Learn to cook filet mignon like the best steakhouses. Start by pan-searing it briefly in a cast iron skillet, then finish cooking it in the oven. Fast and easy, it makes perfectly juicy and tender beef filet steak—our favorite special dinner recipe.
🐄Ingredients
Beef tenderloin filets—6 to 8 ounces, about 1 to 1 ½ inches thick
Butter—or oil
Seasoning—Kosher salt and black pepper. Or seasoning of your choice.
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Featured Comment from Gary:
"This is my go-to recipe for Filet Mignon. They are always perfect."
The best way to cook beef tenderloin filets combines two time-honored techniques. Pan-searing on the stovetop will create a tasty Maillard reaction for flavor. Then, cook in an oven to your perfect final temperature.
Learn to sear and bake filet mignon at home. My beef tenderloin filet recipe is perfect for a date night recipe; just follow the simple step-by-step photo instructions.
👨🍳How to Cook Filet Mignon—Step-by-Step
1. Preheat the oven to 400°. If you have time, rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
2. Pat dry well with paper towels and season to your taste.
3. In a cast iron or oven-safe skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat.
4. When hot, sear both sides of the filets for 2-3 minutes.
5. Transfer to the preheated oven. Cook to your desired internal temperature minus about 3°-4°. Medium-rare takes about 9-11 minutes to reach an internal temperature of about 135°- 140°.
6. Remove from pan, tent lightly with foil on a plate, and rest for 5-8 minutes before serving.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏰How long to cook filet mignon
The oven time for a medium-rare 1-inch filet in a 400° oven is about 5 to 7 minutes, plus 4 minutes of searing, for a total cooking time of 9 to 11 minutes. Remember to allow an additional 5-8 minutes of rest after cooking.
Approximate cooking times in a 400° oven are estimated for planning only. The estimated times are for 1-inch thick filets; thicker filets take longer.
- Rare—cold red center(125°-130°)—4-minute sear and 4 to 5 minutes oven time for about 8 to 9 minutes total cooking time. Please see the caution below for rare.
- Medium rare—warm red and soft center(130°-135°)—4-minute sear and 5 to 7 minutes oven time for about 9 to 11 minutes total cooking time.
- Medium—pink and firm (140°-150°)—4-minute sear and 8 to 10 minutes in the oven, for about 11 to 13 minutes total cooking time.
- Medium well—minimal pink(150°-155°)—4-minute sear and 12 to 15 minutes oven time for about 16 to 19 minutes total cooking time—not recommended.
- Well done—firm and brown(160°+ )—4-minute sear and 15+ minutes oven time for about 19+ minutes total cooking time—not recommended.
Actual cooking time will vary by thickness, rest time, searing, and oven temperature—NEVER COOK BY TIME ALONE, and use a thermometer.
Pick the internal temperature you want when served. Remove the steak a few degrees less and tent lightly with foil. The filet temperature will rise 2°-4° while resting. You can not uncook meat but can always cook it a bit more. Be sure to check your temperature early,
WARNING FOR RARE: For rare, it may be only a few minutes in the oven. If you did an intense sear with a rest to room temperature or if your filets are thinner, check the temperature of the meat when it goes into the oven if you want it to be rare. It is hard to hit what you want, so observe and remove it early. You can always cook it a bit more later.
Tips and options to get it right every time
Quality matters—buy prime grade if you can afford it, or well-marbelized choice grade. If you have questions, talk to your local butcher—they love to discuss their products and have a wealth of knowledge.
The thicker the steak, the more important the precooking rest at room temperature becomes to achieve the final internal temperature you want. If the steak is over 1 ½ inches thick, see the FAQ section for the reverse searing cooking method.
Skipping the rest before cooking will increase the cooking time by as much as 50% and adversely affect the surface.
If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, any oven-safe skillet that can move from stovetop to oven will do. Most skillets will be oven-safe but have a temperature limit set by the manufacturer.
