Bottom Round Roast Recipe
This melt-in-your-mouth Bottom Round Roast Recipe is dry-brined, coated in garlic herb oil, and slow-cooked to tender perfection.
Ingredients
- 4-5 pound bottom round roast
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- ¼ cup finely minced fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons finely minced fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh sage
- 3 finely minced garlic cloves
- 1 peeled and small diced shallot
- coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Start by trussing the beef to help it keep shape and cook more evenly. You can ask your butcher to do this or see my how to truss a beef roast.
- Place the roast on a rack over a sheet tray and pat it dry on all sides with a paper towel.
- Generously season all sides of the bottom round with salt. It will probably be 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of salt.
- Place the roast uncovered in the refrigerator for as little as 4 hours and up to 24 hours to dry brine.
- Preheat the oven to 300°.
- Once it’s done dry brining, remove it from the fridge and season it with pepper on all sides. Set it aside and leave it at room temperature to take some of the chill off.
- In the meantime, make the herb-oil by mincing and mixing the olive oil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, garlic, shallot, salt, and pepper in medium-sized bowl.
- Coat the roast on all sides with 2/3 of the herb-oil mixture.
- Place a thermometer in the center of the beef roast and put it in the oven on a middle rack at 300° until it reaches 100° internally, which takes about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Once it reaches 100° internally, turn the oven heat up to 500° and cook until it reaches 115° internally, which takes about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Remove the roast from the oven, brush it with the remaining 1/3 garlic and herb oil, and let it rest at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Remove the butcher’s twine and thermometer, and thinly slice the roast.
Notes
Make-Ahead: You can dry brine the beef up to 24 hours before cooking. Alternatively, cook the beef 1 hour before serving, but wait to slice it until it’s time to eat to prevent the natural juices from leaking too much. Cover the roast in aluminum foil to keep it warm.
How to Store: Cover the sliced or whole roast in foil and store it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Allow it to thaw for 1 day in the fridge before reheating.
How to Reheat: Add your desired amount of slices and cook over medium heat in a skillet with a splash of beef stock until warmed through.
If you don’t know how to truss beef, ask your butcher to do it when you buy the meat.
The dry brine is optional but recommended, making the beef more tender and moist.
Take the roast from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking for more evenly cooked, extra juicy meat.
Use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the roast accurately. It’s critical to achieving a perfect rare to medium-well.
Roast the bottom round uncovered to help the meat form an impressively crusty “bark” around the outside (the Maillard reaction).
Slowly cooking the bottom round roast at a low temperature first will break down the naturally tough connective tissues and make them extra tender. Turning up the temperature afterward will give you that impressive crust on the outside.
As it rests off the heat, the meat will increase in temperature by 2 to 5 degrees. Remove it from the oven at 5 degrees from your desired doneness.
For medium-rare bottom round roast, cook the beef until it reaches an internal temperature of 130ºF to 135ºF. For medium, cook to 140ºF to 145ºF. For medium-well, cook to 150ºF to 155ºF.
You can customize the herb oil with your favorite fresh herbs, a yellow or Dijon mustard drizzle, or a soy sauce or tamari splash.
For more flavor, drizzle the pan drippings over the beef slices when serving, or save them from making homemade au jus or beef stock.
Nutrition
Calories: 406kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 51gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 141mgSodium: 129mgPotassium: 817mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.3gVitamin A: 257IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 67mgIron: 5mg