Easy Smoked Filet Mignon Recipe

Smoked filet mignon involves slowly cooking the premium, tender cut of beef over low, indirect heat in a wood pellet smoker, charcoal grill, or electric smoker. Butchers cut filet mignon steaks (also known as beef tenderloin medallions) from the narrow front part of the tenderloin, near the short loin. It’s a very lean cut, with hardly any marbling or connective tissue.

Since it doesn’t have a lot of fat, the filet mignon cut isn’t especially full of beef flavor, but it is tender and adapts to many different flavors and cooking methods. Smoking filet mignon yields an exceptionally tender cut of meat infused with a uniquely rich smoke flavor.

Whether you’re a grilling novice or an experienced BBQ chef, follow these tips to make a perfectly smoked filet mignon.

1. 1. Experiment with seasonings. This prime cut of meat doesn’t need much more than salt and pepper to shine, but you can whip up a dry rub with seasonings to suit your palate. Add additional spices and herbs, like smoked paprika, garlic powder, mustard powder, rosemary, and thyme for a well-flavored steak.
2. 2. Wrap it with bacon. Wrapping a slice of thin bacon around the sides of this steak infuses it with a savory, fatty flavor. Simply wrap a piece of bacon around the filet, and secure it with a toothpick before smoking.
3. 3. Switch up the wood chips. If you’re using a wood pellet smoker to smoke the meat, experiment with different wood chip varieties to achieve variations in smoke flavor. Fruitier woods, like applewood and cherrywood, will infuse the meat with a milder flavor. At the same time, more intense options, like hickory, pecan, and mesquite, will result in a more distinct smoky taste. Learn more about smoking woods.
4. 4. Monitor the meat as it cooks. Filet mignon will become dry and chewy if overcooked, which you can prevent by monitoring its internal temperature as it smokes. If you want to reverse-sear the meat—or smoke it before searing it in a pan to achieve a crispy crust—remove the beef from the grill when its internal temperature reaches 120 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re serving the steak straight off the smoker, remove it when it reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit. During the short resting period, the temperature will rise to 135 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a perfect medium-rare.
5. 5. Rest the meat. It might be tempting to dig into your smoked filet mignon immediately after taking it off of the grill, but the resting period allows its juices and flavors to settle, resulting in a moister piece of meat.