What is roast beef? Roast beef in the oven: a classic recipe and more

28.12.2023 Buffet

Roast beef is made from beef. A piece of meat weighing at least 500 g must be fatty enough so as not to dry out during cooking. Beef is baked on a baking sheet or on a grill, fried over coals.

Five of the fastest roast beef recipes:

The classic dish is prepared with vegetable oil, without salt and pepper. But some recipes suggest pre-marinating the meat or soaking it in soy sauce. Many cooks pour mustard or wine sauce over the beef.

Roast beef: subtleties of cooking

Particular attention should be paid to the choice of meat. Most often they take tenderloin, thick or thin edge. In order for the future dish to be juicy, it must contain inclusions of fat. Some cooks prefer to use meat on the bone.

Five of the lowest calorie roast beef recipes:

  1. Oblong-shaped fillets are wrapped with twine or culinary thread so that the finished dish retains its given shape. The meat is poured with vegetable oil and sent to an oven preheated to 250 °C. Gradually reduce the temperature to 150 °C and bring the meat until cooked.
  2. The temperature of the finished roast beef is 60-65 ° C, and it is checked with a special thermometer. At the end, the meat is wrapped in foil and left for 15 minutes. This step allows you to “seal” the juice.
  3. In some cases, beef is pre-marinated in onions, spices and vegetable oil. The meat is dipped in the sauce and left in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours.
  4. To give the tenderloin a golden brown crust, roll it in flour.
  5. During baking, the beef is poured with the released juice, wine or mustard sauce.
  6. Roast beef is cooked not only in the oven, but also on the stove. This processing method cannot be called classical, but it occurs quite often. First, a piece of beef is fried on all sides until golden brown, then the dish is covered with a lid and the dish is simmered over medium heat until cooked.
  7. In the center, the meat is cooked less well, so it has a light shade. If you cook roast beef on the grill, the middle will remain raw.

Before serving, the dish is cut into thin slices.

The meat can be served with fried potatoes, stewed vegetables, and mashed potatoes.

Roast beef is one of the classic dishes of English cuisine. It is prepared from a piece of beef weighing 1.5-2 kg, which is baked in the oven. This dish is as easy to prepare as it is tasty, so after its appearance, the roast beef recipe instantly spread first across the country and then around the world.

There are hundreds of ways to serve juicy roast beef: it is stewed in a sealed container, cooked over an open fire, baked in the oven. But still, roast beef is a dish with long traditions, and when preparing it, it’s a good idea to follow a few basic rules. Using the example of one of the free interpretations of roast beef, we will tell you how good meat can be ruined by stupid mistakes and look at ways to avoid this.

- Meat selection -

Roast beef is a meat dish and, as you might guess, the final taste largely determines the quality of the original product. A prerequisite for cooking roast beef is the correct part of the carcass. It can be thick edge (first 4-5 ribs), thin edge (next 4-5 ribs), sirloin (last 3 ribs), tenderloin. Of course, there is no question of any frozen pieces. It would be nice if the cut contained thin flecks of fat. During cooking, the fat will render out, providing the meat with natural saturation, and this will make it much easier for you to maintain the juiciness of the meat.

- How not to cook roast beef -

So, you have found the right piece. All that remains is to decide what to do with it. Let's say you decide to cook meat in the classic way - bake it in the oven. It is recommended to fry roast beef to a temperature no higher than 65 °C in the center, which corresponds to medium doneness. You decide to adhere to the same recommendation. Since traditional roast beef is usually prepared without seasonings and salt, you also send the meat into the oven without any additives, and just cover it on top. A piece of beef is simply placed on a wire rack set in an oven preheated to 200 °C and baked for 15 minutes, then the temperature is reduced to 160 °C and the meat is baked for another 30 minutes. Looking ahead, we will say that the result of all your efforts will be very far from expected. The roast beef will be tough and fully cooked, in other words, well-done. Now let's try to figure out how to cook roast beef to the desired doneness and never overcook it.

- Temperature and time -

The second main point in this dish, in addition to good meat, is time and temperature, and not just in the oven. Before cooking, let the meat rest at room temperature for 2-3 hours. And if you are using salt and pepper, the end of the room temperature period is the best time to use them. You need to add salt and pepper when the meat has been sitting for about 50 minutes. During this period of time, the meat juice released under the influence of salt crystals will have time to be absorbed again into the meat tissue, making it even more tender and softer.

