20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (2024)

Relatively quick-cooking and arguably the most tender cut of beef, tenderloin makes for a magnificent roast, succulent stir-fry, or tasty grilled skewers. It's also especially lean and free of connective tissue, lending itself to raw and ultra-rare applications like steak tartare and beef poke. We've put together this recipe roundup to prove that beef tenderloin lives up to its name nearly any way you slice it.

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Steak Diane

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (1)

We love dishes like this: Steak Diane is elegant, full-flavored, and table-ready in less than half an hour. Chef Emeril Lagasse's retro recipe features pounded beef tenderloin medallions served with sautéed mushrooms in a buttery flambéed Cognac sauce.

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Beef Tenderloin Tartare with Anchovy-Cornichon Vinaigrette

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (2)

Freezing the beef before cutting it chills the fat, making it easier to achieve very thin, even slices. Tenderloin is a lean piece of meat, without a lot of marbling and sinew, so it has a nicer texture when raw. Be sure to choose at least a prime-grade filet.

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Black Pepper Beef

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (3)

Thin slices of beef tenderloin are simply seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper before being quickly sautéed with piquant green Thai chiles, citrusy and floral lemongrass, sweet red onion, and ginger. The floral kick of freshly ground black pepper permeates each bite of this aromatic stir-fry.

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Beef Poke

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (4)

A unique take on traditional Hawaiian poke, succulent beef tenderloin pieces, fresh tomatoes, and sweet onion slices are tossed in a glossy soy sauce mixture sweetened with brown sugar.

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Spice-Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Caper Vinaigrette

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (5)

Intense and fruity spices like coriander and caraway wake up the flavor of roasted and chilled beef tenderloin. Caper vinaigrette dresses both meat and greens for a gorgeous main.

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Parmesan and Herb-Crusted Beef Tenderloin

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (6)

This glorious, pepper-rubbed roasted beef tenderloin is coated with herbed breadcrumbs that have been mixed with anchovies, which add a nice pungent accent to the rich meat. The roast beef is served with a simple, flavorful red wine sauce.

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Beef Tenderloin Banh Mi with Pickled Watermelon Rind and Spicy Sesame Mayo

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (7)

This American take on a Vietnamese classic pairs watermelon pickles, which are popular in the South, with beef tenderloin and a sesame mayonnaise.

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Peppered Beef Tenderloin with Roasted Garlic-Herb Butter

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (8)

InBig Bob Gibson's BBQ Book, pit master Chris Lilly shares his secrets for prize-winning meat — like the beef here, marinated in black pepper and brown sugar for grilling.

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Beef Tenderloin with Spicy Latin Sauces

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (9)

Nobu is as expert with meat as he is with fish. Early in his career, at his restaurant in Lima, Peru, he was grilling beef and making tangy, mildly spicy red chile (ají panca) sauce and spicier yellow chile (ají amarillo) sauce. He serves both sauces with this seared beef tenderloin.

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Beef Tenderloin with Tomatoes, Shallots, and Maytag Blue

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (10)

Roasting tomatoes and shallots gives them a rich, meaty flavor that's fantastic with the blue cheese–studded beef tenderloin here.

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Pecan-Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Juniper Jus

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (11)

This holiday-perfect roast encrusted in toasted pecans is exceptionally delicious served with juniper-scented jus, which brings together butter, shallot, garlic, carrot, tomato paste, red wine, beef demi-glace, and of course, crushed juniper berries.

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Grilled Beef Tenderloin Skewers with Red Miso Glaze

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (12)

Irresistibly tangy and salty-sweet, these skewers from chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten are also delicious when made with chicken breast or pork tenderloin.

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Garlicky Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Herbs

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (13)

Actress Jeri Ryan's family always grilled steaks on Independence Day, but sometimes she prefers cooking a whole beef tenderloin because it's more magnificent and the flavor is more delicate. When selecting a tenderloin roast, smaller is better because the meat will be firmer.

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Beef Tenderloin Sandwiches with Norton-Shiitake Sauce

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (14)

Chef Andy Ayers loves the organic shiitakes from Ozark Forest Mushrooms in Salem, Missouri, because they add an intensely earthy flavor to these meaty, garlicky sandwiches with their wine-spiked sauce.

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Pounded Beef Tenderloin with Hearts of Palm Salad

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (15)

Stretch a small amount creatively. This recipe calls for pounding beef tenderloin fillets thin and grilling them super quickly, so they stay tender and juicy.

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Beef Tenderloin with Ancho and Fennel Seeds

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (16)

Chef Vitaly Paley's luscious beef tenderloin won over more than a few skeptical cooks in F&W's test kitchen, who agreed that the seemingly discordant spice combination of ground ancho, fennel seeds, and star anise not only works but works brilliantly.

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Beef Tenderloin Cobb Salad

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (17)

The Cobb salad was invented in the 1920s at the Brown Derby in Los Angeles and named after the restaurant's owner, Bob Cobb. Chef Todd English likes to credit his version, which substitutes beef for the traditional chicken or turkey, to baseball legend Ty Cobb.

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Pancetta-Wrapped Beef Tenderloin

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (18)

This centerpiece roast is made extra special by slathering it with garlicky porcini puree and rolling it in salty pancetta. Serve it with a Syrah to accentuate the dish's earthy, smoky flavors.

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Roast Beef Tenderloin with Morel Cream Sauce

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (19)

This classic beef tenderloin roasts in about 45 minutes before being enriched with a quick mushroom sauce made from dried morels and shallots.

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Beef Tenderloin with Pickled Onions and Pink Peppercorns

20 Classic Beef Tenderloin Recipes Good Enough to Become Coveted Family Heirlooms (20)

One of the leanest cuts of beef, tenderloin stays moist in a lovely sauce flavored with rosé wine and pink peppercorns. Raspberry vinegar imbues the quick-pickled onions with a wonderful tang.

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