This delicious chateaubriand recipe guides you from start to finish for a perfectly oven-roasted tenderloin roast with a reverse sear finish carved into medium-rare slices. Pair this white tablecloth meal with herbaceous compound butter and rich pan sauce with every melt-in-your-mouth bite of meat. It’s the perfect filet mignon roast to make for special dinners!
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If you’re looking for the perfect main dish for a holiday gathering or special dinner party, this chateaubriand will be a great addition to your table. Even though it only requires several simple ingredients, this lean and fork-tender roast is the piece de resistance of beef cuts. Paired with your favorite vegetables and side dishes, this is a celebratory roast recipe worthy of special occasions, holiday feasts, and romantic date nights.
What is Chateaubriand Steak?
Where the word chateaubriand can refer to several things in the culinary world, from a method of cooking to a beloved dish of an early 19th-century French aristocrat. For this recipe, we are referring to the actual cut of beef.
The chateaubriand is cut from the whole beef tenderloin and is the perfectly cylindrical center cut of beef tenderloin. It is incredibly tender, due to the tenderloin’s position on a cow at the top of the back loin, a relatively unused muscle area, and very lean. Of all of the roasts, the tenderloin roast is the most tender cut.
However, because this cut of meat is so lean, it has a mild delicate flavor, lacking the beefier bolder flavors like in the teres major steak. And lacking heavy marbling often coveted in other cuts like the prime rib roast, the chateaubriand can easily dry out if overcooked.
Ideally, cooking this roast delicately to a perfect medium rare is best to retain juices and delicious flavor. The tenderloin roast, with its mild flavor, benefits hugely from being served with a classic red wine sauce, creamy peppercorn sauce, or compound butter.
Beef Chateaubriand Ingredients
- Center-cut beef tenderloin roast called a chateaubriand. You won’t find this cut in most markets. We order meat online from WildForkFoods or trim a whole beef tenderloin ourselves. You could also ask at a local butcher shop. If you ask a skillet butcher for a chateaubriand roast, expect an expertly trimmed, even roast.
- Salt – we always use Kosher salt for cooking
- Canola oil – or other neutral cooking oil
- Garlic Junkie seasoning, Jack Daniels Steak seasoning, or your favorite peppery and punchy steak seasoning.
- Butter – unsalted, plus more for resting, or compound butter for resting
- Garlic – whole cloves
- Fresh Rosemary sprigs
How to make Chateaubriand Steak
Altho it sounds francy, don’t let that intimidate you. Follow the steps to this easy recipe for the best way to make a perfect Chateaubriand.
1. Prep the beef tenderloin roast
Remove from the package and pat the chateaubriand dry with paper towels.
Using butcher’s twine, tie the roast about every inch or so. This helps to maintain the overall shape while it’s cooking, altho an expertly butchered center-cut tenderloin should be even in thickness from edge to edge. And then season liberally with salt.
Place on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet in the fridge for 8 hours. This is going to dry brine the roast, which helps add depth to the flavor and dry out the surface for cooking.
Remove from fridge and set at room temperature for an hour.
2. Roast the chateaubriand
When it’s time to cook the roast, allow it to sit at room temperature for about 1 hour and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Place the roast, still on the baking sheet and wire rack, in the oven and cook for roughly 40-45 minutes—until the internal temperature reaches 120 degrees F with an instant-read meat thermometer.
3. Reverse Sear
Once the roast has cooked to 120, remove from the oven and preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
When starting to smoke, add butter and oil to the bottom of the pan and swirl to coat.
When the butter has melted, add the garlic and rosemary and place the chateaubriand in the skillet. Brown the roast on all sides, roughly 2 minutes per side, about 8 to 10 minutes; use a spoon to continue to baste the roast in the melted butter as it rotates for an even sear. Use long tongs to flip the beef for safety and to help prevent the tenderloin roast from rolling in the pan.
Remove from heat and transfer the roast to a cutting board.
4. Rest and Serve
Tent the chateaubriand roast with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
When ready to serve, slice the medium rare roast into even portions, about 1 inch thick. Because a center-cut beef tenderloin roast is pretty even from edge to edge, the portions should be almost exact.
All tenderloins are better with some added flavor. Sprinkle with a pinch more salt and freshly ground black pepper to serve along with our favorite steak toppings; herb compound butter, classic bearnaise sauce, smooth red wine sauce, brandy peppercorn sauce, or blue cheese sauce. If you’re feeling really indulgent, add our favorite smoked crab imperial recipe on top.
