin on wooden board ©ricka_kinamoto - stock.adobe.com
    Jump To:
    • 👨‍🍳How to cook a whole beef tenderloin
    • ⏰🌡️How Long to Cook
    • Doneness
    • 🐄About Beef Tenderloin
    • 🔥What About the Smoke?
    • 📖Other Beef Tenderloin Recipes
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📝Recipe
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    This is our traditional Christmas dinner. We cook the whole thing at once. My wife refuses to do turkey for Christmas... too much work.

    I do this to keep the work down and increase family time. So the absolute best meal for me is beef.... beef tenderloin specifically. And this is the best.

    👨‍🍳How to cook a whole beef tenderloin

    1. Trim the tenderloin of excess fat and the silverskin. Don't try to be perfect.
    2. Preheat oven to 450°.
    3. Place tenderloin in a shallow roasting pan on a rack. Roll the narrow tail around to double that area and help fit.
    4. Mix olive oil and garlic and liberally coat the tenderloin—with a nice coat of salt and coarse pepper. You may also add other spices like thyme if you wish.
    5. Place on a center rack with a meat thermometer—roast for 15 minutes at 450°. After the first 15 minutes, reduce heat to 325° and roast for about 10-12 minutes per pound. Cooking time is highly variable due to thickness.
    6. Remove at 130°-150° (your choice) internal temperature in the thickest part — tent for about 10 minutes before slicing. The final temperature will rise about 5° during tenting.

    ⏰🌡️How Long to Cook

    One thing about doing a whole tenderloin is that various parts will cook faster or slower, depending on the thickness. This is great in large groups where we get anywhere from rare to well-done (not recommended) requests.

    Roast for 15 minutes at 450°. After the first 15 minutes, reduce heat to 325° and roast for about  10-12 minutes per pound. But as always, cook to a final internal temperature.

    Doneness

    DonenessDescriptionTemperature
    RareCold red center125°-130°
    Medium RareWarm red center130°-135°
    MediumPink and firm center140°-150°
    Medium WellMinimal pink150°-155°
    WellNo pink155°+

    🐄About Beef Tenderloin

    Beef tenderloin is a large muscle in the upper back of the cow. The psoas muscle gets very little work and no weight-bearing, so it is very tender.

    Graphic of the location of filet and beef tenderloin- licensed from Fotolia May 16,2017. Copyright foxysgraphic - Fotolia. Modified per allow by licensed.
    Licensed from Fotolia May 16, 2017. Copyright foxysgraphic - Fotolia. Modified per allow by license.

    What To Buy?

    It is all about quality here, more than almost any other cut of beef. Prime is the top 2%; you can buy it for $35 per pound, which I have done at the best meat shops.

    Next, just under Prime, is Choice. About half the beef sold in the USA is Choice, which you should usually buy. It will be about $10-15 per pound.

    Select is next but just say no. If you see a beef tenderloin that does not have one of these three ratings, it is guaranteed to be bad.

    How to Trim: An excellent guide to trimming a whole beef tenderloin is at Serious Eats - How to Trim a Whole Beef Tenderloin for Roasting.  But I usually don't bother tieing.

    🔥What About the Smoke?

    You will probably have some smoking from the oven due to the fat and the high temperature to start.

    So you have some choices.

    1. You can just realize it will probably happen and live with it.
    2. You could add some water to the pan under the rack so that when the fat melts, it hits the water. (max temp of 212°) instead of the 450° pan.

    📖Other Beef Tenderloin Recipes

    Pan Seared Oven Roasted Filet Mignon

    How to Grill a Filet Mignon on a Gas Grill

    What to Do With Leftover Beef Tenderloin? Philly Sandwiches

    Editor note: Originally Published January 3, 2010. The original photos for this post were lost. It was the blog's first month, and I wasn’t the most organized blogger. But they were probably bad anyway. I have substituted some stock photos that represent the recipe well. But no step-by-step photos. I have rewritten and updated the discussion and clarified the instructions.

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    Beef Recipes
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    Chef trimming beef tenderloin. ©Alexander Raths - stock.adobe.com 2018
    Chef trimming beef tenderloin. ©Alexander Raths - stock.adobe.com 2018

    Trim the tenderloin of excess fat and silverskin. Don't try to be perfect.

    Whole beef tenderloin whole-©golubsergei-stock.adobe_.com
    Whole beef tenderloin whole-©golubsergei-stock.adobe_.com 2018

    Preheat oven to 450°. Place tenderloin in a shallow roasting pan on a rack. Roll the narrow tail around to double that area and help fit.

    mixing oil and garlic in glass bowl

    Mix oil and garlic and liberally coat the loin—a nice coat of salt and coarse pepper. You may also add other spices like thyme if you wish.