- Cooking relatively small cuts -

If the size of the dish allows it, before putting the meat in the oven, you can fry it in a well-heated frying pan. Such a quick heat treatment at high temperature will provide the piece with an appetizing golden brown crust. Once in the oven, it can be cooked at lower temperatures, which will allow the meat to be brought exactly to the desired degree of doneness. In addition, with this technique, the pink zone in the center will be larger than when cooking only in the oven, and the gray edging along the edge inside the meat will be thinner.

- Cooking large cuts -

When the pieces of carcass are too large, they go straight into the oven. In this case, it is especially important to set the temperature correctly. For rib roast, the ideal cut for juicy roast beef, roasting should begin at a maximum oven temperature of 250°C. In this mode, the meat is baked for about 10 minutes, and always uncovered, otherwise it will steam rather than bake. For tenderloin, and as you remember, there is no fat, 230 °C is enough. It is also baked for 10 minutes without covering it with anything. After the time has passed, reduce the temperature to 135 °C and continue baking until the thermometer registers 50-52 °C. Don't forget that while the meat rests, the temperature will continue to rise, allowing your roast to reach perfect doneness.

- Rest -

If you still don’t have a thermometer, but you are determined not to overcook your roast beef anymore, then you still have to buy it, because it is too tasty, and also expensive, to experiment with. All you have to do is place the finished, baked meat on the board and let it rest for about 20-30 minutes before moving on to cutting it.

British culture is a collection of contradictions. Classic and modern, tradition and innovation - everything in it is harmoniously combined, complementing each other. Who else but the British could come up with such a controversial dish as roast beef?

Juicy and tender on the inside, with a firm, spicy crust on the outside, this is one of the most delicious options for preparing beef. Despite some “historicity,” the recipe for the dish is improved and supplemented by each housewife at her own discretion.

I don’t know what sauce English women serve roast beef with, but my mother marinates ready-made meat in soy sauce. It turns out very tasty, elegant, festive.

Today I will share with you exactly her recipe - even for me everything turned out with a bang, despite the fact that beef is a rather capricious meat to cook.

Kitchen appliances needed electric or gas stove and oven with temperature controller.
Kitchen utensils that will be useful: mortar for grinding spices, cutting board and knife, plate, frying pan and tongs for turning meat, baking paper, baking sheet, marinating utensils with a lid.

If everything is clear with the dishes, all that remains is to figure out the necessary components of this delicious meat dish.

Ingredients

Beef500 g
Olive oil40 ml
Onion150 g
Garlic20 g
Cilantro15 g
Parsley15 g
Rosemary10 g
Coriander3 g
Oregano3 g
Allspice peas5 g
Pink peppercorns5 g
Black peppercorns5 g
Cowberry20 g
Salt3 g
Worcestershire sauce45 ml
Soy sauce150 ml

How to choose ingredients

To cook beef roast beef according to the classic recipe in the oven, you need to be responsible when choosing ingredients:

  • Choosing beef, keep in mind that for roast beef it is important that the meat is ripe - the carcass must be at least three days old. Steamed meat will be tougher at the end of cooking. At the same time, a piece of meat should be fresh, a beautiful red or cherry color, not sticky, without specific odors or bruises. Choose a good cut from a thick or thin edge, sirloin or tenderloin. Try to take the meat of a young animal - it will be much more tender.
  • Onion and garlic choose by appearance. The main thing is that there are no sprouts on them and that the husk fits tightly to the onion or clove. They themselves should be firm, without soft areas or dark spots.
  • Choosing greens, look at her appearance. The cilantro, parsley and rosemary should be nice, green, juicy and fresh. Do not take greens that have dark spots on the leaves.
  • Buying spices, pay attention to the condition of the packaging. It must be intact and not worn out. Check the expiration dates - the aroma of the future roast beef depends on it.
  • With choice soy and Worcestershire sauce There shouldn't be any difficulties. The main thing is that the container is intact, the lid is sealed and the dates of final consumption are in order.
  • Olive oil Be sure to take it in a dark glass container - the oil will go rancid in the light. By itself it should be transparent, let’s say there is a small sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Also check that the packaging is sealed.

Did you know? Marbled beef is considered ideal for roast beef. This is when the entire piece is permeated with fatty patches between the muscle fibers. However, it is not always available in the store or at the market. Once you are done with purchasing the ingredients, you can begin the process of creating this British culinary masterpiece!

