Roasts
Sunday Roast Beef
High heat, then low. A thermometer. No guessing, no crying, no grey meat.
Prep
20 min
Cook
1 hr 30 min
Serves
8
Level
Medium
Ingredients
2.5kg — beef top round or sirloin roast, tied
2 tbsp — flaky salt
2 tbsp — coarsely cracked black pepper
2 tbsp — dijon mustard
6 — garlic cloves, minced
1 small bunch — rosemary, chopped
3 — onions, thickly sliced
500ml — beef stock
I was frightened of cooking a large piece of beef for years, entirely because I kept trying to do it by eye. Buy a thermometer and the fear evaporates.
This is the meal I make when there are eight people and I want to spend the afternoon with them instead of at the stove.
Method
Salt the beef all over and leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight. Bring it fully to room temperature before cooking — this takes two hours for a roast this size.
Heat the oven to 240°C. Mix the mustard, garlic, rosemary and pepper into a paste and rub it over every surface.
Lay the onion slices in the tin and sit the beef on top so it is lifted off the base.
Roast at 240°C for 20 minutes to build a crust, then drop to 160°C and continue for about 1 hour, until the centre reads 52°C for medium rare.
Move it to a board, tent loosely with foil, and rest for a full 30 minutes. It will climb another 4 or 5 degrees while it sits.
Put the tin over a burner, add the stock, and scrape up everything stuck to the bottom for gravy.
Carve thinly, across the grain.
A note
Resting for half an hour is not excessive for a roast this size. Carve it early and the juice ends up on the board instead of in the meat.
Good to know
More About This Recipe
Nutrition
Calories
480 kcal
Protein
44g
Carbs
4g
Fat
32g
Tips & tricks
Buy a thermometer. This is the single change that removes all the guesswork — and the fear — from cooking a large piece of meat.
Bring the beef fully to room temperature before it goes in the oven — for a roast this size, that’s a genuine two hours, not twenty minutes.
Rest it for the full thirty minutes. It sounds excessive for a roast this size and it is exactly right — the meat keeps climbing a few more degrees and the juice redistributes properly.
Substitutions
Top round or sirloin
A rib roast works beautifully with the same method if you want to spend more — check it a little earlier, as it tends to cook faster.
Beef stock
Chicken stock, or even water with a splash of the mustard whisked in, if that's what's on hand — the gravy will be a little lighter.
Pairs well with
Something simple enough not to compete with a Sunday roast for eight.
Storage & leftovers
Keeps well. Refrigerate sliced or whole in a sealed container for up to four days. Reheat gently, covered, in a low oven with a splash of the gravy to keep it from drying out — the microwave works in a pinch but toughens thin slices fast. It's also excellent cold, sliced thin for sandwiches.
Questions people ask
What temperature should I pull it at for medium rare?
Can I prep this ahead of a dinner party?
My gravy came out thin — what went wrong?
Postcards from my kitchen
Made this one?
Tell me how it went, or what you did differently. The best changes to these recipes have come from readers.