- November 22, 2021
- Beef
How To Smoke A Beef Tenderloin
This smoked beef tenderloin is perfectly seasoned and slow-smoked to achieve a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture with a deep, smoky flavor. Finished with a quick sear for a caramelized crust, it’s an elegant main course that’s surprisingly easy to master.
Why This Recipe Works
Perfect for Any Occasion: Whether you’re looking to impress your guests for the holidays or just want to indulge in this beautiful culinary experience, learning how to smoke a beef tenderloin roast is worthwhile. To master this method with such a large and expensive piece of meat can easily be done by first slow smoking and then reverse searing over direct, high heat for that signature crust you love on steak!
Decadent & Delicious: Nothing is quite like a perfectly cooked beef tenderloin. The reverse sear method is a great way to utilize indirect and direct heat. It has a truly rich flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture! The gentle smoking process infuses the meat with a subtle smokiness, without overpowering the flavor. This juicy, savory, and perfectly seasoned beef tenderloin is truly a show-stopping dish!
Takes Advantage of Pro Grilling Techniques: I’ve used this on my guide to making reversed seared ribeye steaks and it’s also my go to method for making a grilled rack of lamb and even this smoked crispy onion crusted pork tenderloin too. Learn everything you need to know to cook this indulgent cut of beef like a pro. Follow the guidelines outlined in this article below to guide you through preparations, the smoking process, all the way to that final sear. Let’s dive in!
What is a beef tenderloin?
This is a higher end, lean cut of meat that is sandwiched between the sirloin and the top sirloin. The filet mignon comes from this portion of the whole beef tenderloin.
When you go to purchase a tenderloin, you can get it either fully broken down into the final piece used for smoking (also sometimes called the chateaubriand). This is a cut that has the chain, tails, and filet mignon steaks broken down from it with the center cut remaining.
If you choose to buy the whole tenderloin and break it down yourself, note that you can buy it either peeled or unpeeled. Unpeeled tenderloins have extra sinew and a lot of silver skin over the entire piece. This requires a lot more time and skill to break it down, but you can often find them peeled or ask your butcher to do all of this for you.
Supplies Needed
- Carving Knife and Cutting Board
- Butchers Twine
- Tongs
- Baking Sheet
- Meat Thermometer for Smoking
Ingredients
Olive Oil: Use a little bit of olive oil to coat the beef and allow the salt and pepper to stick well.
Beef Tenderloin: Beef tenderloin is a high quality cut of beef that is extremely tender and juicy!
Kosher Salt & Cracked Black Pepper: All you need to season this smoked beef tenderloin is salt and pepper. I don’t like to season it with anything else, because I want the beef to really shine!
Prep the Beef Tenderloin
Remove Before Smoking: Before smoking, remove the roast and let it rest outside of the fridge for a 30-minute minimum before placing it on the smoker. Lightly cover it all over with olive oil and season with the kosher salt and pepper.
Break it Down if Needed: Begin by prepping your tenderloin. If it comes unpeeled and untrimmed, you will need to break it down. Remove the silver skin and sinew. Split the piece up by slicing off the chain so the tenderloin center cut (chateaubriand) and the tails are only intact. Ask your butcher to do this for you if you need to!
Create a Uniform Piece of Meat: When you’re working with a fully prepped cut of beef tenderloin, you will have a long even center cut with tails on either end. Some people will fully remove these and use them for other uses. Take your cut and carefully butterfly the tails by slicing down at the thinner end, so only about 1/2 inch is connected. Take the tail and tuck it underneath the roast. This allows the roast to look uniform in size, cooks more evenly, and allows you to utilize more of the meat.
Tie with Twine: Add the twine and secure it every 2-3 inches to keep the roast a nice round shape. I do one long chain or you can tie individual pieces across the roast every 2-3 inches, spaced out.
Chill: Place it in the fridge, uncovered for 24-48 hours if desired. This helps intensify the beef flavor and allows it to brown better. You can skip this step, however.
Smoking the Beef Tenderloin
- Preheat: Set your pellet or charcoal grill to 225 F. degrees for indirect heat. If you have a charcoal smoker, you can set it for two-zone cooking as well. Add your favorite wood pellets or regular wood pieces to your smoker. I like hickory or a blend of woods.
- Place on Smoker: Place your fully prepared and seasoned beef tenderloin onto your grill gates and place a thermometer into the center to keep an eye on your internal temperature.
- Smoke: Smoke the beef tenderloin roast until the middle reaches 115 F.-120 F. Then remove it from the smoker to rest briefly while you prepare it for the reverse sear.