Step-by-step preparation

The easiest way for you to prepare marinated beef roast beef is to use the recipe given with photos. However, before cooking, you need to thoroughly rinse the meat under running water, pat it dry with a waffle towel and remove excess veins and films, peel the onions, wash the herbs and berries. And now you can cook:

  1. Take 5 grams of allspice, black and pink pepper, put them in a mortar, add 3 grams of coriander. Grind the spices well.
  2. Place a piece of beef weighing about 500 grams on a cutting board or baking paper. Pour 20 grams of olive oil over it and spread it well with your hands over the entire surface of the piece.
  3. Sprinkle the meat with spices crushed in a mortar and add 3 grams of oregano. Distribute the seasonings evenly throughout the entire piece of beef; the taste of the future roast beef depends on this.
  4. Sprinkle the meat with salt (about 3 grams is enough), distributing it evenly over the entire surface of the piece. Set the beef aside on a plate.
  5. Take about 20 grams of garlic (that’s about 3-4 cloves) and crush them with a knife and add them to the meat. Coarsely chop a branch of fresh rosemary and add it there.
  6. Pour 20 grams of olive oil into a preheated frying pan and place a piece of meat along with garlic and rosemary. The future roast beef must be fried on each side until a dense golden crust is formed. I fried for an average of 5-7 minutes on each side, which was enough. It is important to turn the meat over with tongs so that it does not lose its juices.
  7. After frying, transfer the contents of the frying pan to a baking tray lined with baking paper and place in an oven preheated to 200°C. The cooking time for meat depends on the result you want to achieve. If you want roast beef with a pink center, it will take 30-35 minutes. For medium roasting you need 40 minutes, and for a well-baked dish - all of 50 minutes.
  8. While the meat is cooking, you can make the marinade. Cut an onion weighing about 150 grams. I cut it into half rings, but you can also cut it into cubes. Transfer it to the container in which you plan to marinate the meat.
  9. Separate the stems and coarsely chop 15 grams of cilantro and 15 grams of parsley, transfer the greens to a marinade container, add 45 milliliters of Worcestershire and 150 milliliters of soy sauce, about 20 grams of lingonberries. Mix well and the marinade is ready.
  10. Place the baked piece of meat in the marinade, cover with onions and chopped herbs from the marinade, tightly cover the container with a lid and refrigerate for at least 10 hours.

After the time has passed, the roast beef is ready, all that remains is to cut it into thin slices and serve. Bon appetit!

How to decorate a dish

If everything is done correctly, the dish does not require decoration. Main - thinly slice the roast beef against the grain of the meat, place the slices on a plate. Along the edges you can put onions, herbs and lingonberries from the marinade - it turns out very good.

If you want additional decoration, you can place it near the slices of meat. cherry tomatoes, halved or sprinkle on slices finely chopped dill.

  • The most important - choose the right meat, the success of the entire event depends on its quality.
  • Can be used ready-made mixture of ground peppers- this is much faster and easier, but in this case the meat loses some of its flavors and is somewhat reminiscent of regular meat.
  • Fresh rosemary is possible replace with dry– this is not critical, I checked. And the composition of spices is not an axiom; you can add them at your discretion.
  • About an hour before cooking remove the meat from the refrigerator– let it warm up to room temperature, this is one of the secrets of juicy roast beef.
  • Fry the meat- a mandatory procedure. This way you will seal its juice inside, the finished beef will be very juicy.

You can serve beef roast as an independent treat, or with a light vegetable side dish or a fresh salad.

Cooking options

In its original version, the British don’t even salt the roast beef during cooking, they simply coat it with Dijon mustard for beauty. The taste, aroma and texture of roast beef depend on which cut of the carcass you choose and what spices you use. You can cook roast beef:

  • with the addition of coffee and mustard;
  • with the addition of horseradish;
  • marinating in wine;
  • adding basil, cumin and nutmeg.

I believe that every housewife in her kitchen can experiment with meat as her heart desires. Learning how to cook beef deliciously is not that difficult.

For example, I started with, then I spotted an interesting recipe from a friend using the same meat.

And now I’ve mastered my mother’s roast beef recipe. It only scares you with its name, but in general everything is simple, even simpler than, you will definitely be convinced of this when you prepare it. This is what British cuisine is like: conservative, simple in execution, but incredibly beautiful and tasty.

