Braised Tenderloin Tips

I made these Braised Tenderloin Tips for our Christmas dinner this year, and y’all wanted the recipe so here we are! I love you and you deserve this goodness, after all. It’s pretty much steak tips or stewed beef (stew beef is what I call it), made with beef tenderloin. I wanted to keep it simple and straightforward, so there are no mirepoix or bay leaves: just an onion, the meat, tomato paste, some seasonings, and broth.

It’s no secret if you’ve been here a while that braising is one of my favorite ways to cook, and braised beef is one of my favorite things to eat. It’s also no secret that filet mignon is my favorite cut of steak because I abhor fat, gristle, and marbling in my meat. I mention this to lead up to the fact that these Braised Tenderloin Tips might be my new favorite thing that I make!

Braised Tenderloin Tips Ingredients

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are useful notes about the ingredients you will need to make this Braised Tenderloin Tips recipe:

• Beef tenderloin: If you find it in one (long) piece, it’ll be called beef tenderloin. If you find it in steak form, it’ll be filet mignon. If you’re lucky or have access to a butcher, you might find beef tenderloin tips. Whichever form you start with, make sure the final pieces are about 2″ wide. This is one recipe where I don’t suggest substituting the cut: tenderloin is integral and that’s why it’s included in the name.
• Yellow onion: A white onion or sweet onion would work fine. Dice is very small, almost a mince, so thre’s very little trace of it in the final dish.
• Beef broth, water: You can use all beef broth if you like, but I like to temper the flavor with water. Chicken or vegetable broth would also be alright but not recommended.
• Homemade onion soup mix: If you don’t have the ingredients for or just don’t feel like making my soup mix just toss in a packet of Lipton’s onion soup mix and you’ll be good. Don’t skip it!
• Avocado oil: I’ve become a very big fan of avocado oil recently so it’s in my handy dandy squirt bottle. Any neutral oil with a high smoke point will work just fine.
• Tomato paste, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce: Tomato sauce will brighten things a bit, with a zip of acidity. Soy sauce – any soy sauce – and Worcestershire are for salt and umami. Don’t omit or replace any of these.
• Kosher salt, cracked black pepper: The basics for our Braised Beef Tenderloin. Adjust them as you see fit: you know your tastebuds better than I do!
• Browning: To deepen the color I like to add a touch of browning sauce at the start of simmering. You can omit this and you’ll still end up with a beautiful dish. If you add browning make sure not to add more than a splash: it DOES have flavor and will throw off your meal.

How to Make Braised Tenderloin Tips

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some important tidbits to help you make the most of this Braised Tenderloin Tips recipe:

• Prepare your meat. Add your beef tenderloin pieces to a large mixing bowl. Add the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cracked black pepper, and kosher salt, then use tongs to toss everything together, making sure all of the tenderloin pieces are evenly seasoned. Grab your largest saute pan or braiser – we want a wide surface area – and place it over medium-high heat to preheat for 2 minutes. After two minutes, add a drizzle of avocado oil to the pan and swirl it around to coat. Add the pieces of beef tenderloin to the pan, leaving a couple of inches between each piece to ensure they sear (too close together and they’ll steam, and who wants grey Braised Tenderloin Tips?). Do this in batches, adding oil between each, if needed. Let sear undisturbed for 3 minutes, then flip. Sear for another 1-2 minutes, then remove from the pan and set aside. 
• Build the braising liquid. After the meat has been seared add whatever oil is left to the pan, followed by the diced onion. If there’s a lot of fond (dark, stuck-on bits) stuck to the pan drizzle in a few teaspoons of the beef broth in order to loosen it and keep sauteing the onions until they’ve softened and all of the broth has evaporated, about 5-7 minutes. Push the onions to the side and add the tomato paste. Stir it around, allowing it to bloom for 1-2 minutes. It should become super fragrant. When it does, add the seared meat back to the pan along with the onion soup mix, the water, and 4 cups of beef broth. 
• Simmer the Braised Tenderloin Tips. Stir everything together and give it a taste. Add more salt if you think it needs it, and stir in the browning if you’re going to use it. Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for one hour. 
• Finish the Braised Tenderloin Tips. After an hour the meat should be noticeably smaller in size and have a slightly firmer texture to them than when they were raw. Remove the lid and continue simmering over medium heat, until the meat is tender and begins to break apart when you stir. The sauce will have reduced and thickened into a gravy: if there’s not enough left in the pan stir in the remaining half cup of beef broth. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat. Dassit! 

What To Serve With Braised Tenderloin Tips

It’s hard to think of things that wouldn’t go well with these Braised Tenderloin Tips tbh but here are some ideas if you need them.

Obligatory Pinterest Graphics –

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