Girl Carnivore EXPERT RECIPE TIPS
Chateaubriand is incredibly tender, which is great, but it also lacks marbling or fat, which means it is incredibly lean, just like the filet mignon. Cooking this cut past medium rare will quickly dry it out and cause the meat to toughen.
Use a heavy hand with butter while searing and resting to help add some umami and juiciness to the roast.
Because the roast is even in size, it’s hard to know where to insert the instant read thermometer probe to check for doneness. In this case, insert the probe on the side of the meat, around the center of the roast, about 1″ into the meat, for your most accurate temperature.
What to serve with this Chateaubriand Recipe
Potato dishes, vegetables like green beans, and a bread roll are the perfect addition to a classic dish like chateaubriand. Here are a few more side dish ideas:
- Domino Potatoes
- Smoked Cabbage
- Smoked Brussels Sprouts
- Creamed Leeks
- Steakhouse Keto Creamed Spinach
Storing Châteaubriand
Refrigerate leftovers: Store leftovers in an airtight container or double-wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. If stored properly and placed in the refrigerator, leftover chateaubriand can last up to three to four days. This is a recipe best to eat fresh, the longer it sits in the fridge, the more dried out it will get.
Reheat: Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. beef tenderloin roast, if reheating whole, in a baking dish with a splash of water or beef broth and cover loosely with foil. Bake it for 10-15 minutes or until it’s heated through.
Chateaubriand Roast FAQs
Yes and no. When referring to the cut, yes, the chateaubriand is essentially filet mignon roast. Chateaubriand is the trimmed tenderloin served in a large cut as a roast. Filet mignon are steaks cut from the tenderloin, but they can also be cut from the tips of the whole cut and not just the center. See our full guide on how to trim a whole tenderloin for more info on what makes these the same, and different. They are both tender and lean and are best paired with rich sauces for the best results.
The chateaubriand is particularly special because it is the center cut of a beef tenderloin, expertly trimmed to a uniform shape, it is the most tender cut of beef.
Because this cut is lean, we feel this lean cut of beef is perfect roasted to an internal temp no more than 135 degrees F for the best flavor and texture.
A chateaubriand is the perfect cut of meat for serving around 4 to 6 people with sides dishes.
MORE DELICIOUS BEEF TENDERLOIN RECIPES
Beef Recipes
Crab-Stuffed Beef Tenderloin
Beef Recipes
Oven Roasted Beef Tenderloin
Beef Recipes
Bacon-wrapped Filet Mignon
I hope your chateaubriand turns out as flavorful and tender as it’s meant to be. Have you ever made this dish before? Rate the recipe and let me know how it goes in the comments below and what you paired it with.
Chateaubriand Roast
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lb center-cut beef tenderloin roast also called chateaubriand
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Garlic Junkie seasoning from Spiceology or Jack Daniels Steak seasoning
- 2 tbsp Canola oil divided
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 1 Rosemary sprig
Instructions
Prep the beef tenderloin roast:
- Pat the chateaubriand dry with paper towels.
- Using butchers twine, tie the roast about every inch or so to help with even cooking.
- Season liberally with salt.
- Place on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet in the fridge for 8 hours
Roast
- Remove from the fridge and set at room temperature for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Place the roast on the wire rack in the oven and cook until the international temperature reaches 120 degrees F, about 40-45 minutes. Always check the internal temp with an instant read digital thermometer.
- Carefully remove the rack from the oven.
Sear:
- Preheat a large 10 to 12" cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- When just starting to smoke, add butter and oil to pan and swirl to coat.
- As soon as the butter has melted, add the garlic and rosemary to the pan.
- Place the cooked chateaubriand in the hot skillet and brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes total, about 2 minutes per side. Use long tongs to rotate evenly and a spoon to continue to baste the meat with the melted butter.
- Remove from heat.
Rest and Serve:
- On a clean cutting board, tent the roast with foil and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. As it rests, top with compound butter for more flavor.
- To serve, slice the roast into even portions, about 1” thick.
- Serve with desired sauces and sides.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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I made this for Thanksgiving Dinner last night to go with the lobster tails. I bought a whole grass-fed beef tenderloin on sale. I saved the center of the tenderloin to make the roast. I followed the recipe as written. It came out perfect medium rare. It was the best tasting filet magon I ever ate-tender & juicy! It will now have a permanent place at all our holiday meals and my birthday.
Thank you, Sandy!
Just made tonight. It was fantastic. Followed recipe to the t. So juicy and tender.
Thank you for leaving a review, Ms Wetherell. We’re so glad you enjoyed this one!