Top Round Roast Beef with Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

I served this “roast beast” at my Christmas dinner party this year! It’s such an impressive, delightful, rich and EASY roast to make! I served it with some creamy, crispy, baked mashed potatoes with goat cheese, French green beans with sesame-ginger sauce and a beautiful Christmas wreath salad! What a festive dinner party!

The mushroom sauce is such an exquisite addition to the roast! With thick, luscious mushrooms and a silky texture, you can pour it directly over the roast or serve it on the side.

I highly suggest you serve this recipe with mashed potatoes to capture every last drop of that sauce! If you want even more detail about the sauce, take a look at the more detailed recipe for the sauce alone.

I used a 6-pound top round beef roast, which takes about 2½-3 hours to roast at 325 F. (165 C.) with 15 minutes of searing at 450 F. (230 C.) beforehand, and 15 minutes of resting time. I wanted my roast to be medium-well done, so its internal temperature was 145.F (62 C.) when ready.

If I wanted it to be rare, I would have roasted it for 2 hours until the internal temperature would read 125 F. (52 C.). See recipe notes for cook times of different size roasts.

The Simple Process

1. We’ll make the mushroom sauce and set it aside (a whole day or 2 before serving, if we want!)

2. Next, we’ll remove the raw roast from the fridge, pat it dry, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and let it come to room temperature for 20 minutes.

3. We’ll put butter, herbs and garlic into a food processor, then give the roast a luxurious massage with the mixture. We’ll roast the beef for 15 minutes at 450 F., then drop the temperature to 325 F. for about 2 hours and 30 minutes until the internal temperature is 135 F. The roast will continue to cook once removed and tented, and can gain up to an extra 10 degrees to our desired temperature of 145 F. (for medium).

4. Finally, we’ll remove the roast, allow it to rest for about 15 minutes, heat up the sauce in the drippings, slice the beef and serve.

Ingredient Notes

For the Roast

top round beef roast – I used a 6-pounder and this will serve between 6-10 people. This recipe will also work for rib eye roasts as well.

butter – you can also substitute olive oil, as long as you use a food processor to really make the herbs and garlic into almost a paste.

garlic – use a whole half of a large head of garlic.

For the Sauce

mushrooms – I used baby Bella mushrooms because I love how big and plump they are, but you can also use white mushrooms and button mushrooms as well, but you won’t cut button mushrooms in half. Keep them nice and big.

beef broth – You can also substitute with vegetable broth, but the sauce won’t taste as rich.

shallots – If you can’t find shallots, you can substitute with a small red onion.

wine – Use a dry wine like Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Syrah, Shiraz, or Pinot Noir.

worcestershire sauce – This adds a richer flavor.

flour – You can also use corn starch as a substitute, just be extra sure to eliminate any lumps in the slurry before adding to the sauce.

How to Make This Roast – Step by Step

Make the Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

The sauce actually tastes better if made a whole 24 hours before serving the roast, but it will still be very tasty if made day of.

1. Thinly slice 2 shallots, slice 16 oz. baby bella mushrooms in half, mince 4 cloves of garlic and remove 1 tsp. fresh thyme from stems.

2. Add 2 oz. butter to a large sauté pan and brown mushrooms for 5-7 minutes on MEDIUM-HIGH heat, without moving them so they get a nice, deep brown side. Flip them, and sauté for another 3-5 minutes. Remove mushrooms into a bowl.

3. Add another 2 oz. butter (yes, another half-stick) to the pan with sliced shallots. Sauté for about 3 minutes. Add minced garlic and thyme. Sauté everything together for another 3-4 minutes until brown.

4. Add 2 cups red wine, 1 cup beef broth and ½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce.

5. Reduce wine and broth on HIGH for 10 minutes.

6. Combine 2 tbsp. flour with ¼ cup beef broth in a small bowl or measuring cup. Mix thoroughly, ensuring there are no lumps. Slowly add slurry to sauce while stirring to thicken. 

7. You’ll know the sauce is a perfect thickness when pulling a spatula across it leaves a cavern in the pan that slowly fills in.

