Beef Medallions in a Red Wine Sauce made with pearl onions and mushrooms is a dinner option that is perfect for any occasion. Serve this dish with roasted or mashed potatoes for a perfect meal.
If you can’t tell by now, I love beef. Not only do I love a great steak like filet mignon, but I love beef tenderloin as well. I know these two cuts of beef aren’t cheap. I get it. Sometimes it’s okay to splurge a little here and there. But if you can’t, I have a great meat alternative for this Beef Medallions recipe that will save you money and still have amazing flavor.
Typically, beef medallions are cuts of beef tenderloin roast, which is an expensive cut of beef. For this recipe, you absolutely can use beef tenderloin medallion cuts or you can use beef round cut. I stumbled across this cut of meat when I was shopping for this recipe concept and figured I’d give it a try. I did a quick scan to learn a bit about the difference between beef round versus beef tenderloin and let me share with you what I found.
Beef Tenderloin vs. Beef Round
Beef tenderloin is a cut from the most tender part of the cow, which is located in the loin, and the Beef tenderloin is a cut from the most tender part of the cow, which is located in the loin, and beef round is located in the rear leg of the cow. Across the board, beef tenderloin is the most expensive cut of beef. I wanted to make beef tenderloin for Christmas one year and I found a nice cut and it cost about $200. Did I buy it? Uhhhhh…no! I would’ve been mad if I bought that cut of beef and messed it up some kind of way. Also, beef round steaks are easier to find than beef tenderloin. Typically, beef tenderloin is mostly available around holidays.
Beef round is a less expensive cut of beef and is available throughout most of the year. As I was cooking this recipe, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was at a restaurant. It smelled so good in my house! Beef round is a lean cut of beef so it doesn’t have a ton of fat throughout the meat. The sauce that is made with this recipe definitely adds so much flavor to this dish.
Red Wine and Mushroom Sauce
Here are the ingredients you will find in this sauce:
- Butter
- Garlic
- Red Wine
- Mushrooms
- Pearl Onions
Doesn’t that just make you hungry hearing that? Once you taste this sauce you are going to feel like you should be on Chopped or Master Chef. It’s so fancy, but not really. Pretty much you sweat some garlic, add some red wine, chopped mushrooms, pearl onions, a
nd let it all simmer for a bit. You will also have some beef stock as well and it will thicken slightly. Once that sauce is done, you will pour that on top of your steak.
How to cook beef medallions
When you cook any cut of beef, there is one unanimous rule, which is to not be afraid to use salt. Using salt to cook beef only makes everything tastes better. Here are a few tips on how to cook these medallions:
- Season liberally on both sides with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Cook in a heavy-duty pan such as a cast-iron skillet on high heat.
- Cooking with beef round cuts, cook to medium-rare or an internal temperature of 145℉ degrees. That is because this cut of meat tends to be very lean.
You can strain the sauce if you want, and just pour the liquid sauce over the steaks if you prefer that way. This is perfect for Valentine’s Day or even a New Year’s Eve dinner!
Commonly Asked Questions
If you are using beef round cuts, I already mention this is a pretty lean cut of beef. So if you cook this cut of beef too long, it will make the beef tough. For this cut of beef, I recommend cooking to medium-rare. That is about 2-3 minutes on each side or until an internal temperature of 145℉ degrees.
Typically, the cut for beef medallions is round beef tenderloin cuts. For this recipe, I used beef round cuts, but you can also ask for filet mignon medallion cuts at your local butcher. Using filet mignon will make this recipe more succulent and juicy as there is more fat throughout the cut of beef.
Beef Medallions and Red Wine Sauce
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 steaks 1x
Description
Use beef rounds to make these delicious Beef Medallions and Red Wine Sauce that is made with mushrooms, pearl onions, red wine, and beef stock.
Ingredients
- 4– Beef Round Cuts
- 1/2 tbsp. Kosher salt
- 1/2 tbsp. Coarse black pepper
- 2 tbsp. Olive oil
- 4 tbsp. Butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 oz. mushrooms, chopped
- 1/2 c. pearl onions
- 1/2 c. beef broth
- 1/2 c. red wine
- 2 tbsp. Heavy cream
- 1 tsp. Cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp. Dried thyme or 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- Garnish: chopped parsley
Instructions
- Season the beef cuts on both sides with kosher salt and pepper. Place uncovered in the fridge for 30 minutes or longer if needed. Remove from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- In a large skillet turn the heat on medium-high heat, closer to high heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the two tablespoons of olive oil add two of the beef round cuts, and allow to cook on both sides for 3-5 minutes. There should be a nice sear and crust on both sides. Once the beef round cuts have cooked on both sides, remove them from the pan place them on a baking sheet, and cover with aluminum foil.
- Using the same pan, reduce the heat to medium and add the butter to melt. Add the minced garlic and allow to cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and pearl onions and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the red wine and beef broth to the pan and allow to simmer and the sauce will begin to reduce. Allow the sauce to simmer for about 5 minutes. Next add the heavy cream, dried thyme or fresh thyme, add salt and pepper to taste. Take the cornstarch and add it to a small bowl. Add about two spoonfuls of the sauce to the cornstarch and mix. Pour the cornstarch mixture back in with the sauce and stir. The sauce will thicken.
- Turn the heat to low. Add the steaks to a pan and spoon the sauce on top of the steaks. Or, pour the sauce on top of the steaks and serve.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Main Entree
- Method: Cook
- Cuisine: American
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I wanted to make a special meal for my fiancé, I made this but modified it to add stewed tomatoes and carrots in the sauce. Served it over mashed potatoes and made some dinner rolls. SO SO GOOD! This is like a holiday/ special occasion meal for sure!
★★★★★
Brittany, I am so happy this came out well for you!