Sous vide filet mignon with horseradish butter is a remarkably easy way to cook an elegant dinner for two. Seasoned with salt, pepper, and butter, the steak gets gently cooked, making it tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Drizzling it with horseradish butter gives it just a little bit of zip.
Adapted from Daniel Shumski | How to Sous Vide | Workman Publishing, 2021
The texture of a well-cooked filet mignon is often compared to butter, tender, and yielding. What more natural companion, then, than butter itself? The richness of the butter highlights and complements the richness of the beef, seasoned simply with salt and pepper.—Daniel Shumski
☞ Contents
Sous Vide Filet Mignon with Horseradish Butter FAQs
Can I sous vide a frozen piece of filet mignon?
You can! As long as your steaks aren’t frozen on top of each other—they have to be frozen in a single layer or separately. Pull them out of the freezer and add them to the water bath when it reaches temperature. Be aware that adding frozen meat to your sous vide bath will make the water temperature drop, so you’re going to have to wait for it to come back to temperature. Once there, start timing, with the addition of an extra hour because of the freezing.
Does a sous vide steak need to rest before serving?
A traditionally cooked steak needs to be set aside for a few minutes before serving, in order for the temperature to even out and so the juices can redistribute. Because a sous vide steak is cooked evenly throughout, there’s no need to let it rest, even after a quick, hot sear. It will be warm all the way through and will be ready to serve immediately.
Sous Vide Filet Mignon with Horseradish Butter
Equipment
- Sous vide machine
Ingredients
- 2 (6 to 8 ounces each) filet mignons cut 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) thick, or substitute beef tenderloin steaks
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt plus more if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more if needed
- 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz) unsalted butter divided
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 3/4 teaspoon prepared horseradish plus more if needed
Directions
- On your sous vide machine, set the water temperature to 135°F (57°C).
- Sprinkle both sides of the filets with table salt and pepper. Spread 1/2 tablespoon of butter on top of each filet. Place the steaks into the sous vide bag and seal the bag.
- When the water reaches temperature, place the bagged filets in the water. The water will cool slightly when the filets are added; allow the temperature to return to 135°F (57°C).
- Cook for 1 hour, then remove the bagged filets from the water. Carefully open the bag and pour off the liquid into a ramekin.
- Using tongs, carefully remove the filets and place them on a cutting board. Blot the filets with paper towels on all sides to thoroughly dry. This is the key to developing a nice crust when finishing the steak.
- Place the coarse salt on a plate and dip one side of each filet in the salt.
- In a large, heavy skillet over high heat, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until sizzling. Add the filets to the skillet, then reduce heat to medium-high. Sear until browned, about 1 minute per side.
☞TESTER TIP: For a nice crust on all sides of the filet, sear the sides as well, about 30 seconds each.
- Transfer the filets to a serving platter and cover them with foil to keep warm and let rest while you make the sauce.
- Reduce heat to medium and remove all but about 1 tablespoon of the melted butter from the skillet. Carefully pour the beef drippings from the ramekin into the skillet and bring to a low boil.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the horseradish. Taste, and add more horseradish, salt, or pepper, if needed.
- Drizzle sauce over filets and serve hot.
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
I’ve been cooking using the sous vide method for over a decade, and this sous vide filet mignon with horseradish butter recipe is a great introduction to sous vide cookery. Getting a filet mignon cooked to the right temperature can be quite daunting, and as it’s a lean cut of beef, it can dry out easily. This method allows each bite to be moist, juicy, and very satisfying.
I used hot water from the tap to fill my water bath and to help minimize the time to get the water to the proper temp. This recipe calls for 135°F (57°C) temperature, which is on the medium-rare side. Keep in mind that when you add the pouch of steaks to the water bath, the water will cool, and needs to get back up to temperature. This required an additional 10 minutes. That noted, one of the best things about sous vide cooking, is that you could easily keep it in the water bath another 1 or 2 hours and it would still turn out perfectly!
In addition to searing the top and bottom of the steak in a pan, I also seared the sides as well, to give a nice crust all around the steak. While this steak was awesome, I wasn’t overly impressed with the horseradish butter sauce, so one can easily top it with a compound butter like anchovy, or a mustard sauce, or au poivre steak sauce.
Originally published December 8, 2021
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If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Aryn Snell
These sous vide filet mignons with horseradish butter turned out better than any steak that I’ve had at a fancy steak house.
I use my sous vide machine a fair bit but at a lower temperature and for a longer time so I was a bit weary when I saw that it was to be at 135°F for one hour but the meat turned out beautifully. It was flawless. The only change I would do in the future would be to add more horseradish to the sauce but that’s just a personal preference.