8. Add back mushrooms and stir. If you intend to mix sauce into roast drippings before serving (highly recommended!) don’t add salt. But if you want to reheat the sauce without mixing into drippings, add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside in a container and refrigerate until roast is done.

Make the Roast

1. Remove a 6-pound top round roast from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature – about 20 minutes. Pat roast dry with a paper towel. Liberally sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. If you have a different size roast, see notes for cooking instructions.

2. Preheat oven to 450 F. (230 C.). In a food processor, combine peeled garlic cloves from ½ head of garlic and 5 large sprigs of rosemary with 4 oz. very soft butter. Process on a purée setting into a garlic-herb paste.

3. Cover the roast with garlic-herb paste. Place it in a roasting pan or Dutch oven uncovered, raised on a rack. Roast for 15 minutes at 450 F. (230 C.), then reduce temperature to 325 F. (190 C.). 

4. Continue to roast for 2 hours for RARE and 2.5 hours for MEDIUM, but be sure to check the temperature a half-hour before, as thickness of a roast can effect that cook time. It may be done a little early or a little later. A rare roast’s internal temperature will read 125 F. (52 C.) and a medium roast will read 145 F. (62 C.) when done, but remove your roast when it’s reached 115 F. (46 C.) for rare and 135 F. (57 C.) for medium, because it will continue to cook once removed and tented with foil. Once removed and tented, allow it to rest for 15 minutes before slicing. 

5. While roast sits, either heat red wine mushroom sauce on LOW for 5-7 minutes in a saucepan or reheat in the roast drippings (highly recommended! It becomes even more flavorful!)

Use a turkey baster to remove as much fat as you can from the drippings, then add the sauce to the Dutch oven. Scrape all the tasty bits from the bottom and heat on LOW for just 5 minutes. The roasting pan/pot may still be hot enough that you won’t have to apply any more heat. 

6. Use kitchen scissors to remove truss strings (if it was tied).

7. Slice the roast into 1-inch slices. 

8. Either pour the mushroom sauce on top, or serve separately. 

A Few Notes

1. If you’re using a different size than a 6-pound roast, here are your instructions, however, you won’t remove the roast at these times! You’ll remove when the roast has reached 10-15 degrees LESS. The roast will continue to cook once removed from the oven, so if you remove it when it’s hit these temperatures, it will be overcooked. Simply check the internal temperature, using a meat thermometer, 1 half hour before you’re supposed to remove it and gauge if it will require a little more or less time.

4 pound: Roast for 15 minutes at 450 F. (230 C.) Reduce temperature to 325 F. (190 C.) and roast for 1 hour and 45 minutes for RARE – internal temperature 125 F. (52 C.) or 2 hours 15 minutes for MEDIUM- internal temperature 145 F. (62 C.)

5 pound: Roast for 15 minutes at 450 F. (230 C.) Reduce temperature to 325 F. (190 C.) and roast for 2 hours for RARE  – internal temperature 125 F. (52 C.) or 2 hours 30 minutes for MEDIUM – internal temperature 145 F. (62 C.)

7 pound: Roast for 15 minutes at 450 F. (230 C.) Reduce temperature to 325 F. (190 C.) and roast for 2 hours 15 minutes for RARE – internal temperature 125 F. (52 C.) or 2 hours 40 minutes for MEDIUM – internal temperature 145 F. (62 C.)

8 pound: Roast for 15 minutes at 450 F. (230 C.) Reduce temperature to 325 F. (190 C.) and roast for 2 hours 20 minutes for RARE – internal temperature 125 F. (52 C.) or  2 hours 45 minutes for MEDIUM – internal temperature 145 F. (62 C.)

2. If you’ve cooked your roast for the specified time, and it still hasn’t come to the correct internal temperature, do not raise the cook temperature to speed up cooking. You can overcook a roast VERY easily and quickly this way. Tell your guests to relax and let it take its time.

3. The sauce will actually be tastier if made a full day ahead. The mushrooms absorb the flavors of the sauces and it takes on a more full dimension.