Are you looking for something to make for the Holidays this year, but don’t want to break the bank for a prime rib? Try my perfect roast beef. It’s tender, meaty, flavorful, melt-in-your-mouth tender and best of all – its SUPER easy, I mean you cannot screw it up. The only thing you need to remember is to start preparing the meat 18-24 hours before you want to start cooking. But don’t let the time scare you. There are 3 basic steps – salt, sear, roast. There’s only about 20 minutes of active cooking time.
This roast will look and taste great on your holiday table along with my Boursin Mashed Potatoes and Balsamic Asparagus.
I first made this beef roast when I was trying to replicate Arby’s roast beef. You see Arby’s sold their sauce in bottles last Christmas, but I needed some meat to go along with it. So I didn’t even make it to eat it as a meal, but after the first bite – I was so glad I did. Even if you just have 2 people in the family, make this roast because the leftovers make the best sandwiches.
I found the recipe in The America’s Test Kitchen Cooking School Cookbook
Here’s what you need:
The roast should be a 3-1/2 and 4-1/2 pound boneless eye-round roast (and a little pepper and vegetable oil later on). You’ll also want a remote thermometer. The thermometer I used in this post is no longer available and I’ve since replaced it with a Thermoworks ChefAlarm
Start by trimming the roast, leaving a little bit of fat is ok because it will add flavor. Sprinkle the roast with 4 teaspoons of kosher salt and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 18-24 hours.
I know this is going to look like a lot of salt, but trust me the roast is not salty. And refrigerating overnight allows the salt to penetrate into the meat which will help it tenderize the meat.
Now it’s time to cook the roast. You’re going to want to plan about 3 hours because we’re going to roast it low and slow. Take the roast out of the refrigerator. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat it to 225 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and set a wire rack on top.
Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Rub the roast with 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. Sprinkle all over with 2 teaspoons pepper.
Preheat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high until it starts to smoke. You want the pan to be screaming hot.
Sear the roast on all sides until browned. Give it time this is going to take about 3-4 minutes a side. And don’t forget the ends – use tongs to hold it on each end to sears those too.
Set the roast onto the rimmed baking sheet. Put the thermometer in the center of the roast.
Place the meat in the oven. The cord for your thermometer will wind out the side of your oven, and the transmitter sits nicely on the counter next to the oven.
Roast until the thermometer registers 115 degrees for medium-rare (about 1-1/4 hours to 1-3/4 hours) or 125 degrees for medium (1-3/4 hours to 2-1/4 hours). My thermometer has an alarm on it so it lets me known when it hits the set temperature.
Turn the oven off. I know – this step threw me the first time, but you want it to finish coming up to temperature gently, it needs to stay under 122 degrees long enough to break down the connective tissue in the meat making it nice and tender.
Leave the roast in the oven until the temperature registers 130 degrees for medium-rare or 140 degrees for medium, about 30-50 minutes.
This has never happened to me before, but America’s Test Kitchen tell me that if it doesn’t reach the desired temp after 50 minutes, heat the oven to 225 degrees for 5 minutes, shut if off, and cook until done. It’s very important NOT to open the oven when you’re cooking this roast.
Take the roast out of the oven and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
Slice the meat crosswise as thinly as possible.
Doesn’t this look amazing? I may or may not have tried a few pieces while I was carving.
If you have any leftovers, refrigerate the and slice into really thin slices once it’s cold (it will slice easier that way). If you have a meat slicer that will make really short work of it. The better-than-deli-style roast beef you have now will be great for making copy-cat Arby’s sandwiches, French dips, panin’s – you name it.
Tip: Since this roast takes quite a while in the oven (but it’s totally worth it), I like to work backwards from when I want to eat to figure out when I should start it. Note that there is a 35 minute range, so you should have a little flexibility on when you plan to eat. Here’s how I figured it out the last time I made it.
- 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 pound trimmed boneless eye-round roast
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons + 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- Sprinkle the roast with the kosher salt. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate 18-24 hours.
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 225 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with tinfoil and place a wire rack on top. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Rub with the first 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil and sprinkle with pepper.
- Heat the remaining oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until it’s screaming hot (starts to smoke).
- Sear the roast on all sides until well browned, about 3-4 minutes per side. Don’t forget to sear the ends.
- Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Place the thermometer in the center of the roast.
- Roast until the meat registers 115 degrees for medium-rare (1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hours) or 125 degrees for medium (1-3/4 – 2-1/4 hours).
- Turn the oven off. Leave the roast in until the center of the roast registers 130 degrees for medium-rare or 140 degrees for medium. It will be about another 30-50 minutes.
- If the roast hasn’t reached the temperature by the end of the 50 minutes, turn the oven back on to 225 degrees for 5 minutes. Shut it off again and leave the roast in until the roast is done.
- Remove the roast from the oven and allow it to sit for at least 15 minutes before slicing.
- Slice the meat crosswise as thinly as possible and serve.
[…] roast. We tried deli-meat and it was pretty good, but finally I decided to try my recipe for Perfect Roast Beef and it turned out perfect for these […]