Recipe video

This video clearly shows process of creating roast beef marinated in soy sauce. It demonstrates in detail how to coat meat with spices; it tells what needs to be done so that the juice remains sealed inside the piece and the roast beef comes out juicy, aromatic, with a thick, spicy crust.

If you have any interesting thoughts about How to improve the given roast beef recipe or you know your own unique way of preparing this tasty, juicy meat - share your ideas in the comments!

Literally translated from English, the name means “fried beef.” The dish is a large whole piece of meat, baked in the oven or on the grill. According to the classic roast beef recipe, different parts of the carcass, differing in fat content and taste, are suitable for these purposes. You can use tenderloin, thick or thin rib, or sirloin (back meat). The ideal option for preparing this treat would be marbled beef from young beef bulls. It is this kind of meat (with intramuscular fatty mesh) that English housewives and professional chefs who know a lot about meat delicacies use.

The peculiarity of the dish is that the baked and externally rosy piece should remain tender and damp inside. Only then can we say that the cook coped with the task “excellently.” Also keep in mind that traditional roast beef is prepared without aromatic spices and salt. This allows you to experience the full natural meat taste.

How to cook

Only fresh meat is used for cooking, not frozen.

1. Wash the piece, dry it with a kitchen towel and remove all excess from it.

2. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

3. The prepared meat is placed in a baking dish and poured with olive oil. There is no need to add salt, as salt will draw out moisture and the roast will be too dry.

4. Place the beef in the oven for 10-15 minutes so that it browns and the crust “seals” the meat juices inside.

5. After the specified time, remove the meat and let it brew for 15 minutes, and lower the temperature in the oven to 150 degrees.

6. Then the piece of meat is put back into the oven for 40 minutes.

7. The readiness of the roast beef is indicated by the shade of the juice released. It should not be red, like raw meat, but slightly pink (although in the classic English recipe, meat is preferred exclusively with blood).

8. When the beef is ready, take it out, wrap it in foil and leave it to “cook” for 10-15 minutes.

9. Serve by cutting across the grain into thin slices.

Top low-calorie recipes

NameProteins, 100 g Fats, per 100 g Carbohydrates, per 100 g Kcal, per 100 g
Roast pork16.00 21.00 0.00 259.00
Roast beef with sauce15.22 18.39 2.58 243.70
Grilled beef roast16.89 13.85 1.50 205.51
Roast beef in the oven17.43 14.13 0.30 205.07
Roast beef16.23 13.61 1.37 200.14

To create a real meat delicacy, use the tips of experienced chefs.

● When choosing beef for roast beef, keep in mind that the further the piece is located from the neck, the leaner, denser and more fibrous the meat will be.

● If you plan to grill the beef, do not make any punctures or cuts in the piece, otherwise all the juices will leak out during the cooking process and the meat will turn out dry.

● To prevent the roast beef from losing its shape during baking, it is tied with a strong thread before putting it in the oven.

● If you are not afraid of foreign aromas spoiling the taste, you can pre-marinate the beef in a mixture of chopped herbs and vegetables (carrots, onions, celery, parsley).

● The dish is served both hot and cold.

Now you know all the subtleties and secrets of this English treat. Choose a roast beef recipe on the website with detailed photos and a step-by-step description of the cooking process and invite guests to a tasting. Bon appetit!

Roast beef is a classic English dish. The translation of the word “roast beef” can be interpreted as “baked beef.” In England, it is customary to bake beef in the oven, or to simmer a piece of fresh meat over low heat. Roast beef can be prepared in different ways. Let's look at the generally accepted definition of "roast beef".

Roast beef - what is it?

A haute cuisine dish known throughout the world as roast beef, it is prepared from carefully selected meat. It is preferable to choose marbled beef for this dish, but a simple tenderloin, as well as thick edges of the meat from the carcass, are quite suitable.

Roast beef is never prepared from a frozen meat product..

The famous fresh meat is not entirely suitable for roast beef. When baked or fried, it becomes harsh. The essence of this recipe is that the meat acquires a special flavor and remains tender.

Therefore, it is necessary to buy meat for roast beef two to three days after slaughter, which was kept at a temperature of 4-5 degrees above zero.

The British went even further than generally accepted norms when preparing meat for roast beef. They hung the carcasses in cool rooms for three weeks, thereby increasing the amount of enzymes in the fibers of the raw material. At home, where sanitizing the premises is impossible, this is not recommended.

