Herb-Crusted Beef Tenderloin

There is really nothing quite as iconic as a beautiful Beef Tenderloin during the holiday season — and this Herb-Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Sauce is definitely iconic.

Here is a recipe that I know you all are going to just love. I’ve crusted a beef tenderloin in beautiful herbs and roasted it with a bit of white wine. The end result is absolutely juicy, tender, and extremely flavorful. It’s the perfect impressive dish to make any time you are hosting a fancy little gathering — during the holidays or not! 

Now, I know that cooking such a large, beautiful, and expensive cut of meat can be intimidating — I mean, no one wants to screw up a beef tenderloin! However, I have one major tip for you: GET A GOOD THERMOMETER! I recently got the Yummly thermometer and *really* love it. It’s super user friendly and you just tuck the wireless/digital thermometer into the meat, plug in what you are cooking into the app, tell it what “doneness” you want, and then it will tell you *exactly* when your tenderloin has reached the temperature so that you can take it out and let it rest. I am very impressed with it and really think it’s a great purchase for the kitchen and take the guesswork (and stress) out of knowing when your meat is cooked through properly!  You can most certainly use an instant stick thermometer and check around 18 minutes to see where you are at — but I just think poking the meat one time and letting it tell you when it’s ready is pretty epic.

Now back to the flavors of this Herb-Crusted Beef Tenderloin, while it is perfect in my opinion, what sets it over the top is pairing it with my Horseradish Sauce. Even if you don’t think you like horseradish, I promise you will love this. Perfectly tangy from the horseradish and creamy with the sour cream, it’s a great pairing with the beef. It also pairs perfectly with my Caramelized Onion Scalloped Potatoes — YUM!

I can’t wait to see you all create this for your holiday meal!

Herb-Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Sauce

Serves: 10 People

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5 from 5 votes

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

Ingredients

For the Horseradish Sauce:

• ½ cup sour cream sub dairy-free sour cream
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 3 tbsp prepared horseradish
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp distilled white vinegar
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp white pepper
• 2 tbsp thinly sliced chives

For the Herb Mixture:

• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp dijon mustard

For the Beef Tenderloin:

• 4 lb beef tenderloin *ask the butcher to trim for you if not already trimmed
• 3 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp coarse black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine, divided

Instructions

Make the Horseradish Sauce:

• In a small bowl, whisk to combine the sour cream, mustard, horseradish, mayonnaise, lemon juice white vinegar, salt, white pepper and chives. Place in fridge while you prepare the tenderloin.

Make the Herb Mixture:

• In a small bowl, combine the finely chopped rosemary, thyme, garlic, olive oil and dijon mustard. Stir until well combined and set aside.

Prepare the Beef Tenderloin:

• Preheat oven to 425℉.
• Cut your tenderloin in half to make it two pieces (vertically, right down the center-- this helps it all fit in one skillet) and secure with kitchen twine if it is not already.

  *A beef tenderloin is a long cut of beef that comes to a point at one end. In order to get the beef to cook evenly-- tie it up and make it as uniform in shape as possible. I simply cinch the meat in two-inch intervals with kitchen twine.
• Next, pat the tenderloin dry and season all over with the salt and pepper, pressing/rubbing it into meat.
• Place a large, oven safe skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil.When the oil is shimmering, carefully place one half of the tenderloin into the skillet. Brown each side, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove and set aside while you brown the other tenderloin.
• Once both tenderloins are browned, turn off the heat and set the skillet aside.
• Using a pastry brush, evenly distribute the herb mixture over all the sides of each tenderloin. Carefully place the tenderloins back into the skillet then pour ¼ cup of the wine around the tenderloins into the skillet.
• Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for 18-25 minutes until you reach your desired doneness (see Temperature Note below. I cooked mine Medium-Rare for reference), flipping the tenderloin halfway through (about 10 minutes into the cook time) and adding another ¼ cup of wine around and over the tenderloin.
• Once desired temperature is reached, remove from the oven. Transfer to a cutting board to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

This really can serve 8=-10 people! 

Temperature Scale:

Rare: 125℉

Medium Rare: 135℉

Medium: 145℉

Medium Well: 155℉

Make-ahead tips:

• The Horseradish Sauce can be made ahead and keeps well in the fridge for 5 to 7 days.
• Pre-chop your fresh herbs! This takes awhile and will help save you time when making the recipe day of. I store the freshly chopped herbs in a zip-top bag or air-tight small container and in the fridge. 

Photography and styling by Eat Love Eats.

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