Beef Tenderloin Tips With Mushrooms

Beef tenderloin tips with mushrooms is a quick skillet dinner with a rich, glossy sauce. Sear bite-size pieces of tenderloin hard and fast in two batches, brown sliced mushrooms in butter with shallot, garlic and thyme, then make a pan sauce with red wine and beef stock and return the tips just long enough to warm through. Serve it over rice, egg noodles or thick toast.

The tips come from a whole tenderloin: the narrow tail end and the uneven trimmings left after you cut out the even center. They are every bit as tender as a filet, only not as neat, which makes them right for a dish where everything is cut into pieces anyway.

At a glance: serves 4. Prep 30 minutes, including trimming the tenderloin, cook about 20 minutes.

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Proper Meats Whole Tenderloin

This recipe uses about 1 1/2 pounds of tips from the tail and trimmings of 1 whole beef tenderloin, and leaves the center for a roast or steaks.

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Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, was talking about filet, the steak cut from the tenderloin, when he said this:

“it is the premium steak in the animal. And it is so incredibly tender, but there are, I like fat and the filet doesn't have a lot of fat.”

Gray Shipley

He gives the cut its due and still says plainly that he likes more fat. That describes tenderloin tips as well: very tender, mild and lean. This recipe answers his point the way a cook would. Butter goes into the pan with the mushrooms and again at the end, and the browned bits from searing the beef become the base of the sauce, so the plate gets the richness the meat itself does not carry.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin tips, cut from the tail and trimmings of 1 whole tenderloin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch for the mushrooms
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or avocado oil, divided
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dry red wine, or more beef stock
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 4 cups cooked rice, buttered egg noodles, or 4 thick slices of toast, to serve

Instructions

1. Trim the tenderloin. Pull away the chain, the long, loose strip of meat and fat that runs along one side, and cut away the fat beneath it. Slide a thin knife under the silverskin, the shiny membrane on top, angle the blade slightly upward, and cut it away in strips.
2. Cut off the thin tail end and the irregular pieces at the wide head end, leaving an even center. Wrap the center and refrigerate or freeze it for a roast or steaks. Cut the tail and trimmings into 1 1/2-inch pieces, removing any fat and sinew as you go, until you have about 1 1/2 pounds. The chain can go in too once its fat and gristle are cut away.
3. Pat the tips very dry with paper towels and season them all over with the salt and pepper.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 12-inch stainless or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers and just begins to smoke. Add half the tips in a single layer with space between them. Sear for about 1 1/2 minutes per side, turning to brown two or three sides, about 4 minutes in all, until well browned outside and still pink in the middle. Move them to a plate and repeat with the remaining oil and tips.
5. Lower the heat to medium. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter, the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring now and then, for 6 to 8 minutes, until the mushrooms have given up their liquid, it has cooked away, and they are browned.
6. Add the shallot, garlic and thyme and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until soft and fragrant. Sprinkle the flour over and stir for 30 seconds.
7. Pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let it bubble for 1 to 2 minutes, until reduced by about half. Add the stock, Worcestershire and mustard and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
8. Turn the heat to low and return the tips and any juices from the plate. Turn them in the sauce for 1 to 2 minutes, until warmed through and a thermometer in the thickest piece reads your target. Take the pan off the heat and swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
9. Taste the sauce for salt, scatter with parsley, and serve over rice, noodles or toast.

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What are beef tenderloin tips?

Beef tenderloin tips are bite-size pieces of the tenderloin, the long, narrow muscle under the backbone that filet mignon is cut from. They come from the parts of the tenderloin that do not cut into neat round steaks: the tapering tail, the irregular head end, and the side strip called the chain. In texture and flavor they are the same meat as a filet, just in pieces. You will also see them called filet tips or tenderloin bites, and the comparison below explains how they differ from filet mignon.

Cutting tips from a whole tenderloin

A whole tenderloin weighs several pounds, far more than this recipe needs, and buying it whole is how you get both tips for tonight and a center-cut roast for another day from one purchase. Once it is trimmed, the thick, even middle can be roasted whole or cut into steaks. The tail and the trim from the head end become tips. Wrap whatever you are not cooking today tightly and refrigerate or freeze it. For the center, see How to Cook a Whole Beef Tenderloin, linked below.

Sear hot, then stop

Tenderloin has very little fat and almost no connective tissue, so there is nothing to gain from long cooking. It goes from pink and juicy to dry and grainy in a few minutes. The goal is a deep brown outside and a rosy middle, followed by a short, gentle warm in the sauce. Sear in two batches so the pan stays hot: crowd it and the tips release their juices and simmer gray.

Many cooks take tenderloin off the heat at 130 to 135 degrees F for medium rare. That is below the FSIS figure of 145 degrees F with a 3-minute rest, and the choice is yours. For 145, let the tips sit in the sauce over low heat for an extra minute or two, then let the pan stand off the heat for 3 minutes before serving.

What to serve with beef tenderloin tips

Anything that soaks up the sauce. Buttered egg noodles are the classic choice, and rice or mashed potatoes work just as well, or spoon everything over thick toasted sourdough. Green beans or a crisp salad on the side balance the butter.

Food safety

USDA FSIS lists 145 degrees F, followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes, as the safe minimum internal temperature for beef steaks and roasts. Tenderloin tips are pieces of a whole cut, so the same figure applies. Check the thickest piece with an instant-read thermometer. Keep raw beef and its board away from food that will not be cooked, and reheat leftovers to 165 degrees F. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.