how many pounds of beef tenderloin do you need per person

Beef tenderloin is the most tender cut of beef and a perfect way to celebrate a special occasion. It’s very lean, flavorful, and so soft, it practically melts in your mouth. Beef tenderloin is easy to roast in the oven with simple seasoning of fresh garlic, salt, and pepper.

It’s actually fairly easy to figure out how much you need to buy: Simply purchase 8 ounces (1/2 pound) of meat per person. So if you’re feeding 6 people, you’ll need three pounds of meat. For a larger crowd, say 12 people, you’ll need closer to 6 pounds of meat.

Best Way To Cook Beef Tenderloin

PRO TIP: Beef tenderloin is a lean cut so it should be cooked to medium-rare or medium temperature at the most.

Rub tied beef tenderloin with pressed garlic all over and then generously season with salt and pepper on all sides as well.

Preheat the oven to 425° and line the bottom of the roasting pan with aluminum foil. Place cleaned, tied, and seasoned beef tenderloin on a rack inside the roasting pan and insert a leave-in meat thermometer in the center of the meat, through the side. (If you don’t have a leave-in thermometer, you will need to take the meat out of the oven to take the temperature.)

Place the roasting pan in the oven and cook for 15 minutes at high temperature. Turn the oven temperature down to 325° and cook until the internal temperature is at 130°-135° for medium-rare. (Cook to 135°-140° for medium or 120°-125° for rare.)

PRO TIP: Remember that meat continues to cook while resting under the tent, it usually goes up another 5° or so.

Take the beef out of the oven. You can leave it in the roasting pan or place it on a large plate, or a cutting board. Place pieces of butter on top of the tenderloin, along the whole cut. Tent it with a sheet of aluminum foil and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Cut the string off the tenderloin and let it rest another 10-15 minutes.

Place the tenderloin onto a large cutting board and slice it against the grain. Place cut beef slices back in the plate and pour the buttery juices that were left in the pan over the top.

How To Tie The Beef Tenderloin

To make the tenderloin more even at the thin end, cut the tip where it starts to get narrow almost all the way off but NOT completely off. Tuck the narrow, thin tip under the tenderloin.

Use cooking twine to tie the tenderloin all along the whole length in 1-inch intervals (2). Make sure not to tie too tight where it starts cutting into meat.

You can also see how to tie the meat in the demo video above!

TIP: always tie the meat before adding seasoning so the seasoning does not fall off during the tying process.

What to do with a Whole Costco Beef Tenderloin

FAQ

How many people does a 4 lb tenderloin feed?

How much beef tenderloin do I need for 10 adults?

How much beef fillet for 10 adults?

How much beef do I need for 12 adults?