Beef Tenderloin Crostini for an over-the-top appetizer which is perfect for the big game. You can treat your family and friends to a big-time flavor bomb. These individual filet mignon appetizers are sure to be a hit.
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This is medium-rare, spice-crusted filet mignon, cut into slabs placed on a toasted baguette with creamy horseradish sauce and bleu cheese crumbles. And this is a real guy type of appetizer, so serve it in the oven tray that the baguette is toasted in. We’re not looking for fancy here, just a dang good beef tenderloin appetizer.
It’s something you can make in the first half and serve during the halftime show. Just allow for 15 minutes of cooking and 10 minutes of resting time. Prep everything ahead of time and you can pick and choose when you are busy in the kitchen. This is pretty versatile.
Dry Rub for Beef Tenderloin Crostini
Keeping it simple, I used salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and oregano for the dry rub. This gives the beef’s crust a burst of flavor. The recipe ingredients are enough for a 7 or 8-ounce filet.
First, take the filet out of the refrigerator 45 to 60 minutes before searing. Lightly coat the filet with olive oil and then press all of the dry rub onto the surfaces of the filet.
Pan Searing the Filet
The tenderloin should be seared in a heavy skillet and I recommend cast iron. A non-stick skillet is not good for this amount of heat and it would probably get damaged by the high heat.
Place a tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet and bring the oil to smoking on high heat. My laser temperature gun had the temp at a little over 500°F. Try to keep the temperature at no more than this. I have an electric stove so I raise the skillet off the element to let it cool a little if it’s too hot. A laser temperature gun (#ad), is a good tool to have for this.
Place the filet into the skillet on edge to brown the sides of the meat. Let the meat sear for a minute then turn to another edge. Keep working around the filet to brown.
Turn the meat to the top side to sear. Let this go for a couple of minutes then turn to the opposite side. Turn the heat down and flip the meat every couple of minutes until the internal temperature is around 130° for medium-rare.
Beef Cooking Temperatures
Here are the recommended temperatures for the amount of doneness of the beef.
Rare – 125°
Medium-rare – 135°
Medium – 145°
Medium-well – 150°
Well done – 160°
When cooking the beef you would remove the meat from the heat 5-degrees less than the finished temperature. Rest the beef by tenting it with aluminum foil and while it rests, the temperature will rise around 5-degrees.
With experience, you can judge the doneness of a filet with your fingers. Place a finger on the meat and see how much the meat jiggles with movement. If it seems like the meat is a water-filled balloon, it has to cook some more. If the meat doesn’t jiggle but is soft, the temperature is probably good for medium-rare. It’s best to use an instant-read thermometer though.
Remove the filet from the skillet and tent with foil for 10 minutes before slicing.
Toast the Baguette
Turn on your oven broiler to high and place a rack 6 or 7 inches away from the element. Slice the baguette into 1/4 inch slices and place on a baking sheet.
Drizzle the bread with olive oil then spread the oil with a brush. Sprinkle the bread with a bit of kosher salt and granulated garlic. Place the sheet into the broiler for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, turning the sheet occasionally to brown evenly. This is where you have to really babysit the bread so it doesn’t burn. That can happen really fast if not careful.
Assemble your Beef Tenderloin Appetizer
After the filet has rested, slice it into 1/4″ pieces using a good sharp knife. Keep the toasted baguettes on the baking sheet and spoon some of the horseradish sauce onto each piece. Use a good amount of the sauce because it is so tasty.
Lay a filet slice on the horseradish sauce then use a spoon to sprinkle crumbles of blue cheese onto the beef appetizer.
Finish by sprinkling on a little chopped parsley and serving on the baking sheet with extra blue cheese. These will get gobbled up as will the extra blue cheese.
By the time the filet mignon crostini is served, it is most likely room temperature and that makes no difference. It tastes amazing.
The meat is so tender and the horseradish and blue cheese are so good, that you should maybe plan on a second round of these beef tenderloin crostinis after the game is over.
Here are a few more appetizer ideas to try:
- Smoked Salmon and Dill Appetizer
- Pepper Jelly with Cream Cheese
- Shrimp Cocktail
- Instant Pot Chicken Wings
Seared Beef Tenderloin Crostini Appetizer
Ingredients
- 1 7 or 8 oz. beef tenderloin, (filet mignon)
Beef Dry Rub
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, fresh coarse ground is best
- 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
Horseradish sauce
- 1 or 2 tbsp fresh ground horseradish, Silver Springs Foods brand or similar, see notes Not creamy prepared
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- pinch of salt
All other ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 oz. blue cheese crumbles
- 8 pcs baguette, in 1/4 inch slices
- kosher salt, for the baguette
- granulated garlic, for the baguette
- Chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Take the filet out of the refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes before cooking.
- Mix the horseradish sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Mix together the dry rub ingredients. Apply a light coating of olive oil on the filet and sprinkle the dry rub on all sides of the meat.
- Using a cast iron or heavy stainless steel skillet, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and place on high heat. Once the oil is smoking, start searing the beef starting with the sides. Lower the heat and try to maintain about 450°F. Sear each side for around 90 seconds to get some nice browning. Keep turning the meat to the remaining sides. Once the sides are browned, turn the meat to the first end and sear about 90 seconds, then turn to the final un-browned end. Keep rotating the meat with tongs until the internal temperature is 130° when measured with an instant read thermometer. This will take 8 to 12 minutes depending on the temperature of the skillet. Remove the filet from the heat and rest for 10 minutes tented with foil. Then slice into 1/4" pieces.
- Turn on your broiler on high and place the rack 6 to 7 inches from the heating element or flame. Place the sliced baguette onto a small, sided baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil then brush to coat. Next sprinkle the bread with a very small amount of kosher salt and granulated garlic. Place the sheet under the broiler to toast the bread, turning every 30 seconds or so to brown evenly. Keep a close eye on this and remove the pan from the oven when slightly toasted, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
- Keep the toasted baguettes in the baking sheet and spoon the horseradish sauce on each slice. Place a slice of filet on each, then sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- For the horseradish sauce, start with 1 tablespoon of horseradish and taste. If you would like more heat add up to 1 more tablespoon.
- If you have a favorite brand of creamy prepared horseradish you could use it rather than making my sauce.
- Without an infrared thermometer it is hard to know the temperature of your skillet. The meat will start really smoking if it's too hot. It might be best to turn the heat down after the initial sear to finish cooking. And you don't want your smoke alarm going off either.
Nutrition
This recipe post was updated on December 13, 2021.
MaryJo
Fabulous flavor with the blue cheese and horseradish accenting the juicy and supremely tender beef. Try it, you’ll love it!