Food Ingredients Meat + Poultry Beef 20 Ways to Prepare Tender Beef Tenderloin From centerpiece roasts to steak tartare and sandwiches, here's how to showcase that tender cut of meat. By Jodie Kautzmann Jodie Kautzmann Jodie Kautzmann is an editor, baker, and confectioner with more than 15 years of experience in content creation, recipe development, and pastry production. She's obsessed with the fine details and ingredients that take dishes from tasty to outright otherworldly. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on September 6, 2023 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Greg DuPree Relatively quick-cooking and arguably the most tender cut of beef, tenderloin makes for a magnificent roast, succulent stir-fry, or tasty grilled skewers. It's also especially lean and free of connective tissue, lending itself to raw and ultra-rare applications like steak tartare and beef poke. We've put together this recipe roundup to prove that beef tenderloin lives up to its name nearly any way you slice it. 01 of 20 Steak Diane Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen We love dishes like this: Steak Diane is elegant, full-flavored, and table-ready in less than half an hour. Chef Emeril Lagasse's retro recipe features pounded beef tenderloin medallions served with sautéed mushrooms in a buttery flambéed Cognac sauce. Get the Recipe 02 of 20 Beef Tenderloin Tartare with Anchovy-Cornichon Vinaigrette Aubrie Pick Freezing the beef before cutting it chills the fat, making it easier to achieve very thin, even slices. Tenderloin is a lean piece of meat, without a lot of marbling and sinew, so it has a nicer texture when raw. Be sure to choose at least a prime-grade filet. Get the Recipe 03 of 20 Black Pepper Beef Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Thin slices of beef tenderloin are simply seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper before being quickly sautéed with piquant green Thai chiles, citrusy and floral lemongrass, sweet red onion, and ginger. The floral kick of freshly ground black pepper permeates each bite of this aromatic stir-fry. Get the Recipe 04 of 20 Beef Poke Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Shell Royster A unique take on traditional Hawaiian poke, succulent beef tenderloin pieces, fresh tomatoes, and sweet onion slices are tossed in a glossy soy sauce mixture sweetened with brown sugar. Get the Recipe 05 of 20 Spice-Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Caper Vinaigrette Greg DuPree Intense and fruity spices like coriander and caraway wake up the flavor of roasted and chilled beef tenderloin. Caper vinaigrette dresses both meat and greens for a gorgeous main. Get the Recipe 06 of 20 Parmesan and Herb-Crusted Beef Tenderloin © Ryan Robert Miller This glorious, pepper-rubbed roasted beef tenderloin is coated with herbed breadcrumbs that have been mixed with anchovies, which add a nice pungent accent to the rich meat. The roast beef is served with a simple, flavorful red wine sauce. Get the Recipe 07 of 20 Beef Tenderloin Banh Mi with Pickled Watermelon Rind and Spicy Sesame Mayo © Ryan Liebe This American take on a Vietnamese classic pairs watermelon pickles, which are popular in the South, with beef tenderloin and a sesame mayonnaise. Get the Recipe 08 of 20 Peppered Beef Tenderloin with Roasted Garlic-Herb Butter © Tina Rupp In Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book, pit master Chris Lilly shares his secrets for prize-winning meat — like the beef here, marinated in black pepper and brown sugar for grilling. Get the Recipe 09 of 20 Beef Tenderloin with Spicy Latin Sauces © Chris Court Nobu is as expert with meat as he is with fish. Early in his career, at his restaurant in Lima, Peru, he was grilling beef and making tangy, mildly spicy red chile (ají panca) sauce and spicier yellow chile (ají amarillo) sauce. He serves both sauces with this seared beef tenderloin. Get the Recipe 10 of 20 Beef Tenderloin with Tomatoes, Shallots, and Maytag Blue © Anna Williams Roasting tomatoes and shallots gives them a rich, meaty flavor that's fantastic with the blue cheese–studded beef tenderloin here. Get the Recipe 11 of 20 Pecan-Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Juniper Jus © Quentin Bacon This holiday-perfect roast encrusted in toasted pecans is exceptionally delicious served with juniper-scented jus, which brings together butter, shallot, garlic, carrot, tomato paste, red wine, beef demi-glace, and of course, crushed juniper berries. Get the Recipe 12 of 20 Grilled Beef Tenderloin Skewers with Red Miso Glaze © Tina Rupp Irresistibly tangy and salty-sweet, these skewers from chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten are also delicious when made with chicken breast or pork tenderloin. Get the Recipe 13 of 20 Garlicky Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Herbs © John Kernick Actress Jeri Ryan's family always grilled steaks on Independence Day, but sometimes she prefers cooking a whole beef tenderloin because it's more magnificent and the flavor is more delicate. When selecting a tenderloin roast, smaller is better because the meat will be firmer. Get the Recipe 14 of 20 Beef Tenderloin Sandwiches with Norton-Shiitake Sauce © Kirsten Strecker Chef Andy Ayers loves the organic shiitakes from Ozark Forest Mushrooms in Salem, Missouri, because they add an intensely earthy flavor to these meaty, garlicky sandwiches with their wine-spiked sauce. Get the Recipe 15 of 20 Pounded Beef Tenderloin with Hearts of Palm Salad © Con Poulos Stretch a small amount creatively. This recipe calls for pounding beef tenderloin fillets thin and grilling them super quickly, so they stay tender and juicy. Get the Recipe 16 of 20 Beef Tenderloin with Ancho and Fennel Seeds © Rob Howard Chef Vitaly Paley's luscious beef tenderloin won over more than a few skeptical cooks in F&W's test kitchen, who agreed that the seemingly discordant spice combination of ground ancho, fennel seeds, and star anise not only works but works brilliantly. Get the Recipe 17 of 20 Beef Tenderloin Cobb Salad © Richard Gerhard Jung The Cobb salad was invented in the 1920s at the Brown Derby in Los Angeles and named after the restaurant's owner, Bob Cobb. Chef Todd English likes to credit his version, which substitutes beef for the traditional chicken or turkey, to baseball legend Ty Cobb. Get the Recipe 18 of 20 Pancetta-Wrapped Beef Tenderloin © Dana Gallagher This centerpiece roast is made extra special by slathering it with garlicky porcini puree and rolling it in salty pancetta. Serve it with a Syrah to accentuate the dish's earthy, smoky flavors. Get the Recipe 19 of 20 Roast Beef Tenderloin with Morel Cream Sauce © James Merrell This classic beef tenderloin roasts in about 45 minutes before being enriched with a quick mushroom sauce made from dried morels and shallots. Get the Recipe 20 of 20 Beef Tenderloin with Pickled Onions and Pink Peppercorns © John Kernick One of the leanest cuts of beef, tenderloin stays moist in a lovely sauce flavored with rosé wine and pink peppercorns. Raspberry vinegar imbues the quick-pickled onions with a wonderful tang. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit