My easy Beef Top Round Roast Beef recipe is perfect for a special occasion or a Sunday dinner. This lean cut of beef cooks into a tender and flavorful roast that your whole family will love!
My top of round roast is the perfect roast for dinner, served with mashed potatoes and green beans or as a hot roast beef sandwich with a tangy horseradish sauce.
Serve this delicious, tender beef top round roast with au jus or beef gravy. My easy recipe is guaranteed to become your go-to beef roast recipe.
If you love roast beef, check out my Garlic Herb Bottom Round Roast and Prime Rib Roast Recipe.
Ingredients to make Beef Top Round Roast
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my Easy Beef Top Round Roast. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
*I like using fresh herbs in this recipe, but you can also use dried herbs, including garlic powder, instead of fresh chopped garlic.
How to Cook Beef Top of Round Roast
Follow along with my simple step-by-step instructions to learn how to cook beef top of round roast in your home kitchen.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and set the oven rack in the center of the oven.
- Fit a wire rack in a roasting pan and set aside until needed.
- In a small bowl, add the chopped garlic, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, cracked black pepper, kosher salt, dried oregano, and dry mustard.
- Mix the seasonings together to combine.
- Pat the roast dry with paper towels, then rub the olive oil over the entire surface of the beef.
- Rub the seasoning mixture on the top, bottom, and sides of the roast. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes to come to room temperature before placing it in the oven. This will help the meat cook more evenly.
- Place the seasoned roast on the rack in a roasting pan. Then, place the roast uncovered on the center rack of the preheated oven and roast for 15 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F. and continue to cook for another 45 to 60 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the roast reads between 125 and 130 degrees F.
Use a meat thermometer or instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature of the roast.
- Remove the beef from the oven and loosely tent it with aluminum foil.
- Let the roast rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing to allow the juices to redistribute to the beef.
- While the beef is resting, add a cup of water to the pan drippings in the roasting pan and place it on the stove to heat back up. Use a heavy spoon to scrape all the tasty browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Strain the au jus and keep warm until ready to serve the beef.
*If you need more au jus, add a little beef broth to the pan. You can also add red wine to the pan for a more flavorful au jus.
This tender and delicious beef top round roast will make the meat eaters in your family very happy. It’s also a great dish for game day or, alternatively, to turn a weeknight into a special occasion.
Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for 4–5 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
Recipe FAQs
Butchers cut top round roast beef from the inside of the steer’s hind leg. This lean, typically boneless cut roasts beautifully into a delicious and tender meal. This is the same part of the steer that a London broil comes from.
Supermarkets most commonly use this roast for deli roast beef. Among inexpensive cuts, this lean, flavorful meat stands out, and because the muscle doesn’t work as hard as other parts of the steer, it stays fairly tender.
The cooking time will depend on the size of your roast and your desired doneness. As a general guideline, you can estimate about 20 minutes of cooking time per pound for medium-rare. Use a meat thermometer to check for the desired internal temperature.
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Beef Top Round Roast Recipe
Equipment
- roasting pan
- Meat thermometer
Ingredients
- 3 – 4 pound top round roast
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic finely minced. *for garlic powder use one teaspoon
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves finely chopped *for dried thyme use one teaspoon
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary finely chopped *for dried rosemary, use one teaspoon.
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt *if you use table salt cut it back to 1 ½ teaspoons.
- 2 teaspoons cracked black pepper *if you use table grind black pepper cut it back to one teaspoon.
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and set the oven rack in the center of the oven.
- Fit a roasting rack in a roasting pan, and set aside until needed.
- Pat the roast dry with paper towels, then rub the olive oil over the entire surface of the beef.
- Mix the seasonings together in a small bowl and mix to combine.
- Rub the seasoning mixture on the top, bottom and sides of the beef.
- Place the seasoned roast on the rack in a roasting pan.Let the roast sit for 20-30 minutes to come to room temperature before placing it in the oven. This will help the meat cook more evenly.
- Place the roast uncovered on the center rack of the preheated oven and roast for 15 minutes.
- Then reduce the heat to 325.
- Let the roast cook for another 45 to 60 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the roast reads between 125 and 130 degrees F.
- Remove the beef from the oven and loosely tent it with aluminum foil.
- Let the roast rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing, to give the juices time to redistribute into the beef.
- While the beef is resting, add a cup of water to the pan drippings in the roasting pan and place it on the stove to heat back up. Use a heavy spoon to scrape all the tasty browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Strain the au jus and keep warm until ready to serve the beef.
- Slice the roast and serve with au jus, mashed potatoes and green beans.
Peach McComb says
I’ve never tried to cook this particular cut of beef and boy have we missed out! The recipe is easy to follow and the results were fantastic! Flavorful, juicy, and tender.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed my top round recipe! It’s one of my favorite cuts of beef.
Carroll Gillespie says
How long should you roast at 325 degrees for a medium to medium well roast? I see it is 20 mins per po
und for medium rare. thanks
Chef Dennis Littley says
It will take an additional 10-15 minutes to cook it to medium – medium well roast. So a total of 55 – 70 minutes at 325, which is after the initial roast at 450. Use a meat thermometer so you can be sure.
Joyce says
I am 68 and have never made any sort of roast beef in my life. I didn’t grow up with it and never learned about how to cook it. I intended to make sauerbraten, but bought the wrong cut and I now have a top round roast on my hands. Not cheap, but I want to cook it right. God forbid I should waste a $21 piece of beef by cooking it wrong! With some trepidation, I will closely follow these instructions, and pray I don’t ruin it.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Please let me know how it turns out.
Dan says
Great flavors. Best top round roast I’ve made.
Chef Dennis Littley says
That’s what I like to hear! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the roast.
Debbie says
I made the roast and it was fabulous! I’m keeping your receipe!
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the top round!
Sheila Jamison says
This was perfect! The combination of seasonings was delicious. Definitely will be making again. Thanks for sharing.
Chef Dennis Littley says
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the roast!
J D Smith says
Absolutely love the rub combo, works perfect on this cut. Will definitely put it in rotation when top round is on sale again!
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed my top round recipe. I hope you find more recipes on my website to try!