If you’re planning to serve a tenderloin roast or filet steaks for a special occasion or want to learn a new culinary skill, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll walk you through the steps and provide some tips on how to trim beef tenderloin perfectly every time. So, grab your knife, and let’s get started!

When it comes to our favorite money-saving hack for the holidays, there’s nothing better than buying a whole cut of beef and trimming it yourself. As one of the most popular cuts for special occasions and the holidays, along with being the most tender muscle, a tenderloin roast is also consistently one of the most expensive cuts of beef. And we’re breaking down how to trim a beef tenderloin from start to finish.

Trimming a beef tenderloin may seem intimidating at first, but with a bit of practice and the right tools, it’s quite easy. Not only does trimming your own tenderloin save money on expensive cuts like filet mignon and chateaubriand, but it’s also a great way to guarantee a beautiful appearance and even cooking.

Cut Info: beef tenderloin

The tenderloin is an incredible lean cut of meat that benefits from gentle handling, expert cooking, and being paired with a delicious sauce. It has minimal marbling regardless of grade. And due to its position on the top portion of the back of the cow, it’s the least worked muscle on the animal, resulting in it being the most tender cut.

Whole beef tenderloin is amazing smoked, cooked with the sous vide method, or used as the centerpiece of a beef wellington. As tenderloin steaks, it’s perfect pan-seared, grilled, or sous vide as well.

Where to buy a whole beef tenderloin

We can find prime-grade whole beef tenderloin at Costco all year long but often only find it around the holidays at our local grocery stores in the refrigerated meat case. It’s wet-aged and packed in plastic, called Cryovac, which extends the shelf life.

However, if we want a beautiful entire tenderloin any other time of the year or want a different grade, we order it directly from a local butcher shop or online from various online purveyors. Need help determining where to buy meat online? Check out our guide for our favorite places to order meat online.

How much does a whole beef tenderloin cost?

Prices tend to range from $14.98 for Choice to over $20 per pound for Prime and prices exceeding XX for beef labeled organic at the time of publication. For individual filet mignon steaks, we saw prices from $11.99 to $30 per pound depending on grade, with individual steaks coming in around 1/2 a pound each.

The tenderloin in the step-by-step photos below was a choice whole beef tenderloin from WildForkFoods that we were able to trim into 11 steaks.