Tender and Juicy Perfect Eye of Round Roast (2024)

Beef tenderloin roasts and prime rib roasts are excellent choices for special occasions or Sunday dinner, but they are expensive cuts of beef. Did you know there is a fabulous economical beef roast choice that tastes as wonderful as any of those pricier beef roasts?

Eye of Round Roast is an outstanding beef roast for your all of your special occasion meals, including your upcoming holiday meals! And, whether you are a veteran cook or a beginner cook, it's a great choice for everyone when you know how to prepare it right!

This post is sponsored by the Certified Angus Beef ® brand in conjunction with a social media campaign through Sunday Supper LLC. All opinions are my own.

If I had to pick a perfect roast beef recipe for special occasions I would have to say beef tenderloin tops the list. It's hard to beat that tender beef that literally melts in your mouth. But let's face it, beef tenderloin roasts can be pricey. Thankfully, there is an alternative. This delicious, tender eye of round roast beef makes a great special occasion delicious roast beef with great flavor that won't bust your budget!

What is Beef Eye of Round Roast?

Eye of the Round Roast is a cut of beef from the round portion, or hindquarters of the cow. It is a lean cut of meat. It's economical and is perfectly suited for roasting. Because it's so lean, Eye of Round Roast is best cooked to medium rare doneness and cut in thin slices against the grain. This will ensure a tender roast beef.

Eye of Round is not like a chuck roast that needs hours of cooking to break down the connective tissue. If you follow my instructions, you will get a fall apart eye of round roast that is special occasion worthy!

BLOGGER TIP--> When shopping for Eye of Round Roast, look for Certified Angus Beef ® brand. Because of their standards, your lean Eye of Round Roast will be tender and flavorful.

Tips for Cooking Eye of Round Roast

You might be intimidated by the thought of roasting a large hunk of meat but, with the right tools, you'll see it's very easy to prepare a delicious and tender roast beef dinner!

Here's a few tips to prepare a perfect eye round roast:

Download the FREE Roast Perfect app from Certified Angus Beef ® brand. This free app makes roasting a snap! It will help you choose the right sized beef roast for the amount of people you need to feed. It not only has beef roast buying tips but it also has roast calculators, a cook timer, store locator, and lots of recipes. This app will help guide you to roasting perfection. You do not need the app to prepare this roast beef, but it is helpful!
Make sure you have an instant read meat thermometer! Use the Roast Perfect app cook timer as a guide and check the internal temperature of the Eye of Round Roast with a thermometer. Instant read thermometers can be purchased just about anywhere and most are relatively inexpensive.
Always place roast on a wire rack in a shallow pan. You don't need to have a special roasting pan. I've roasted on quarter sheet pans and I've roasted on traditional roasting pans. As long as the pan is shallow and has sides, you are good to go. Placing the roast on a wire rack in your chosen pan will help ensure your Eye of Round roast cooks evenly.
Make sure you keep a sheet of aluminum foil handy for tenting once your roast has reached the temperature of your desired doneness. Resting is a very important part of the roasting process. It allows the juices to redistribute back into the muscle fibers so your roast stays moist. Remember, your roast will continue to cook a bit while it's resting. The temperature will increase by 5 to 10 degrees F during this phase. So, it's important to remove the roast from the oven with an internal temperature about 10 degrees F less than the desired degree of doneness temperature. Eye of Round Roast should be cooked to no more than medium rare for best flavor and tenderness. (For medium rare, remove the roast when the internal temperature reaches around 125 degrees F, tent with foil, allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.)
Have a sharp knife or an electric knife ready for carving. Make sure you slice against the grain to maximize tenderness. I like using an electric knife to get the slices as thin as I can. My kitchen knives never seem to be sharp enough to slice my eye roast as thin as I like it.
Have a good cutting board ready! (I like to carve the roast on a wooden cutting board.)

What is the Eye of Round Roast Cooking Time?

As I mentioned earlier, this Eye of Round Roast is best cooked to no more than a medium rare doneness. An Eye of Round Roast cooked to medium rare doneness has a warm red center and a final internal temperature of 135 degrees F. (57 degrees F)

To achieve a medium rare doneness, remove your roast from the oven when the instant read thermometer reads around 125 degrees F (52 degrees C) and let the roast rest for 10 to 15 minutes. The internal temperature will climb another 5 to 10 degrees F while resting. It's very important to let your roast rest.

