Classic Beef Roast Beef
We reveal all the secrets of juicy roast beef. Today we will prepare a traditional English dish: roast beef, or beef roasted or baked in one whole piece. This meat is delicious both hot and cold.
Updated : 08 April, 2026
Easy
About 1 hour.
Ingredients
800 grams
Beef fillet
2 tablespoon
Olive oil
to taste
Ground pepper mix
to taste
Salt
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Preparation
Step 1
How do you make classic beef roast beef? Prepare the ingredients. For roast beef, you need one whole boneless piece of meat. A small amount of fat is acceptable. Rib roast, striploin, rump, or marbled beef will work well. In large supermarkets, you can often find beef specially prepared for roast beef. It is better not to use frozen meat, because even after thawing the roast beef will not be as juicy. Give preference to fresh beef.
Step 2
Take the meat out of the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking and leave it at room temperature. If you skip this step, the meat will cook unevenly: it will form a crust on the outside while remaining underdone inside. Rinse the beef, trim off all membranes and sinews, and pat it dry with paper towels.
Step 3
Salt and pepper the meat on all sides, pressing the seasonings into the meat, and leave it to marinate for 20-30 minutes. If you wish, you can use other spices, such as special beef seasoning blends or your favorite dried herbs, but traditionally roast beef needs only freshly ground pepper blend and salt.
Step 4
Tie the piece of beef with kitchen twine or cooking string to give it a rounded shape.
Step 5
Brush the beef with olive oil.
Step 6
Preheat a frying pan over high heat. If you have a grill pan, use it, then the meat will also get a beautiful pattern. There is no need to grease the pan, because the meat is already coated with oil. Place the meat onto the hot pan.
Step 7
Sear it on all sides for 3 minutes per side until a golden-brown crust appears. This is necessary to seal in the juices and prevent the beef from drying out during roasting. While searing, do not move the meat around in the pan. Otherwise, the integrity of the piece will be damaged, and meat juices will leak out through the cracks.
Step 8
If you have a cast-iron pan with a removable handle, remove the handle and roast the meat right in the pan, or transfer the meat to a baking dish. Place the meat into an oven preheated to 160°C (320°F). Depending on the desired doneness, roast the meat for 30 to 45 minutes. If bright red juice runs out when pierced, the meat is not ready yet. Pale pink juice indicates that the roast beef is done. If the juice is whitish, the meat has most likely dried out inside.
Step 9
Wrap the finished roast beef in several layers of foil and leave it to rest for 30 minutes. During this time, the meat juices will redistribute more evenly throughout the meat.
Step 10
Roast beef should look slightly pink once cut. In my case, the meat closer to the surface dried out a little and turned gray because I kept the roast beef in the oven slightly too long. At the same time, the juice coming out is lightly pink, which means that overall the meat turned out juicy. Enjoy your meal!
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