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I’ve been waiting to make bacon-wrapped filet mignon for a long time. In life, if you have something mediocre, tasteless, or healthy, what do you do? You wrap it in bacon. But what about when you have the perfect mouthwatering tenderloin steak? You also wrap it in bacon. Bacon may be the only meat worthy of wrapping itself in a big bacon hug around filet mignon.
I consider bacon-wrapped filet mignon a Valentine’s Day worthy meal with weeknight dinner ease. From prep to clean up, it’s about 25 minutes. Who would have thought something so classy could be so easy?
Homemade Truffle Butter
Truffle butter is a very popular steakhouse butter made with truffle oil. Truffle oil is used on truffle fries, pasta dishes, pizzas, and many other dishes to add flavor and aroma. Mix a little truffle oil with soft butter and serve over your steak. It will melt into your filet and add worlds of flavor.
Wrapping the Filet with Bacon
Wrap tenderloin steaks with a strip of uncooked bacon and secure with a toothpick. A little bacon overlap is OK where the ends meet. Just be sure it’s wrapped snug so the bacon does not unravel. A cocktail toothpick works best as it has a stem at the end. Just be sure to not stick a standard toothpick in too far so you can’t retrieve it.
How To Cook Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon
The only way to prepare steak is in a cast iron skillet. The secret lies in combining pan searing with an oven finish. This gives your filet a caramelized outside with a juicy tender inside. The oven is better at providing indirect heat while searing gives you the grilled and slightly charred edge. The other major advantage is you can cook within flavors such as garlic, butter, or fresh herbs. You can’t do this on a grill.
Pan-sear filet mignon for 2 minutes per side on the stovetop in a cast iron skillet on high heat with butter and immediately transfer to a preheated oven at 415° F. I typically bake about 6 minutes for medium-rare. Top with a slice of truffle butter and be the hero. It’s that easy.
Even with the relatively rapid cook times, you don’t need to precook the bacon or prep it in any other way. My only suggestion would be to let your bacon slices reach room temp with the steak, to ensure they cook adequately.
Temperature for Steak
| Doneness | Temperature Range | Oven Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Very Rare/rare | 120° F to 125° F | 4 minutes |
| Medium rare | 125° F to 130° F | 5-6 minutes |
| Medium | 135° F to 140° F | 6-7 minutes |
| Medium well | 145° F to 150° F | 8-9 minutes |
| Well done | 160° F and above | 10+ minutes |
Note: Cooking steaks at high temps in a skillet tends to get smokey. Open a kitchen window and turn on your kitchen’s overhead vent fan before you start to help with ventilation.
Watch How to Cook the Perfect Steak
More Filet Mignon Recipes You’ll Love
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- Blueberry filet mignon
- Filet with balsamic reduction
- How to grill filet mignon
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Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon with Truffle Butter Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Description
Pan-seared filet mignon wrapped in crispy bacon and topped with homemade truffle butter.
Ingredients
- 2 10 ounce thick tenderloin beef filets
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 slices pork bacon, uncooked
- salt and pepper to taste
Truffle Butter
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons truffle oil
Instructions
For the truffle butter
- Soften butter in a small microwave safe bowl until malleable, 10-15 seconds. Combine the butter and truffle oil using a fork. Spoon the butter onto a piece of tin foil and form into a log, about 1 inch thick. Wrap the log tightly and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
For the filets
- Preheat the oven to 415° F. Remove steak from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking, this is to bring the steak to room temperature and ensure your cooking times are more accurate. Season both sides generously with salt and pepper.
- Securely wrap each filet with a slice of bacon, securing where the two ends meet with a toothpick.
- Add the olive oil and plain butter to an oven safe cast iron skillet and turn up high, allow the skillet to become scorching hot first. Place the filets face down and sear undisturbed for 2 minutes. Flip the filets and sear for an additional 2 minutes. This will give your filets a nice seared edge.
- Transfer your skillet directly to the oven. [WARNING] skillet may be hot, handle with oven mitts. For rare, bake for 4 minutes. Medium rare, 5-6 minutes. Medium, 6-7 minutes. Medium well, 8-9 minutes. Remember, depending on the size of the steak, the more or less time it will take. This recipe is ideal for a 8-10 ounce portion. Remove filets from the skillet and set on a plate, lightly cover with tin foil and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. This is important to bring your steak to its final serving temperature. Top with a slice of truffle butter and serve. Don’t forget to remove toothpicks before serving.
Notes
Cooking steaks at high temps in a skillet tends to get smokey. Open a kitchen window and turn on your kitchen’s overhead vent fan before you start to help with ventilation.
