Roast Beef Recipe

This tried-and-true Roast Beef Recipe is well seasoned, slow-cooked, and finished on high heat until golden brown and at a perfect medium-rare temperature. Once you try this beef-making method, there is no going back.

Meat is very expensive, so when I buy it and cook it, I want to ensure it’s spot-on and tasty beyond all belief. If you’re looking for foolproof beef recipes, you must try my Boeuf Bourguignon or Pepper Steak.

Roast Beef

Roast beef is a large cut of meat that is roasted in the oven until it has a browned crust and a desired internal temperature. Several different cuts of beef can be used to make this dish, but a round steak tends to be the most popular. I used the pre-season and reverse sear method to achieve a juicy, perfect medium-rare roast beef.

This meal is typically served as a Sunday roast or for holidays as it tends to be a bigger piece of beef and can feed many people. While the main proteins used for this dish tend to be on the cheaper, slightly tougher side, it can still produce an incredibly flavorful and tender cut as long as it is not overcooked, it’s well seasoned, and it has to be very thinly sliced.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Beef – I used an inside top round. Other great cuts to make roast beef are bottom round or sirloin roast.
• Seasonings – I only used coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper on the beef.

How to Make Roast Beef

Trim the top round of any unwanted fat and sliver skin.

Truss the beef with butcher’s twine.

Season it on all sides with coarse salt.

Place it on a rack over a sheet tray and put it uncovered in the refrigerator for 4 to 48 hours.

Remove the roast beef from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to remove the chill.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 225°.

Add a thermometer in the center of the roast coming in from the top.

Season the roast with fresh cracked or pre-ground black pepper on the top and sides.

Place it on a middle rack in the oven and cook it until it reaches 120-125 for a final medium-rare internal temperature.

Remove the steak, cover it in foil, and let it rest for 30 to 90 minutes.

During this resting period is usually when I make my garlic butter and beef gravy.

With about 10 to 15 minutes left in the resting process, turn the heat to 500°. It can be convection or non-convection.

Once the beef has rested and the oven is preheated, add it back to the center rack and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until a Maillard brown crust has formed on the outside.

Remove the beef and add any desired additional toppings like herb butter. Remember there is no need to rest it during this time, it’s already taken place.

Slice very thin using a sharp knife no thicker than 1/4 of an inch. The thinner, the better. If it’s too thick it can get chewy.

Serve the sliced roast beef with optional accompaniments like Yorkshire pudding, gravy, and additional garlic butter.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: This recipe is meant to be eaten as soon as it is done. 

How to Store: Store it on a platter covered in plastic and refrigerate it for up to 4 days. It can also be frozen for up to 45 days and covered in plastic. Thaw it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or until thawed.

How to Reheat: While I never recommend reheating a hunk of beef, I realize you may be unable to eat it all at once. Slice the roast into desired portions and add it to a large sauté or roasting pan with about 1 cup of beef stock. Cover it in foil and cook in the oven at 400° for 12 to 15 minutes. Reheating your steak will 100% cause it to increase in internal temperature, most likely past medium and into medium-well.

Chef Notes + Tips

• When you purchase an inside top round free of all fat, silver skin, and veins, it’s called a denuded round.
• 250° is also an acceptable temperature to reverse sear the steak in the oven.
• If you stick a thermometer into the roast from the cut side, you will have a small thermometer whole in every slice that you serve.
• Remember the roast will increase in temperature 2 to 5 degrees as it rests covered in foil.
• For rare, remove the steak from the oven at 115° to 120°; for medium, 125° to 130°; for medium-well, 135° to 140°; and well-done, 140° to 150°.
• Maillard is the beautiful brown crust found in protein. This process occurs at 284° to 330°. This is where the amino acids and sugars are reduced in animal fat and animal protein to form a crust. The darker the crust, the more flavorful it will be.
• When the meat rests, the myoglobin, the protein responsible for making meat red, will rush back through the beef. I’m just telling you this because it may take a little while for this to occur. If you slice it and it looks medium to well-done, give it a few seconds, as the red and pink colors will come back through.
• There will be no pan drippings as all the juice will remain in the beef thanks to the pre-season and reverse sear method.

