Treat your guests to a mouth-watering beef tenderloin that will have them thinking you spent hours in the kitchen! This beef tenderloin recipe is unbelievably simple to prepare and is the perfect entree for a dinner party or any special occasion.

Printable recipe for Easy Beef Tenderloin at the end of this post

The Perfect Dinner Party Entree

Do you enjoy hosting small dinner parties but don’t always have the time to plan and prepare an elaborate meal? Believe me, I get it!

In our hectic lives, I know that you look forward to unwinding with your besties on a Saturday night. That’s why you’ve invited them to your home for good food, good wine, and good company.

Of course, you want to treat your guests to a delicious meal. But even if you enjoy cooking, as I do, life gets in the way. When you’ve had a busy week with work and family, there isn’t always time to spend an afternoon in the kitchen trying out new recipes.

What’s most important is spending quality time with the people that are important to us. For busy times like this, we need a simple meal that can be prepared quickly and that is worthy of company. That’s why this beef tenderloin recipe is the perfect dinner party entree!

Beef Tenderloin Recipe – Simple and Delicious

In general, beef tenderloin is a simple, yet delicious entree, and makes a lovely presentation. The beef tenderloin recipe that I refer to is this one from the The Pioneer Woman. I follow this recipe closely, making only a couple of minor seasoning modifications. In Ree’s post on this recipe, she does a great tutorial on how to prep and cook this cut of beef.

I have prepared many a tenderloin following this procedure. If you’ve never cooked a tenderloin before, definitely take a look at her instructions on how to trim the meat. The silvery cartilage is tough and will ruin your experience if you do not remove it. This is definitely a step that you do not want to skip.

Unless, of course, you have your butcher trim the meat for you!

Even Simpler, Ask the Butcher

I’m going tell you right now – I hate trimming a tenderloin. Many of you know me by now, so you know that patience is not my strong suit! There is no part of me that would not delegate this task to the butcher. He is, after all, the expert!

So, do yourself a favor and skip this step by asking your butcher to do the trimming for you!

You’re welcome 😉

8 Steps to a Perfect Beef Tenderloin

Follow these eight easy steps for a perfect beef tenderloin, every time:

1. Trim the cartilage – I recommend asking the butcher to do this for you so the tenderloin is ready to go when you are!

2. Depending on whether you are using the whole tenderloin or just the butt portion, you may need to tuck the ends under and tie them with kitchen twine. This is to ensure that the width of the meat is relatively uniform for the entire length, to allow for more even cooking.

3. Use a heavy cast-iron skillet, and preheat so that it is very hot.

4. Season well. I use Lawry’s Seasoned Salt and pepper. Pioneer Woman uses Lawry’s, Lemon Pepper and Peppercorns, but I’ve found the Lawry’s and pepper to be just enough. Be sure to generously season the meat – as explained in the Pioneer Woman’s tutorial, there is much more surface area to cover with this cut of meat as compared to seasoning individual steaks.

5. Sear the beef on all sides. This will create a nice outer crust to seal in the juices. Searing any sort of meat that will be finished in the oven really makes a huge difference, as opposed to simply roasting it. That’s how we cook Filet Mignon steaks, too – I’ll show you that in another post!

6. Season with butter! As recommended in the Pioneer Woman’s tutorial, this adds tremendous flavor and really makes this a decadent dish.

Sometimes I use a splatter screen when searing the beef.

7. Place the meat on a rack in a roasting pan to facilitate even cooking.

8. Use a meat thermometer (I use this one) to cook the beef to about 140 degrees, then let it rest about 10 minutes.

Your Next Dinner Party Entree

Beef tenderloin is one of my favorite entrees to serve for a dinner party. Everyone loves it! In addition, it’s easy to accommodate everyone’s temperature preference. The ends are usually pretty well-done, and the center is a perfect medium-rare.

This beef tenderloin recipe is not only delicious, but simple to prepare. Make your life even simpler by having your butcher trim the tenderloin for you.

Season well, sear, finish in the oven, and let rest. The result is a mouth-watering entree that is sure to have your guests coming back for seconds!

Easy Beef Tenderloin

Inspired by/adapted from Roasted Beef Tenderloin by Ree Drummond The Pioneer Woman found here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/roasted_beef_te/

Ingredients

1 Beef Tenderloin Whole or Butt
Olive Oil
Butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Rinse and dry meat. If using a whole tenderloin, turn the ends under and tie with kitchen twine so that the width is uniform throughout the entire length of the tenderloin.
Rub olive oil over meat. Sprinkle meat generously with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt and pepper, and rub the seasoning into the meat.
Heat a heavy cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the tenderloin in the hot pan on all sides.
Place the tenderloin on a rack in a roasting pan. Place several tablespoons of butter on top of the meat. Place a meat thermometer in the center of the tenderloin.
Roast in a 475-degree oven until the temperature reaches just under 140 degrees.
This will cook surprisingly fast. It will take as little as 20 minutes, depending on the size of your tenderloin. Use a meat thermometer with an alarm - the alarm will sound when the temperature has been reached.
When the alarm sounds, remove from the oven and place on a cutting board. Allow the meat to rest for about ten minutes. The meat will continue to cook a bit during this time. If you leave your thermometer in the meat during this time, you will see the temperature rise a bit.
Slice and serve with pan juices.