Rare Eye of Round Roast - cool red center, internal temperature of finished roast around 125 degrees F.
FOR BEST RESULTS: Medium rare Eye of Round Roast (RECOMMENDED) - warm red center, internal temperature of finished roast around 135 degrees F.
Medium, medium well, and well done degrees of doneness NOT recommended for an Eye of Round Roast!

Eye of Round Roast Recipe

There are many recipes for seasoning Eye of Round Roasts, but this eye of round roast recipe with garlic, thyme, and rosemary is a foolproof recipe. It's my favorite and I hope it will become yours too! My secret for a great tasting roast is pre-seasoning.

For best results, I like to coat the roast with the seasoning mixture the night before I plan to roast it, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and let the flavor soak in overnight. Then I mix a combination of melted unsalted butter, olive oil, and fresh garlic and drizzle it over the beef roast right before cooking it.

With this recipe, you will start cooking the roast on a very high oven temperature, 450 degrees F. This will sear the roast and help to keep it tender.

After 15 minutes, you will lower the temperature of the oven down to 325 degrees F and allow the roast beef to cook until the internal temperature reaches 120 to 125 degrees F (medium rare). Again, medium rare doneness is what will allow the meat to be fall apart tender. Any longer, and it will be tough. This is why cooking this cut of beef is not recommended for an Instant Pot nor a slow cooker.

What do I need to make an Eye of Round Roast?

2.5 pound eye of round roast beef
Kosher salt and black pepper
garlic powder (or granulated garlic)
dried thyme
dried rosemary
unsalted butter
olive oil
garlic
shallow pan to fit roast with a wire rack or roasting pan with a rack

Serving Suggestions for Eye of Round Roast

Eye of Round Roast pairs perfectly with this Easy Mushroom Rice Pilaf , Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes or Country Style Green Beans. Think outside the box and serve it with this delicious Sage and Onion Stuffing!

It goes great with beef gravy too, but I wouldn't suggest trying to make a pan sauce from beef drippings because this roast is just so lean, there won't be much to work with. There are many wonderful already prepared gravies you can find at your grocers to compliment.

To make this perfect eye of round roast a little more festive, serve it with buttery Béarnaise sauce. You can make it from scratch, or take the easy way out like I do, and buy it in a packet mix.

Béarnaise sauce compliments this lean roast perfectly and turns ordinary roast beef into an amazing special occasion roast beef dinner you'll be proud to serve your family for the holidays...or any special occasion!

What others are saying about this outstanding eye of round roast recipe:

Pinterest User nKelley4444 says: "It came out amazing! Thank you for sharing!! It’s the first time I didn’t overcook the roast!! My family loved it!!"

ingredients:

2.5 pound Certified Angus Beef ® Eye of Round Roast
1 TBSP kosher salt
1 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
1 tsp. granulated garlic powder
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 tsp. dried rosemary
2 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
1 TBSP olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced

instructions:

One day before planning on cooking roast: In small bowl, combine salt, black pepper, granulated garlic, dried thyme leaves, and dried rosemary.
Rub spice mixture all over Eye of Round Roast and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator overnight.
Remove roast from refrigerator, take off plastic wrap, and place on rack in shallow pan. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In small bowl, combine melted butter, olive oil, and minced garlic. Drizzle mixture over roast coating well.
Once oven has reached 450 degrees F place roast in oven and close door. Sear roast at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes. (Use the cook timer on the Roast Perfect app!)
When timer goes off after 15 minutes, turn oven down to 325 degrees F. Set timer to roast for approximately 40 minutes. Check for doneness at 40 minutes. If cooking to medium rare, you'll want the thermometer to read 120 to 125 degrees in the thickest part of the roast. If it's not there yet, return to oven in 10 minute increments, checking internal temperature each time. Once the roast is at 120 to 125 degrees F remove from oven and tent with foil. (All ovens cook differently. If you desire a different degree of doneness from medium rare, please refer to the text in the blog post for internal temperatures that match your desired degrees of doneness).
Allow roast to rest for at least 10 - 15 minutes. I find the longer it rests, the less juices are released when carving. So be patient!

NOTES:

Prep Time does not include overnight refrigeration time. Cook time may vary according to desired degree of doneness and how well your oven retains heat. Nutritional Values are an estimate and do not include Bearnaise sauce.

calories
315

fat (grams)
7

carbs (grams)
0

protein (grams)
56

https://www.reneeskitchenadventures.com/2018/12/eye-of-round-roast.html

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