Temperatures for steak
Rare: 120° F to 125° F
Medium rare: 125° F to 130° F
Medium: 135° F to 140° F
Medium well: 145° F to 150° F
Well done: 160° F and above
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 steak
- Calories: 671
- Sugar: 0g
- Sodium: 516mg
- Fat: 61.8g
- Saturated Fat: 24.6g
- Carbohydrates: 12.4g
- Fiber: 2.7g
- Protein: 29.1g
- Cholesterol: 175mg
Keywords: bacon-wrapped filet mignon
This was a great recipe! Thank you.
★★★★★
It was absolutely inaccurate time. Incorrect information. After cooking it for 2 mins on each side I put it in an oven just like you said on 415 degrees. after the time that you provided,..it was completely raw. So I changed it to broil on HI then cooked it for 6 to 8 minutes more… added 2 more minutes… took it out and let it rest… finally it’s close to medium rare
This is wonderful and the only way I cook a steak is in a cast iron skillet. Although this will be my first filet mignon. Just my 2 cents, instead of oil, I personally use leftover bacon grease. The flavor is AMAZING! Then of course unsalted butter, thyme and garlic. I’m so excited to try this recipe tonight along with the truffle butter! Thank you!
I put my iron skillet in my Traeger grill. It gets up to around 425 degrees on high. I can sear the steaks on both sides and finish it off on the grill with the lid closed without filling my house with smoke.
Great recipe. Thanks Shawn.
Your recipe delicious and simple!! One question though, why does my bacon not get cooked as well? Stays rubbery…any suggestions?
★★★★★
Try searing the bacon a little before wrapping the filet. This may make it a bit more crispy. Sounds like that’s what you’re looking for.
You can also pre heat your skillet in a 400 degree oven and then put on a medium high stovetop and begin your butter sear
Turn after one and a half to two minutes per side and then finish in the oven, about six minutes depending on thickness
this comes out rare/medium rare for one and three quarters to two inch filets
just make sure that you only handle your skillet with mitts
This is definitely an atypical question, but what kind of stove top are you searing on?
Olive oil and butter have relatively low smoke points so I want to make sure I’m on the same page when you say “scorching hot”.
I tend to do my cast iron searing on a wok burner outside (35k BTU), or near-commercial gas stove inside (25k BTU), but I’ve always used canola or peanut oil because of the temperatures. Most pro-sumer gas ranges top out around 15-18k with electric quite a ways below that.
Just trying to figure out whether hotter is better, or whether I should drop down to a more reasonable temperature comparable to a “normal” cooktop to use the olive oil/butter mix. I’ve really just never used that combination at a high temperature.
Thanks for any advice.
I currently have electric. Hoping to change that, but I’ve prepared on both. Maybe scorching hot is an exaggeration, however you want a very hot skillet when you place the filets on the stove. You need to get a good sear on either side in the two minute window. I’d omit the oil if you’re nervous about smoke, however the searing butter is what makes this recipe. Turn the vent fan on and be prepared for a little smoke. You can turn down the heat if it’s too much, but make sure you maintain a good sizzle.
Thos waa excellent. I already knew i wanted to make bacon wrapped filets. And i wouldve completed mine on the stove if I hadn’t come across your technique. Finishing them in the oven was just perfect. We topped ours with bleu cheese!! Thank you
★★★★★
I am 70 years young and have 3 cast iron, old timey skillets I got from my grandmother, I use one for cornbread only, nothng but cornbread has ever been in that skillet and not a drop of water, I have not tried the steaks in a cast iron skillet yet but you have sold me on doing so. I can see how a more total searing will be done with the cast iron instead of on a grill as it would sear 100 percent of the surface of the steak. We usually sauteen mushrooms, onions, green bellpeppers and garlic to go with our steaks, so I wonder how the truffle butter will go with those sauteen veggies??? thank you for sharing about the cast iron skillet for steaks, Definitely using that method next steak dinner.
But be careful, iron skillets & ceramic cooktops don’t get along. 🙁
Yes – gotta be extra careful. No sliding.
Hello, I’ve just recently stumbled on your blog and in an effort to try all your delicious recipes I ran out and bought a cast-iron skillet. So far I’ve made the filet and the chicken pesto Panini sandwiches . Both were amazingly delicious. These recipes are so easy-to-follow and come out tasting like I’ve spent hours working on them! I think Cast iron skillets have come along way and the cleanup is much easier than the older skillets, I purchased mine at bed bath and beyond for $20. So far so good . Tomorrow night I am very much looking forward to trying the chicken Parmesan .
Thanks Jennifer! This is music to my ears. Thanks for your kind words. So glad you love your cast iron skillet – they are the best kitchen tools out there.