More Beef Recipes

• Pot Roast
• Ropa Vieja
• Sloppy Joe
• Picanha Steak
• Beef Wellington

Video

https://youtu.be/kBavA8NoNXE

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Roast Beef Recipe

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5 from 5 votes

This tried-and-true Roast Beef Recipe is seasoned, then slow cooked, and finished on high heat until golden brown and a perfect medium rare.

Servings: 10

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours hours

3 hours hours 45 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• 7 to 9 pound inside top round.
• coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
• garlic butter
• beef gravy

Instructions

• Trim the top round of any unwanted fat and sliver skin. It is okay if there is a small amount of fat on top as this will help flavor the meat.
• Truss the beef with butcher’s twine. Watch my video below on how to do this.
• Generously season it on all sides with coarse salt, roughly 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons.
• Place it on a rack over a sheet tray and put it uncovered in the refrigerator for 4 to 48 hours. This process is known as pre-seasoning or dry brining. The longer it's in the refrigerator, the more seasoned and flavorful it will be.
• Remove the roast beef from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to remove the chill.
• In the meantime, preheat the oven to 225°.
• Add a thermometer in the center of the roast coming in from the top.
• Season the roast with fresh cracked or pre-ground black pepper on the top and sides. No need to lift it up and get to the bottom, although you can. This will come to about 1 teaspoon worth.
• Place it on a middle rack in the oven and cook it until it reaches 120-125 for a final medium-rare internal temperature. This will take 3 to 3 ½ hours.
• Remove the steak, cover it in foil, and let it rest for 30 to 90 minutes. This is the only resting period the beef will go through. The meat will usually bump up 2 to 5 degrees and then drop back down to what it was when you pulled it out or a few below that.
• During this resting period is usually when I make my garlic butter and beef gravy.
• With about 10 to 15 minutes left in the resting process, turn the heat to 500°. It can be convection or non-convection. The hotter the better.
• Once the beef has rested and the oven is preheated, add it back to the center rack and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until a Maillard brown crust has formed on the outside. Be sure it’s not in there for too long so that the internal temperature goes past your desire. It may bump up 1 to 2 degrees which is ok.
• Remove the beef and add any desired additional toppings like herb butter. Remember there is no need to rest it during this time, it’s already taken place.
• Slice very thin using a very sharp knife no thicker than 1/4 of an inch. The thinner, the better. If it’s too thick it can get chewy.
• Serve the sliced roast beef with optional accompaniments like Yorkshire pudding, gravy, and additional garlic butter.

Notes

Make-Ahead: This recipe is meant to be eaten as soon as it is done. 

How to Store: Store it on a platter covered in plastic and refrigerate it for up to 4 days. It can also be frozen for up to 45 days and covered in plastic. Thaw it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or until thawed.

How to Reheat: While I never recommend reheating a hunk of beef, I realize you may be unable to eat it all at once. Slice the roast into desired portions and add it to a large sauté or roasting pan with about 1 cup of beef stock. Cover it in foil and cook in the oven at 400° for 12 to 15 minutes. Reheating your steak will 100% cause it to increase in internal temperature, most likely past medium and into medium-well.

When you purchase an inside top round free of all fat, silver skin, and veins, it’s called a denuded round.

250° is also an acceptable temperature to reverse sear the steak in the oven.

If you stick a thermometer into the roast from the cut side, you will have a small thermometer whole in every slice that you serve.

Remember the roast will increase in temperature 2 to 5 degrees as it rests covered in foil.

For rare, remove the steak from the oven at 115° to 120°; for medium, 125° to 130°; for medium-well, 135° to 140°; and well-done, 140° to 150°.

Maillard is the beautiful brown crust found in protein. This process occurs at 284° to 330°. This is where the amino acids and sugars are reduced in animal fat and animal protein to form a crust. The darker the crust, the more flavorful it will be.

When the meat rests, the myoglobin, the protein responsible for making meat red, will rush back through the beef. I’m just telling you this because it may take a little while for this to occur. If you slice it and it looks medium to well-done, give it a few seconds, as the red and pink colors will come back through.

There will be no pan drippings as all the juice will remain in the beef thanks to the pre-season and reverse sear method.

Nutrition

Calories: 527kcalCarbohydrates: 0.01gProtein: 94gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 249mgSodium: 262mgPotassium: 1523mgSugar: 0.002gCalcium: 90mgIron: 8mg

Course: Main

Cuisine: American, english

Author: Chef Billy Parisi