    Cooked-beef-tenderloin-on-wooden-board-©Jascha-Asadov-from-Shutterstock-2018
    Cooked beef tenderloin ©Jascha Asadov from Shutterstock-2018

    Place on a center rack with a meat thermometer—roast for 15 minutes at 450°. After the first 15 minutes, reduce heat to 325° and roast for about  10-12 minutes per pound.

    sliced beef tenderloin on wooden board ©ricka_kinamoto - stock.adobe.com©ricka_kinamoto - stock.adobe.com
    ©ricka_kinamoto - stock.adobe.com

    Remove at 130°-150° internal temperature in the thickest part per your desire — tent for about 10 minutes before slicing. The final temperature will rise about 5°.

    graphic Subscribe to 101 Cooking for Two

    📝Recipe

    sliced beef tenderloin on wooden board ©ricka_kinamoto - stock.adobe.com

    Roasted Whole Beef Tenderloin

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Whole oven-roasted beef tenderloin is the absolutely best meal you can offer for extra special occasions. Just follow these easy instructions.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.20 from 5 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour
    Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 12

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 5 pounds Beef tenderloin - Prime or Choice
    • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
    • 2-4 cloves garlic - crushed
    • spices, salt, and pepper to taste
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Trim the tenderloin of excess fat and the silverskin. Don't try to be perfect.
      Chef trimming beef tenderloin. ©Alexander Raths - stock.adobe.com 2018
    • Preheat oven to 450°. Place tenderloin in a shallow roasting pan on a rack. Roll the narrow tail around to double that area and help fit.
    • Mix oil and garlic and liberally coat the loin.  A nice coat of salt and coarse pepper. You may also add other spices like thyme if you wish.
      mixing oil and garlic in glass bowl
    • Place on a center rack with a meat thermometer. Roast for 15 minutes at 450°. After the first 15 minutes, reduce heat to 325° and roast for about 10-12 minutes per pound. Cooking time is highly variable due to thickness.
    • Remove at 130°-150° internal temperature in the thickest part per your desire — tent for about 10 minutes before slicing. The final temperature will rise about 5° during tenting.
      sliced beef tenderloin on wooden board ©ricka_kinamoto - stock.adobe.com
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    Your Own Private Notes

    Click here to save your own private notes only you will see. These will print and be saved for your next visit.
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips

    1. Buy Prime or Choice. Do not buy Select.
    2. Trim of extra fat and silver skin. A reference is provided in the post if you need it.
    3. Coat with oil, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste and other spices if you want.
    4. Cook to a final internal temperature you want.
    5. You will have some smoke. A little water in the bottom of the pan will cut that way down.
    6. Be sure to tent lightly and rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
    7. Cooking time is highly variable due to thickness. Cook to a final internal temperature never by time.
    8. Save the juices from the platter for reheating. Good refrigerated for 3-4 days.

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Nutrition Facts
    Roasted Whole Beef Tenderloin
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 490 Calories from Fat 333
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 37g57%
    Saturated Fat 14g70%
    Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
    Monounsaturated Fat 16g
    Cholesterol 125mg42%
    Sodium 428mg18%
    Potassium 574mg16%
    Carbohydrates 0.3g0%
    Fiber 0.02g0%
    Sugar 0.01g0%
    Protein 37g74%
    Vitamin C 0.8mg1%
    Calcium 40mg4%
    Iron 2.7mg15%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Main Course
    Cuisine : American

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    More Beef Recipes

    • Blue Cheese Compound Butter
    • Easiest Oven Baked BBQ Beef Brisket
    • Grilled T-bone Steak and Porterhouse Steak
    • Old Fashioned Pot Roast with Gravy

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Comment (Policy Link in Footer) Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    DrDan image Hi, I’m DrDan, and welcome to 101 Cooking for Two, the home of great everyday recipes with easy-to-follow step-by-step photo instructions. About DrDan

    Popular Recipes

    • Baked Chicken Legs - Quick and Easy
    • Pan Seared Oven Roasted Filet Mignon
    • Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
    • Small Ribeye Roast
    • Pan Seared Oven Roasted Strip Steak
    • Pan Seared Oven Baked Chicken Breasts
    kitchen reference sheet graphic wide blue
    graphic of sites that I work with or have had recipes featured or referenced.
    SITES THAT I WORK WITH OR HAVE HAD RECIPES FEATURED OR REFERENCED.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top ↑

    About

    • About DrDan and the Blog
    • Business Questions
    • Comment Policy

    Content

    • Food FAQ
    • Kitchen Reference Sheets
    • Recipes Featured in the Videos
    • Guide To Cooking for Two
    • Saved Recipes Collections

    dogs by the pond

    Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact

    COPYRIGHT © 2010-2023 101 COOKING FOR TWO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | BASED ON FOODIE PRO THEME