Garlic Butter Eye of Round Roast is a flavor-packed beef roast recipe with a simple herbed butter crust perfect for casual weekend gatherings or a holiday meal.

Here’s your new budget-friendly beef roast recipe that’s made to impress!

Perfect medium-rare eye of round roast on a cutting board.

Beef Eye of Round Roast Recipe

After learning how to properly make my first eye of round roast recipe, I’ve become a huge fan.

I’ve been experimenting with how to cook an eye of roast to help you get dinner on the table quickly. Now I have the perfect recipe, and it is delicious, served medium-rare, and often on our dinner table!

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Eye of Round is a very lean roast cut from a tough area on the cow, so it can be tricky to cook.

But do not fear! Cooking the perfect garlic butter eye of round roast doesn’t have to be scary.

This recipe will walk you through the quick cooking process of this roast at high temperature.

Ingredients

Roast

Eye of round roast: Look for an eye of round with a good fat cap on top, preferably not one that has been trimmed. Keep reading to find out why this is essential!
Butter: You can soften butter at room temperature or use your microwave defrost setting for a few seconds at a time to soften the butter so it’s easy to combine with the spices.
Whole fresh garlic cloves: These are inserted into the fat cap during the cooking process to add extra flavor to the roast.
Dried rosemary
Dried thyme
Kosher salt
Black pepper

Sauce

Beef broth: This adds flavor to your sauce. In a pinch you could substitute chicken or vegetable broth.
Cornstarch and water: These two ingredients make up what’s called a “slurry” and they thicken the broth into a sauce.
Pan drippings: These are leftover in the bottom of your pan from cooking the roast. Pan drippings are like gold in a dish because they add TONS of flavor to the sauce.

All the ingredients needed for making Garlic Butter Eye of Round Roast.

How to Cook Garlic Butter Eye of Round Roast

To make the roast

Unpackage the roast, letting it rest, uncovered, on the counter for one hour.

Don’t skip this step—resting time is essential for the roast to cook properly and be juicy and tender!

In a small bowl, combine the softened butter with the rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.

Softened butter combined with spices in a bowl.

Prepare the garlic cloves by slicing them in half lengthwise. If the garlic cloves are especially large, slice them into quarters lengthwise.

Place the roast into a shallow roasting pan with the fat-cap side of the roast on top. I actually used a small rimmed baking sheet

Using a sharp paring knife, cut small slits into the top fat cap of the roast. Try to cut these in an even placement over the surface.

Push the garlic clove halves down into each one of the slits. Make sure they are completely in the meat.

Spread the prepared butter all over the roast, covering the top and sides completely.

TIP: If the roast doesn’t want to set upright properly in the pan, roll up a piece of foil to prop it.

An beef roast covered with a softened butter blend.

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

To sear the roast, place it onto the center oven rack for roast for 10-15 minutes or until the exterior is deeply golden brown.

A freshly seared roast that is golden brown.

Leaving the oven door closed with the roast still inside, turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees F.

Continue to cook the roast until it reaches 120-125 degrees F. at the center when tested with an instant read meat thermometer.

This should take about 15-20 minutes for a 3 lb. roast but always go by internal temperature, not by time.

An beef roast with an instant-read thermometer inserted at the center.

Remove the roast from the oven and immediately tent with foil.

Let the covered roast rest for 10-15 minutes to allow the internal temperature to finish rising. This will also allow the juices to redistribute themselves throughout the meat fibers.

The ends of the roast will always be more well-done than the slices from the center.

Save these for the guests who absolutely demand beef that’s well-done. These well-done ends at our house are treats for Jeanie and my mini poodles, Darrel.

An eye of round roast that has been tented with foil as it rests.

Make the sauce

Place 1/2 cup of meat drippings into a small saucepan or skillet. Add the broth and bring to a high simmer.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water. Whisk into the broth mixture, constantly whisking until smooth and nicely thickened.

Be sure the gravy simmers for a good minute after adding the cornstarch slurry to the broth.

Letting it simmer ensures that you cook out any “pasty-ness” flavor so that it’s a rich, savory sauce.

Slice the eye of round into thin slices. Serve the sauce over the sliced beef or as a gravy with mashed potatoes.