How to season tenderloin filet steaks
A good shake of Kosher or sea salt and black pepper is enough. We like to use my All-Purpose Seasoning Salt, which adds garlic. Other seasoning options include rosemary or a sprig of fresh thyme. Try some homemade Steak Butter with garlic, blue cheese, and herbs of your choice.
Real butter adds some excellent flavor. If you have issues with smoking butter, then in the future, use high-quality vegetable oil.
If you want to use fresh herbs, like thyme or rosemary, put them on top of the steaks with a pat of butter as you move them to the oven.
The timing of any salt is important. Do not put salt on the meat for more than a few minutes before cooking unless you do it for 60 minutes or more. Between those times, it will pull water out of the meat but not allow enough time to reabsorb back into it.
Other steak recipes
Grilled Filet Mignon
The perfect Filet Mignon Recipe uses the tried and true sear and oven bake method to get the best filet mignon every time—moist, tender, and flavorful.
Check out some other great steak recipes, such as Grilled New York Strip Steaks, Seared and Baked Strip Steak, and Grilled T-bone Steak.
🍽️What to serve with filet
Filet mignon goes with almost anything you like with a nice meal. Our favorites are crusty bread, Oven Roasted Baby Red Potatoes or Parmesan Baked Potatoes, and a side salad or hot vegetables like Green Beans with Almonds or Roasted Asparagus.
Choose a red wine like Merlot, Pinot Noir, or Cabernet for a wine pairing.
🍳Why use cast iron
The best choice is a cast-iron skillet. Its flat bottom transfers heat over its surface without hot spots, making cast iron the best option for pan-searing meat. It is cheap, and every cook should have a skillet or two.
❓FAQs
No. You must monitor the temperature correctly, or you will ruin your expensive meat. Please do not try to cook by time alone.
An instant-read meat thermometer will serve you well with this and many other recipes.
Resting before cooking will elevate the internal temperature of the meat before cooking. This helps prevent overcooking and drying of the surface of meat while getting the correct internal temperature.
30 to 60 minutes will do a good job, but even 15 minutes will have some benefits. Without this, cooking will take longer, and you may overcook and dry out the outside of the meat—significantly if cooking a thicker filet.
Resting after cooking is probably the biggest secret to a great filet most people skip. It is essential since it will allow the fluid that escapes the cells during cooking to migrate back into the cells and make for a moist and tender filet.
I like to tent the cooked filets with foil for about 5+ minutes before serving.
For steaks 2 inches thick or more, use a reverse searing method.
1. Rest the steaks at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
2. Oven roast at 250° in a cast iron or other stovetop and oven-safe pan for about 45 to 60 minutes to a target temperature of 10° under your desired final temperature.
3. Move the pan to the stovetop and sear over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes per side to brown to your preferred color.
🐄About Filet Mignon
Use only prime or choice-grade filet mignon steak. An 8 oz. of filet mignon is a nice serving size. That will usually be between 1 to 1 ¼ inches thick.
Filet Mignon steaks are sometimes called filet steaks or beef tenderloin steaks. It is part of the psoas muscle of the cow. Since the psosis does very little work and is not weight-bearing, it is the most tender cut of beef.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
📖 Recipe
Pan Seared Oven Roasted Filet Mignon
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Ingredients
- 2 beef tenderloin filet mignon - about 1-1 ½ inch thick and about 6-8 oz
- 1 tablespoon butter - or oil
- salt and pepper or other seasonings - to taste or 7:2:2
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Start with 1 to 1 ½ inch thick filets, about 6-8 oz each, and trim well. Rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes if you have time.
- Pat dry well with paper towels. Season all sides to taste with the seasoning of your choice. Just kosher salt and black pepper or All-Purpose Seasoning is enough.
- In a cast iron or oven-safe skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat.
- When hot, sear both sides of the filets for 2-3 minutes—sear, flip, sear, and give them a final flip before putting them into the oven.
- Transfer to the preheated oven. Cook to your desired internal temperature minus about 3°-4°. Medium-rare takes about 9-11 minutes to reach an internal temperature of about 135°- 140°. If you want the meat rare, check the internal temperature when it goes into the oven. Also, check the temperature a few minutes early to prevent overcooking.