Reverse Sear the Beef Tenderloin
Flip and Rotate: Continue flipping and rotating your tenderloin until it hits your desired internal temperature. I like to remove the beef tenderloin when it’s around 125-135 F. degrees depending on your preference. Remember there can be some carry over cooking after it’s off the grill.
Preheat: Preheat your grill to high heat for searing (I like to go at least 600 F. degrees). Grease your grill grates if needed. High heat is necessary to get that gorgeous seared crust.
Sear: Place your resting beef tenderloin onto the grill grates and sear each side for about 1 minute with the lid closed. Rotate and sear the other side repeating the same steps.
How to Slice Beef Tenderloin
- Rest: Let the beef tenderloin rest on a cutting board or baking sheet for 10-15 minutes to allow the internal juices to settle. I placed mine onto chopsticks to elevate it to reduce the amount of juice that come out at the contact points.
- Slice Against the Grain: Slice against the grain into thick two-inch pieces and serve with my favorite side dishes of caramelized onion and blue cheese sauce and doctor it up with this super easy delicious red wine compound butter.
Serving Suggestions
This high quality cut of meat is decadent enough to serve as any holiday function, but simple enough to serve for a casual family dinner, too. I recommend serving your smoked beef tenderloin with a variety of side dishes, especially when feeding a crowd! Here are some of my favorite side dishes to pair with it:
- Smoked Potatoes
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Smoked Stuffed Mushrooms
- Smoked Butternut Squash
- Crispy Artichoke Salad
- Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
More Recipes to Try
- Smoked Chuck Roast Burnt Ends
- Smoked Bottom Round Roast
- Smoked Chicken Legs
- How to Smoke a Tomahawk Steak
- Smoked Beef Ribs
How To Smoke A Beef Tenderloin
Equipment
- Cutting Board and Knife
Ingredients
- 1, 4-5 lb. Beef Tenderloin Fully trimmed and peeled
- Kosher Salt
- Cracked Black Pepper
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
Instructions
- Read through the full article above and see the video for more details.
Beef Tenderloin Prep:
- Begin by prepping your tenderloin. If it comes unpeeled and untrimmed, you will need to break it down. Remove the silver skin and sinew. Split the piece up by slicing off the chain so the tenderloin center cut (chateaubriand) and the tails are only intact. Ask your butcher to do this for you if you need to!
- Take your cut and carefully butterfly the tails by slicing down at the thinner end, so only about 1/2 inch is connected. Take the tail and tuck it underneath the roast. This allows the roast to look uniform in size, cooks more evenly, and allows you to utilize more of the meat.
- Add the twine and secure it every 2-3 inches to keep the roast a nice round shape.
- Place it in the fridge, uncovered for 24-48 hours if desired. This helps intensify the beef flavor and allows it to brown better. You can skip this step however.
- Before smoking, remove the roast and let it rest outside of the fridge for a 30 minute minimum before placing on the smoker. Lightly cover it all over with olive oil and season with the kosher salt and pepper.
Smoking Process:
Set you pellet or charcoal grill to 225 F. degrees for indirect heat.- Place your fully prepared and seasoned beef tenderloin onto your grill gates and place a thermometer into the center to keep and eye on your internal temperature.
- Smoke the beef tenderloin roast until the middle reaches 115 F.-120 F. Then remove it from the smoker to rest briefly while you prepare it for the reverse sear.
Reverse Searing Steps
- Preheat your grill to high heat for searing (I like to go at least 600 F. degrees). Grease your grill grates if needed.
- Place your resting beef tenderloin onto the grill grates and sear each side for about 1 minute with the lid close. Rotate and sear the other side repeating the same steps.
- Continue flipping and rotating your tenderloin until it hits your desired internal temperature. I like to remove the beef tenderloin when it's around 125-135 F. degrees depending on your preference. Remember there can be some carry over cooking after it's off the grill.
Serving and Slicing
- Let the beef tenderloin rest on a cutting board or baking sheet for 10-15 minutes to allow the internal juices to settle. I placed mine onto chopsticks to elevate it to reduce the amount of juices that come out at the contact points.
- Slice into servable pieces a few inches thick, against the grain. Pair with your favorite holiday side dishes or with this easy red wine compound butter or caramelized and blue cheese steak sauce.
We had this last week and it was amazing, my husband love the onion sauce too!
Oh my gosh, your tip for butterflying and tucking the thinner ends was perfect. Thank you for such a great recipe for grilled tenderloin!! We also made the red wine butter… insert chefs kiss!!!