Description
Maybe my favorite creation to date.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 3 lbs beef tenderloin, cut into 2″ pieces
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 4 – 4 1/2 C beef broth, as needed
- 2 C water
- 2 1/2 tbsp homemade onion soup mix*
- 2 tbsp avocado oil, as needed
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, to taste
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp browning, optional
- 1/2 cracked black pepper
Instructions
- 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, turning grey instead of browning deeply). 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
Notes
- You can use a packet of Lipton’s Beefy Onion Soup Mix instead.
- If the gravy is too loose when the meat is ready, mix a teaspoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of cold water and stir that in. Let it cook over medium-low for 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