- Remove from pan, tent lightly with foil on a plate, and rest for 5-8 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- An 8 oz filet will be about 2-3 inches in diameter and 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inches thick. Quality matters a lot with filets. Use prime if you can, but choice grade will work.
- Resting at room temperature will help you get the final internal temperature you want without drying the surface of the meat.
- Try to season one hour before cooking or just before cooking.
- You may use butter or oil in the pan. Butter has a lower smoke point, but I have never had an issue.
- Pan and butter should be hot, and the meat should dry and seasoned before starting to sear.
- Sear each side to approximately the final color you want and do a final flip just before going in the oven.
- If you want rare, especially if the filet is thinner, check the temperature when it goes in the oven.
- I suggest checking the internal temperature of the filet about 4-5 minutes after going into the oven.
- The time is very variable here, depending on the thickness of the meat, the exact starting temperature, the stovetop, the amount of searing, the exact oven temperatures, and the pan. There are many excellent reasons NOT to go by time. Time estimates are given as guides for time management.
- PLEASE USE AN INSTANT-READ THERMOMETER. DO NOT COOK BY TIME ALONE; YOU MUST CHECK INTERNAL TEMPERATURE.
- Times are provided to help with planning only. You are responsible if you overcook a filet. You can always cook it a bit more later, but you can not uncook an overcooked filet.
- Remove from the oven a few degrees below your final desired temperature. It will rise a few degrees when tented.
- Let rest tented for 5-8 minutes before serving.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally published March 10, 2012, updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Mark D says
This is a great recipe and thickness of the steaks makes a difference in the cooking time. Tried it twice with about 1 inch steaks. First time cooked in oven a little to long but steaks were still very tender. Second time cut down on oven time to about 7 minutes and steaks were perfectly medium rare. Nothing went to waste!!!
Phyllis Dodd says
Fixed this tonight - I had never done steak in the oven. It is simply scrumptous and so very easy! I will certainly do it again!
DrDan says
Hi Phyllis,
Thanks so much for the note. I love simple recipes like this.
Dan
Laura says
Followed your instructions and made the best steaks yet for my son tonight before his wisdom teeth come out tomorrow and solid foods won't be happening for a couple days. Thank you for clear and wasy to follow guidelines! Used temp, not time and they came out perfectly! We thank you!
Bill D says
I am always against using a thermometer to figure out cooking time because you have to pierce the meet, allowing some of the good juices to escape. Is that not a problem in the real world and only a problem in my head?
DrDan says
More in your head really. There is research showing that small amount of moisture loss doesn't matter. A few pokes to get it right is well worth it. After you get used to it, most of your cooking becomes "one poke" dinners.
Chris Slick says
Thank you! This method delivered a perfect steak--the best I have ever prepared myself! It literally cut like butter and was bursting with meaty flavors.
45 minutes prior to cooking, I removed the steaks from the refrigerator, dried them in paper towel to absorb all excess liquid, applied generous salt and pepper, and coated them with olive oil. I let them set on the counter for 45 minutes to get nice and room temperature.
I followed the directions above, and preheated the oven to 425, also preheating the broiler pan I would later place the steaks on.
And into the medium high nonstick pan. Because they were coated in oil, I didn't need any extra oil or butter in the pan--just dropped them right in. 2 mins each side.
Right into the foil-lined broiler for 10 minutes (they were about 1.25" so I adjusted for slightly less time. The digital meat thermometer made it very easy.
Wow. Just wow. The results are amazing. I will never cook a steak any other way again.
DrDan says
Hi Chris,
I will take 20% of the credit. So much of this depends on good quality ingredients which you obviously started with. Add in a digital thermometer and you should get great results.
Welcome to the site and thanks for the note.
Dan
Judy O says
Hi, Dr. Dan-I am using your method (my husband's new favorite)to cook some filets tomorrow. I have some beautiful (and expensive)filets I will be serving to out of country guests. My question to you is should I leave them unwrapped in the fridge so they get a dry exterior?Thank you for your input. Judy
DrDan says
Hi Judy,
Leave them covered, they will lose too much moisture.
