Smoked Eye of Round

Name: Smoked Eye of Round Roast
Prep time: 9 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 99 min
Ingredients: 3 pounds eye of round roast; 1/4 cup Montreal steak seasoning

Affordable eye of round is SO amazing when smoked low and slow! Beef doesn’t have to cost a fortune, and this budget-friendly cut is lean, tender, juicy, and so gosh darn good! Craving big beefy flavor? Smoked Eye Of Round really delivers!

sliced smoked eye of round on a cutting board

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Can’t you just about taste it? I think eye of round is an underappreciated cut of meat, mostly because it becomes tough, dry, and tasteless if you overcook it. But treat this cut of meat right, and it is juicy, tender, and crazy good.

What you’ll love about Smoked Eye Of Round

It’s an easy recipe – great for beginner smokers.
The meat cooks up juicy, tender, and oh-so-beefy!
Leftover smoked eye of round is so good in so many dishes!

What is Eye of Round

Cut from the rear leg of the cow, eye of round is cut from the round, which is divided into eye round, bottom round, and top round. It’s a lean, tough cut of meat usually sold in roasts, but it can also be cut up into stewing beef.

It’s an affordable cut of meat – usually several dollars less per pound than the next cheapest cuts – and when you cook it right, it tastes like a million bucks.

Simple Is Best

What you don’t want to do with an eye of round is fuss over it. It doesn’t need any trimming, and if you buy it whole in cryovac packages as I do, you can cut it into several roasts and freeze what you don’t need.

You don’t need to inject it, and you don’t need to marinade it. Just give it a good rub with salt and pepper and garlic and smoke it low and slow.

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Ingredients

Eye of round – Count on about 8 ounces of uncooked weight per person, but the leftovers are so amazing! See my suggestions below for using the leftover eye of round.
Montreal steak seasoning – This is my go-to beef blend. It’s got coarse salt, cracked black pepper, and garlic granules. It works so nicely with this cut of beef.

You’ll Also Need

Traeger smoker – Or another kind of smoker. I like the Traeger for its temperature precision and ease of pellet smoking.
Pellets – Beef can stand up to more assertive flavors, so bust out the mesquite, hickory, or your favorite blend of pellets.
Instant read thermometer – With eye of round, it’s essential to cook to the temp of the beef and not the time on the smoker. Using a good instant-read thermometer will help you get an accurate temp and not overcook the meat.

How To Smoke Eye Of Round roast

For a full list of ingredients and instructions, please scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

Remove the meat from the fridge about an hour before putting it on the smoker. This lets it warm up, so it cooks more evenly.
Trim. Eye of round can have silver skin running down the outside – if yours has it, remove it, but leave as much of the fat behind as possible.
Preheat your Traeger or another pellet smoker to 180-F.
Rub the eye of round all over with the Montreal Steak Spice blend or your favorite rub.
Put the roast right on the grill and smoke it at 180-F for about 30 minutes to get it some good smoke flavor.
Turn the heat up to 225-F and smoke until the roast reaches 125-F, then remove it from the smoker and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Chef Jenn’s Tips

Removing the roast from the fridge and letting it come to room temperature will a) reduce the time it takes to get to temperature and b) lets it smoke more evenly.
Don’t cook this roast past medium-rare, or it gets tough and tasteless.
Let the smoked meat rest at LEAST 10 minutes before carving so the juices don’t all run out. Trust me, you want to keep those juices locked inside the roast.
Slice the roast thinly across the grain. Thinner is better; I’ll bring out my meat slicer to get deli-thin slices.

smoked eye of round on a cutting board with jus in the background

Make It A Meal

Ever wonder what to serve with smoked eye of round? You can treat it like a roast and enjoy au gratin potatoes with it along with your favorite veggies, or slice it deli-thin and use it for:

French dip sandwiches
French dip sliders
On top of salads
Sliced onto pizza
Put onto nachos
and so much more!

Storage and Reheating

Eye of round will keep fine in the fridge for 3-4 days if kept in an airtight container. You can freeze it, but it will lose its juices when thawing and reheating.

I don’t even like to reheat eye of round – we’ll eat it cold. It’ll get dry and tough once you heat it past 130-F or 135-F at the most. If I absolutely have to reheat it, I’ll reheat it in jus so that it stays moist and juicy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you smoke eye of round like brisket?

I’ve seen some people smoke it low and slow to break down the connective tissue bringing it up close to 204-F, but for me, I much prefer it juicy. I don’t think that eye of round has enough connective tissue and fat to melt into the meat. Try it this way – tell me how you like it!

How long does it take to smoke an eye of round roast?

That depends on the size of the roast, the temperature of your smoker, and how cold the roast was when it went into the smoker. Mine – about 3-4 pounds, take about 90 minutes plus a 30 min supersmoke at 180F.

What’s the best smoked eye of round rub?

I like a simple rub of coarse salt, cracked black pepper, and garlic. Montreal Steak Seasoning has all of that in it so I don’t have to measure and mix.

Step By Step Process

eye of round roast on a plate — Eye of round roast.

trimmed eye of round roast — Eye of round roast.

smoked eye of round roast on a cutting board

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