Budget Friendly Eye Of Round

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How to make a budget-friendly eye of round…

It is super easy to make a tender, juicy, eye of round roast.  Just the thing if you want to have the basis for a lot of different meals.  Serve it hot out of the oven from a sizzling cast iron skillet with mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus, slice it thin and serve it cold with home made sprouts and mayo on a sourdough bread/roast beef sandwich,  or use it to top any kind of savory salad.

We find these hunks of solid meat routinely at COSTCO for just under $5 a pound, and the quality and taste is excellent. If you shop the sales at your local grocery stores, they can be as cheap as $3 a pound.  What makes this cut of meat even more budget-friendly is that there is so little waste.

Oh, the difference the method makes with eye of round!

Until very recently, I have avoided this cut because I hadn’t learned this method of cooking it. I didn’t marinate it, I cooked it too long  (tough!) or I sliced it too thick (tough again!).  Ugh.

My husband Jack kept noticing how reasonably it was priced compared to other cuts of beef, but I kept resisting.  Then this genius husband of mine came upon this method, described below.  We decided to use a marinade we had developed for flank steak. Still, I was skeptical.  But after he pulled it out of the oven I was totally sold. It looks and smells and tastes fantastic!

Because beef round is low fat, it is perfect either hot or cold. It’s actually even more versatile than rib roast that way.  It tastes like deli meat, only way better.  The sweetness of the coconut aminos and the salty soy sauce really kick the flavor up.  The lime juice is optional, but definitely adds to the flavor and the acidity probably helps tenderize it too.

Because this roast is round, slicing it thin produces beautiful medallions with crusty outsides and pretty pink centers.  This also makes them tender, and this result can only be achieved with a super sharp knife.

If you have such a knife, you already know this is a game changer!  (Hey, you might even be a boss and have your own meat slicer:)   Because of the importance of such an implement, let me take a little side trail and tell you about Mac the knife!

Mac the Mighty

Last Christmas our son visited us and discovered (because he is so helpful and was using them) that his parents had a drawer full of mostly inexpensive, dull Santoku knives.  We can sharpen them to a point (bad joke) but still they just aren’t capable of cutting meat like butter.  Our dear son, instead of mocking our dull knives to our face, graciously sent us an amazing one.  It is the Mac Mighty from Amazon.

This is in a whole other realm of knifedom.  Not cheap, but it has been so worth it to us. We keep this knife sheathed in our drawer now and only use it for food that really needs to be sliced thin.

Food like this budget-friendly eye of round roast!

Proverbs 31 ministry uses

This is a great way to bless your husband and children and grandchildren, save you time in the kitchen and money to as well! At roughly $15 for 3 pounds of meat and about 8 servings, it’s somewhere between $2 and $3 a serving.  In estimating the number of servings, I’m figuring some meat will be stretched out in sandwiches or salads.

It’s also a quick company meal. I slice the whole roast once it’s cooled so it’s ready to go. Having this cooked roast in the frig is like hospitality money in the bank! It’s something you could pull out after church and throw on a box of pre-washed greens with some chopped veggies and homemade bleu cheese dressing. Maybe apples, as fall approaches! Slice up a fresh loaf of sourdough and you’ve got a stellar meal.

Using the same sides (above), the roast is also great for a meal component for Meals to Take.  For this application also, I’d pre slice the roast.

What would you add to the marinade?

The marinade is pretty basic, but what spices and herbs or other ingredients would you add?  Let me know in the comments!

Want to learn more about Biblical Womanhood? Check out Resources !!!

Budget-Friendly Eye Of Round

This eye of round is a flavorful, juicy, tender hunk of beef with very little waste! It is great as a thinly sliced roast with mashed potatoes, sandwiches, on top of a bed of salad greens.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 2 1/2 -3 pound Eye of round beef roast Purchased at Costco for about $5 a pound, can find it on sale often

Marinade

• 1/2 cup Coconut Aminos
• 1/3 cup Soy Sauce
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder or 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1 lime, zest and juice optional

Oil for skillet

• 2 Tbs avocado, coconut, or other hi temp oil for skillet

Equipment

• 1 Oven
• 1 Cast Iron Skillet 10" or 12"
• 1 Zip Top bag Quart or gallon, depending on fit of roast
• 1 Meat Thermometer

Method

 

1. Put roast in zip top bag
2. Carefully pour marinade ingredients over roast in zip top, one ingredient at a time
3. Make sure zip top is closed. Move roast around in marinade so all the ingredients are mixed and come in contact with all of the roast
4. Let roast sit in refrigerator for 1 hour
5. At this point, you either choose continue to marinate it in the refrigerator for a few more hours, or put in freezer
6. If Freezing: Put in freezer and remove a day before you are going to roast it. Thaw in refrigerator 12-18 hours or until fully thawed.
7. From this point on, the recipe is the same for either method.
8. Let roast sit at room temperature in bag for 30 minutes
9. Drain marinade from roast.

To Roast:

1. Put 2 Tbs avocado, coconut or other high temp oil in cold cast iron skillet. Place in oven to preheat pan
2. Preheat oven to 450°. When it reaches temperature, set timer for 10 minutes
3. With potholder or oven proof gloves, carefully remove hot pan from oven, set on hot pad
4. Take roast out of bag. With tongs, carefully place roast in skillet. It will sizzle!
5. Put pan with roast back in oven. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes
6. Lower oven temperature to 350°.
7. Bake for 15 minutes, or until meat thermometer inserted in middle of roast registers 120-125°
8. Remove from oven. Let rest for 15 minutes. Roast will continue cooking
9. Slice thinly with a very sharp knife

Notes

Note: if you are going to freeze this roast, you will need to allow  12-18 hours for it to thaw in the refrigerator. We almost always do this.  It's convenient to have it ready to go; you just have to take it out to let it thaw the day before.

If you want to eat the roast the same day you get it without freezing, just pour in the marinade ingredients and let it sit in the refrigerator at least an hour until ready to roast.  Then let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Most marinated meat recipes don't call for marinating the meat too long, but this cut of beef can marinate several hours in the refrigerator because it is so think and dense.  

Personally, I like the way it tastes after it is frozen and thawed.  It seems like the marinade flavors the meat more.