Dan
Anne says
You saved Easter dinner! Steaks ready - went to light BBQ, and out of propane (I know, charcoal is better, but...!).
A quick google search brought me here. Great result (my husband says he'd rather this preparation than the grill.). Couldn't be easier. I used butter with a splash of olive oil to help keep from burning, but think next time I'll use all butter.
Thanks Dan! A great and foolproof recipe.
DrDan says
Hi Anne,
Glad it worked well for you. My grill is natural gas so no trip to refill the tank for me anymore.
Thanks for the note
Dan
Corey Anderson says
Once again, another wonderful simple recipe from Dr. Dan. I love how you don't overcomplicate your recipes, your techniques are straightforward for all, but especially beginner cooks. And the food always tastes great -- I also love your Buttermilk Ranch Chicken Kabobs and Oven Baked Blueberry Pancake!
DrDan says
Thanks Corey.
Dan
Debbie says
Excellent recipe! I was afraid I'd overcook them so I got them a tad underdone for my taste, but still very very good...and I might now appreciate a little pink in my steak!
John Burik says
Did this a couple months ago, excellent! Doing again tonight.
Debbie says
Suggested temp for medium well? My filets are only 5 ounces so I will pay close attention, but I'd like suggestions for the temp to cook to.
DrDan says
The final temp for medium well is 150-155 but remember that the temp will go up for a few more minutes after cooking during the rest. So I would aim for about 3 - 5 degrees less.
Now the problem of only 5 oz. If you rest them to room temp before cooking, you may be almost there with just the searing. So it may take only a few minutes in the oven.
https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/kitchen-cheat-sheets/#temperatures
Mary Wachsman says
Tried this it was wonderful!
DrDan says
Thanks for the note and Happy Holidays.
Dan
Carson Fran says
Great technique! For those worried about burning the butter, sear the steaks with vegetable oil and throw in a couple of dabs of butter just before putting it into the oven. Again, as the author noted, don't depend on time -- get a good instant read thermometer and remove from the oven at 120-125 degrees F and let these beauties rest.
DrDan says
Hi Carson,
Thanks for the note. As you noted, people need to get a thermometer. I feel like I say that all the time. Sometimes I want to just delete the time estimate out of recipes like this but you need something to help with time management.
You hint on the butter is also good. I didn't know I was causing so much worry for people with the butter. If they are concerned they should use the oil. I did this just two days ago for my wife's birthday and used oil but added compound blue cheese butter after for the butter flavor.
Dan
Dan
Linda says
OMG!! The BEST RECIPE I have ever found on the internet for filet mignon!! And sooooo easy!!! This recipe is fool-proof, so anyone who says otherwise is doing something wrong. I will make this recipe and only this recipe for filet for the rest of my life!! THANK YOU!!!!!!
DrDan says
Thanks for to note.... You must have seen good old Rob's comments above... He is good for a laugh.I should have deleted it, but it was the holiday season.
Dan
Brandon M says
I cooked these last night. I used a little veg oil and heated the cast iron for 10-minutes. I let the steaks come to room temp and then patted them dry. I then rubbed a little oil on the steak and seasoned with coarse salt and pepper. I seared both large-flat sides for 2-minutes and then seared the sides/edges of the steak for 1-minute each. They were close to 2 inches thick. Right before I moved them to the oven I cut a few squares of butter and placed it on top of the steaks. I baked them for 10-minutes in the cast iron at 400 degrees in a regular oven and they came out perfect. Mine was a perfect medium and my wifes (who had a smaller cut) was medium-well. This was the closest taste to a Ruth's Chris steak I have achieved yet and my new standard of cooking filets.
DrDan says
Great note. And thanks for the rating.
DrDan
Tracy says
I have to say, this recipe is absolutely amazing!!! Thank you so much!! I love to cook and bake, but have struggled with making the perfect steak. I cut mine a LOT thicker than normal, but they turned out awesome!!! My husband said it was the best steak he had ever had, although we could only eat half! Saving the rest for lunch tomorrow. Thank you again!