English chefs of the last century believed that meat prepared in this way is more tasty if you use bovine, rather than cow, tenderloin when cooking..

The first attempts to cook something similar to the current recipe were made in England over an open fire. So the meat was not cooked through or was burnt. Then they began to use stoves, grills, roasting pans, and ovens for cooking.

Secrets of juicy roast beef

To hear a lot of compliments from your family and guests, you should know the secrets of cooking roast beef. The subtleties of this dish are as follows:

  • When choosing between vacuum-packed meat and dried fillets, you should give preference to packaged meat. This way, roast beef will be easier to prepare in modern realities, and the meat itself will be more tender;
  • Before placing the dish in the oven, you need to let it warm up to room temperature. Otherwise, you won’t get tender meat; it will cook unevenly;
  • Some recipes contain information that the beef must first be wrapped in thread and then fried in a frying pan until it becomes thin-crusted. It is believed that in this way all the juice in the fillet will remain inside;
  • When housewives cook beef in the oven, they often make a grave mistake: they check the readiness with a fork or knife. In this case, the juice flows out of the beef onto the baking sheet, which worsens the taste of the dish. Only the top fat layer of roast beef can be cut so that the fat nourishes the beef on top as well;
  • At the end of cooking, remove the meat from the oven and allow it to cool on its own for 20 minutes. This is done so that the meat juice is distributed evenly throughout the entire piece of beef.

Connoisseurs of meat dishes know that all similar recipes differ only in the degree of roasting of the beef. What gradation does modern roast beef actually have?

Roast beef and degrees of doneness

Like steak, roast beef has different degrees of doneness. The only way to avoid drying out beef is to not bake it over high heat.

Classic roast beef is cooked at 160 degrees, finally reducing the oven temperature by half.

In English cuisine you can find references to the fact that beef should be stewed at 90 degrees. Then the meat dish will take 2-3 hours to get ready.

The degree of doneness of beef is determined by the temperature at the end of cooking:

  • With blood - about 60 degrees;
  • Medium roast – 70 degrees;
  • Deep roast - 80 degrees.

Since beef cooked according to the English recipe cannot be pierced to determine readiness, you should always focus on the temperature of the process and the baking time.

On average, 1 kg of meat takes 40 minutes to cook when the oven temperature is 160 degrees.

To make the roast beef even softer after cooking, place the warm meat in foil for 30 minutes and leave it on the table at room temperature.

Seasonings and spices for roast beef

The English recipe for cooking beef involves using only salt and pepper in the recipe; it is allowed to add mustard and olive oil to the meat.

Variations on the roast beef theme are made with the addition of rosemary, parsley and dill. Sometimes the meat is seasoned with dried onions and garlic. It is worth remembering that a large number of spices can spoil the taste of meat no worse than improper processing and baking.

English roast beef recipe

The classic roast beef recipe includes the following ingredients:

  • A little more than kg of beef;
  • Salt to taste;
  • Two tablespoons of olive oil;
  • Two tablespoons of mustard.

Here the baking time is 130 minutes. The immediate cooking process takes place at a temperature of 150 degrees.

The cooking algorithm is as follows:


If you plan to marinate meat for 8-10 hours before cooking, do not rub it with salt, but limit yourself to pepper and spices.

When pre-frying roast beef, do not move the meat in the pan. This will damage the beef fibers and lose some of the precious juice. Meat can only be turned once during frying..

The degree of roasting during the baking process begins to be adjusted after 40-50 minutes in the oven at 150 degrees. The temperature is lowered to the point at which the frying turns out to be light, medium, or full.

What do you eat roast beef with?

The meat dish can be eaten with or without a side dish. In England, roast beef is eaten with sauces and cereals. In European countries, the dish is served with French fries, vegetables, salads, and cabbage.

Roast beef recipes vary. Each country that adopts the recipe adds something of its own to it. For example, in Russia they eat baked beef with potatoes, in the States they like marinated meat, in France they add cognac to roast beef.

Serving roast beef with “green butter” is considered especially chic. In the recipe, add herbs and lemon juice to regular butter and mix the mixture until smooth.

The British often serve Yorkshire pudding with baked beef. In fact, this pudding is a pastry made from batter. The second most popular side dish for real roast beef is green peas.