When you’re ready for INSANELY good flavor in a dish that’s easy and impressive, check out this Smoked Beef Tenderloin. Imagine meat so tender it practically melts in your mouth. With a sweet and boozy marinade and the subtle smoke flavor, this is a restaurant-worthy dish you can make on your back deck, and you can trust me, Chef Jenn, to show you how!
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Smoking usually takes hours and hours, but the tender nature of this cut of meat makes the process a whole lot shorter. In fact, when starting from room temperature, it only takes about 2 hours for this roast to take on a lovely smoky flavor and be cooked to perfection.
This full-color ebook cookbook features more than 50 of Chef Jenn’s tried, tested, and favorite smoker recipes! Enjoy:
- Smoked Beef Kabobs
- Smoked Chicken Thighs
- Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Pork Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers
- Smoked Spaghetti Squash with Herbs and so much more!
I use my Traeger pellet smoker for this job. It gives everything a lovely flavor and lets me control the temperature at the same time.
I promise you – invest in this cut of meat and smoke it. You’ll never look back!
What you’ll love about this recipe
- It’s easy and impressive – perfect for special occassions
- Beef tenderloin is melt-in-your-mouth tender and juicy when smoked
- Leftovers are great served chilled in sandwiches, on a salad, or in apptizers
Ingredients to Make Easy Smoked Beef Tenderloin
- 1 1/2 – 2 lbs tenderloin roast – see my tips below about how to buy a beef tenderloin
- Brown sugar
- Brandy, whisky, or cognac
- Dijon mustard
- Worcestershire sauce
- Garlic
How to Buy Beef Tenderloin
Beef tenderloin is expensive, there’s no doubt about it. BUT, there are ways to make this a bit cheaper.
- Purchase beef tenderloin when it’s on sale. Beef tenderloin often goes on sale around the holidays. Buy it when it goes on sale and wrap it tightly in foil then put it into a freezer-friendly zipper-top bag and freeze it for up to six months.
- Buy beef tenderloin whole and butcher it yourself. Not only is this the most economical way to buy a beef tenderloin, but you get the added bonus of having all the amazing beef tenderloin to work with, including prized filet mignon steaks.
- My favorite way – buy the WHOLE tenderloin when it is on sale. I’ll buy a few of them this way, and they’re cryovaced so they’ll freeze fine for quite a few months.
How To Make Traeger Beef Tenderloin
- Combine the Dijon, minced garlic, brown sugar, whisky, and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl.
- Coat the beef tenderloin with the mixture and put it on the smoker that’s preheated to 180-F.
- Smoke the beef at 180-F for 1-2 hours until it comes to an internal temperature of 125-F. Use a good digital thermometer to get an exact reading – you don’t want to overcook this king of all meats!
- Let it rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
Chef Jenn’s Tips
- Do not freestyle this smoked beef recipe without a digital thermometer. There’s nothing that’ll make me cry faster than overcooking a beef tenderloin roast.
- Pull your roast out to rest when it hits 125-F for medium rare, or 130-F for medium. I don’t recommend cooking this roast beyond 130-F.
- Don’t reheat this roast if you have some leftover, as it’ll probably overcook.
What To Serve with Easy Smoked Beef Tenderloin
With all the work being done by the smoker, you are freed up to make some killer sides. And, you’re working with the king of meats, so go all out with fancy sides like these au gratin potato stacks, creamed corn, Parsnip Puree, or smoked asparagus. Cobb salad is another favorite of mine with this recipe.
Is This Easy Smoked Beef Recipe Freezer Friendly?
Well, you can freeze it, but smoked beef tenderloin doesn’t heat up as nicely. You run the risk of overcooking it. So, if you freeze it, let it thaw in the fridge and serve chilled, or just enjoy this dish fresh without freezing it.
You can roast beef tenderloin or grill it, but my favorite way is to smoke beef tenderloin!
No! Some meats need to be covered to help them cook, especially if there’s a lot of fat or connective tissue. But this lean cut of meat needs dry heat with little moisture to make it nice and tender.
You bet! It’s not hard to smoke this majestic cut of beef. The biggest errors come in overcooking it, or not letting it rest long enough before serving. If you can nail both of those, you’re all set!
Like This? Also Try:
Smoked Beef Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 2 pound beef tenderloin roast
- 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp whiskey
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
Instructions
- Remove the beef tenderloin roast from any packaging and let it rest at room temperature for about an hour before smoking.
- Mince the garlic and combine it with the Dijon, brown sugar, whiskey and Worcestershire sauce.
- Rub the mixture all over the beef tenderloin roast.
- Preheat the smoker to 180-F. Smoke the roast at 180-F for 1 1/2 – 2 hours until the internal temperature comes to 125-F for a medium rare roast.
- Let sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Chef Jenn’s Tips
- Do not freestyle this smoked beef recipe without a digital thermometer. There’s nothing that’ll make me cry faster than overcooking a beef tenderloin roast.
- Pull your roast out to rest when it hits 125-F for medium-rare, or 130-F for medium. I don’t recommend cooking this roast beyond 130-F.
- Don’t reheat this roast if you have some leftover, as it’ll probably overcook.
Nutrition
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.
This came out perfectly juicy! I actually saved a bunch to toss into a noodle bowl for lunches.
You know when there is whiskey in the marinade, the recipe is going to be good. This smoked beef tenderloin recipe did not disappoint!! We will be making this again! Love it!!
The flavors were sensational! That smoke-flavored marinade was the best I have ever tasted – smoked beef tenderloin is now firmly on my radar – thank you!
An investment worth making! This tenderloin was spectacular! What a wonderful, celebratory dish. It was delicious and made our holiday meal so special. Thanks for sharing!
I followed your directions to the letter and this came out perfect!! So tasty and tender!
What is the best wood to smoke the loin with? I don’t think I saw it mentioned in the recipe or comments.
Hi there, I used a pellet smoker and usually use a blend or hardwood pellets (hickory, mesquite). This is such a quick smoke that it can hold up to a more assertive pellet/wood. Hope that helps, and happy smoking! ~Jenn
My Dad cooked/smoked meat with a thermometer in hand and NEVER reheated leftovers. If we didn’t snack on them, he plopped the stone cold meat on his meat slicer for some of the best sandwich meat you’ve ever tasted
What a great reminder to slice up that leftover beef for sandwiches! ~Jenn
Love the recipe, but I cannot believe seven times in-between the beautiful photos of the meat and the recipe there are countless graphics of a cat peeing and how to stop it. This is not the place for this type of add!!!!
Unfortunately, the ads you see are based on your own search history. Trust me, I’d have happy food ads if I had any control over them! I do apologize for the ads, but they’re what allow me to continue to create great tasting recipes at no cost to you. If you prefer no ads, I do have some ebook cookbooks and am coming out with more. You can find them at https://cookwhatyoulove.com/cookbooks/ and https://grillwhatyoulove.com/digital-ebook-cookbooks/