Sliced eye of round roast on a cutting board with garnish.

The secret to perfect garlic butter eye of round roast

For the best eye of round eating experience, I’ve found it essential to cook it until rare or medium-rare in doneness.

Then carve the roast (once it has rested) into beautifully thin slices against the grain of the meat.

Even if you prefer your beef more well-done, it’s important to cook the roast just to medium rare doneness so that it stays tender.

Once you’ve sliced the roast, you can always cook the slices a bit longer in the microwave if you don’t like any pink in the meat.

Secondly, big hunks of meat need to REST!! And I mean resting BEFORE it cooks and resting AFTER it cooks, as well.

Without these essential resting periods for the protein fibers to relax and the juices to redistribute. You can be almost 100% guaranteed of a tough, chewy eating experience. Yuck!

Eye of Round Roast vs Chuck Roast

Eye of round roast has much less marbling or fat than a chuck roast. Many cooks say that the fat and marbling are what give chuck roast it’s deep, rich flavor and I agree.

Because eye of round roast is very lean, it can be more challenging to cook in comparison to a chuck roast.

Eye of round very often costs less per pound than chuck roast. Because there are no bones in eye of round, you can enjoy the entire roast with zero waste, making it a great value.

How to Sear All Sides of a Roast

Searing is important for extra flavor because of the caramelization (browning) that gets added – it’s a very worthwhile step! Some would say it’s to seal juices inside the meat, as well.

To sear a roast, first give it a good rest at room temperature on the counter (uncovered) for an hour or so. Next, over medium high heat, add some oil to a deep skillet or Dutch oven.

When the oil is very hot, gently place the roast into the pan. You want to hear sizzle at this point! If you don’t hear sizzle, the oil isn’t hot enough yet.

Brown the roast in the hot oil on all sides until it’s deep golden brown. This will take just a few minutes to do.

To sear the sides of the roast where it’s not as flat and wide as the top and bottom, I place my lid partially over the skillet towards the center. Voila! Now the roast won’t tip over while it’s searing because it can lean against the edge the skillet.

How Long to Cook 2 lb. Eye of Round Roast

When using this recipe, I would cook the two pound eye of round roast for 10-15 minutes at 450 degrees F. to sear the exterior.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. and continue to cook the roast until the center registers 120-125 degrees F., 30-45 minutes. Begin temping the roast at the 30 minute mark so you don’t overcook it.

It’s especially important to always cook meat by internal temperature (using an instant-read thermometer), not strictly by the cooking time listed in a recipe. Cooking by internal temperature will always keep us from the worst meat crime: overcooking!

Remember! You can always cook a piece of meat more, but once it’s over-cooked, there’s no going back.

Top Round vs. Eye of Round Roast

When shopping for roasts, know that any roast with the word “round” in the title means that it has been cut from the back end area of the cow.

These roasts—top round roast, bottom round roast, and eye of round (there are a few more)—are boneless, very lean, and considered tough cuts of beef.

They can be roasted at a high temperature until rare or medium-rare, or slow-braised in liquid low and slow until very fork tender.

When roasted until rare or medium-rare, the meat will taste like slabs of steak. When slow-braised until very tender, the meat will taste like roast.

Eye of Round Roast in the Meat Case

You may see eye of round roast cut in various ways in the meat case. It will most likely have a nice fat cap on top and be rectangular.

A fresh eye of round roast with a good fat cap on top.

Sometimes, it will come where one end is much more narrow than the other end. If your eye of round looks like this, trim the narrow end until it is more rectangular.

This will make the roast about the same diameter from end to end and cook more evenly. You can then cook the smaller trimmed piece along with the roast but it will cook much faster and need less time in the oven.

If your eye of round roast does not have a fat cap, it will cook much more quickly. So cook the roast at the internal temperature, not the time.

What to serve with Garlic Butter Eye of Round Roast

Made with jalapenos, cream, butter, and parmesan, Jalapeno Cream Corn is the perfect complement to roasted beef.

These Homemade Dinner Rolls are brushed with melted butter while fresh out of the oven.

If you want perfect whipped potatoes make a big batch of creamy, fluffy Million Dollar Mashed Potatoes in your slow cooker.