If you ask me how to cook fillet steak, I will tell you there is no magical recipe to prepare a juicy, spicy, melt-in-the-mouth, tender fillet steak or filet mignon. It is a simple recipe that you can prepare at home, whenever you want.
To prepare a rich-flavoured and restaurant-quality tender steak, all you need to do is—pay constant attention and high heat. And the results? Beautifully prepared and insanely delicious beef fillet steak your tastebuds always dream about.
So, if you have a plan for steak tonight, check out this article and learn how to cook fillet steak and some other interesting facts within a few minutes. Hurry up if you are hungry enough.
1. What Is Fillet Steak?
It is a tender muscle located towards the lower middle part of the back, which forms the part sirloin. Although this part is very tender, fillet steak is an expensive cut of meat with little intramuscular fat, known as marbled fat. It gives you the finest and most subtle taste that you will not find in any other steak.
2. Method of How to Cook Fillet Steak
From grilling and frying to BBQ or slow cooking—you can prepare fillet steak in many ways. But here, I will tell you how to cook fillet steak in the easiest and tastiest way that you can beat any professional cook.
How to Cook Fillet Steak—The Ingredients
- 225 g fillet steak, about 4cm thick
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 100 g of butter
- 2 large garlic cloves
- Few sprigs of rosemary and thyme
- Himalayan salt and freshly ground pepper
How to Cook Fillet Steak—The Preparation
Learning the art of how to cook fillet steak depends upon how well you can prepare it. From the marination to the serving, everything needs to be just right.
- First, take your beef steak out of the fridge for at least half an hour and not more than 2 hours before cooking it.
- After it comes to room temperature, pat dry with a paper towel and season your steaks with Himalayan salt, vegetable oil, and freshly ground black pepper. Otherwise, you can also use goose fat to make a thin layer over the steaks to get some extra flavour.
How to Cook Fillet Steak—The Process
- Take a heavy-based frying pan and place it over high heat. Add oil to cover the bottom of the frying pan. Now down the beef steaks when the pan is smoking hot, and don’t touch it for a few seconds.
- After frying for 2 to 3 minutes, it will develop a brown caramelized colour. Once the steak is golden-brown, turn down the temperature and flip the steaks. And keep cooking them to prevent burning.
Tip: Fillet steaks are thicker than any other steak like ribeye or sirloin. Usually, it takes some more time to cook them.
- Sear the steaks for a few more minutes and add butter, garlic, rosemary, and thyme to the pan. Now allow the butter to melt and baste it over the steak on both sides. Cook it for 3 to 4 minutes to get a medium-rare finish.
- Finally, let the steak rest for at least five minutes in a warm place to improve its juiciness and flavour, and then serve them on a plate with some side dishes.
Tip: All steaks are not equal in size, shape, and structure. So, cooking times may differ sometime.
- For rare: It normally takes 3-4 minutes on each side.
- For medium-rare: cooking time is about 4-5 minutes on each side.
- For medium: It takes nearly 5-6 minutes on each side.
Storage of Fillet Steak
The lasting of the fillet steaks depends upon how well you packed them. When frozen and vacuum-packed, it can last up to one year without losing its taste. Normally frozen steaks will last about six months.
And freshly prepared fillet steaks will last for 3 to 5 days regardless of their packaging in a standard fridge.
3. What Can I Pair with Fillet Steaks?
If you want to go for a full luxury meal, add simple side dishes to your fillet beef steaks. Try some homemade chips, jacket potato, macaroni cheese, or even creamy gratin paired beautifully with the perfectly fried steaks.
For a lighter mood, have it with roasted potatoes and broccoli, or you can even try salads with it. Steak sauces are also a great addition. But keep in mind that it should not overpower the rich flavour of the meat.
4. How to Choose the Perfect Fillet Steak?
If you want to prepare restaurant-quality fillet steaks, there are certain things that you need to know first.
Grass-fed vs Grain-fed Beef
When you are searching for the best fillet steaks, select one that has come from a grass-fed cow. Grass-fed fillet steaks are way healthier than grain-fed ones. They contain a higher percentage of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals.
And not to mention they are much richer and more flavoursome in taste. Grass-fed beef is also recognized for its dark red colour paired with ‘orangey’ coloured fat instead of pale white. This colouration comes from Vitamin-A-filled natural grass.
Ageing of The Fillet Steak
Some say wet-aged fillet steaks are the best, but according to some, dry-aged fillets give you the best taste and flavour. So, now what to choose, right?
According to the experts, steaks should be wet and dry-aged for about 21 days—which delivers the best quality in terms of taste and tenderness.
Fat Marbling
Marbling or white flecks is a type of fat found within the meat muscle that is formed inside the cut of the rib eye. When you cook the steaks—the marbled fat melts and delivers a juicy taste. Without this, your steaks taste dry and tasteless. It is one of the most tender cuts of meat available than any other steak.
5. Nutritional Value of Fillet Steaks
It is good to know—how much nutrition you can have from the fillet steaks. So, take a quick look at the nutritional facts,
- Serving size: 85 g
- Calories: 227
- Cholesterol: 82.5 mg
- Total Fat: 14 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 0 g
- Potassium: 279.6 mg
- Sodium: 45.9 mg
- Protein: 22 g
- Dietary fibre: 0 g
- Sugar: 0 g
Final Note
I hope you have got your answer—how to cook fillet steak. Besides its restaurant-quality cooking method, I have also discussed other important facts that you need to know before shopping for fillet steaks.
From how to select the perfect steak to its nutritional facts and storage technique—you will get the full information in this article. So, enjoy the reading and cook some juicy and spicy steaks for your friends and family.
Also, read—What’s the National Dish of England?: 3 Unknown Facts We Didn’t Know.
