The best filet mignon you'll ever eat: tender, moist, and oh so juicy. Topped with a super flavorful garlic herb compound butter, this recipe produces an epic meal.
Prep 15 minutesminutes
Cook 30 minutesminutes
Stand 30 minutesminutes
Total 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Recipe Makes (Approximate): 4servings
Equipment
wire cooling rack
baking sheet
Food processor (for garlic-herb butter)
Plastic wrap
Meat thermometer
cast-iron skillet
Ingredients
For the Filet Mignon
4filet mignon steaks(about 6-8 ounces each, about 2" thick)
Place 4 filet mignon steaks on cutting board. Liberally season all sides of each steak with plenty of salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Place wire baking rack on large baking sheet. Transfer seasoned steaks to wire rack. Let steaks stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes, but preferably 1 to 2 hours. If letting stand for more than one hour, keep steaks in refrigerator, then let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before cooking.
To Make the Garlic-Herb Butter
Add ½ cup unsalted butter, ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh parsley, 1-1 ½ teaspoons roughly chopped garlic, 2 tablespoons roughly chopped shallot, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt, and freshly cracked black pepper to bowl of food processor. Process ingredients until mixture is completely smooth, with no sizable pieces of garlic or shallot remaining.
Spread plastic wrap on flat work surface, then transfer butter mixture from food processor bowl to center of plastic wrap. Wrap plastic wrap around butter, covering butter completely, then roll wrapped butter back and forth on flat surface to form log shape.
Place wrapped butter log in refrigerator. Chill until firm.
To Cook the Steaks
Preheat the oven to 250º Fahrenheit. Once preheated, place baking sheet with wire racks and steaks in oven. If using oven-safe meat thermometer with probe, insert now.
Cook steaks until internal temperature reaches desired range based on recipe notes below.
Once recommended internal temperature is reached, carefully remove baking sheet from oven and set aside. Let steaks rest 5 minutes, redistributing juices and allowing residual heat to finish cooking steaks.
Preheat cast-iron skillet over high heat for 5 minutes while steaks rest.
After 5 minutes, pat steaks completely dry on all sides with paper towels, then carefully place steaks directly into preheated cast-iron skillet.
Sear steaks 45 seconds, then flip steaks over and top each steak with 1 tablespoon of chilled garlic-herb butter.
Sear steaks 45 seconds more, then flip each steak once or twice as needed, until steaks are rich brown color, approximately 20 to 40 seconds total. Press sides of steaks up against walls of skillet briefly, until sides of steaks are no longer pink or red.
To Serve
When satisfied with crust and color of steaks, transfer each steak to serving plates. Top each steak with additional garlic-herb butter and serve immediately with desired sides.
Recipe Notes
Recommended Temperatures Based on Steak Doneness
To cook your filet mignon steaks to a different temperature, follow this chart:
Rare: Target temperature: 120°-125°F. Remove from oven when internal temperature reaches 110º F.
Medium Rare: Target temperature: 130°-135°F. Remove from oven when internal temperature reaches 120º F.
Medium: Target temperature: 140°-145°F. Remove from oven when internal temperature reaches 130º F.
Medium Well: Target temperature: 150°-155°F. Remove from oven when internal temperature reaches 140º F.
Well Done: Target temperature: 160°-175°F. Remove from oven when internal temperature reaches 160º F.