When you want to treat yourself, make this Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon. I’ve got tips for you that will get that bacon crispy, and the steak so tender too!
How can you make delicious, tender filet mignon steaks even better? By wrapping them in bacon, of course! I’m sharing my tips for getting that bacon wonderfully crispy and cooking the steaks to perfection, all on the stovetop for convenience.
Keep reading for more details on Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon or click here to head straight to the recipe.
What Is Filet Mignon?
Filet mignon is a very tender cut of steak that comes from a beef tenderloin. It’s often the most expensive choice of steak at the store, but you can save money by cutting your own filet mignon steaks if you’d like. Some stores also carry steaks that are already wrapped in bacon, but keep in mind my tips as you may want to trim the bacon on those before getting started.
For Pre-Wrapped Filet Mignon
If you’ve bought your filet mignon already wrapped in bacon, you can cook it as advised below, but you can skip over the wrapping part. I do have one important piece of advice for you though, about the width of the bacon around the steak.
When I’m cutting my own steaks to wrap in bacon, I make sure that the steaks are cut slightly taller/thicker than the width of the bacon wrapped around it. This is so that the bacon doesn’t touch the pan while the top and bottom of the steak is being cooked. If it was touching there, it would burn.
If you’ve bought your steaks already wrapped, you don’t have control over the height of the steak. But, you do still have a bit of control over the width of the bacon. Place your steak on a cutting board. Stoop down and look at it dead-on. If any bacon is sticking up above the flat plane of the steak, you should either push it down, or trim it off using sharp, clean kitchen scissors. Then, flip the steak over and check the other side as well. Once you know that the steak is now above the bacon on both sides, you’re ready to get cooking!
What Kind Of Bacon Should I Use?
Thin-sliced bacon worked perfectly, and I wouldn’t recommend any other kind for this recipe. Otherwise the steak will overcook before the thick-cut piece of bacon will render and crisp up. Save that thick-cut bacon for another use and stick to the thin cut here.
If you have regular-thickness bacon, don’t worry though. Just stretch it a bit to make it thinner before you wrap it around the steak.
How To Wrap Steaks With Bacon
Only about 1/2 or 3/4 of a piece of bacon is needed for each filet. There should be as little overlap of bacon as possible to ensure the bacon becomes crisp. A pair of kitchen scissors is the easiest way to cut the bacon to size. Wrap the strip of bacon around the filet, secure it with a toothpick, then cut away the excess (and save for other recipes).
Toothpicks are used initially just to hold the bacon in place until ready to cook. This is an important step if working with cold ingredients and/or if dry-brining the steaks in the fridge.
The toothpick isn’t needed when cooking though, as long as the overlap-side-down is seared first, and so it should be removed right before cooking. Here’s why…
Can I Leave The Toothpick In While Cooking?
I don’t suggest leaving the toothpicks in while cooking your filet mignon steaks. I tested this recipe both ways, and leaving them in resulted in parts of the bacon not getting fully rendered and crispy. Take a look and these photos and you’ll be able to tell the difference.
You can see in the above photo that the bacon around the toothpick has not been fully rendered. You may decide you’re okay with that, but I was looking for crispy bacon all around my steaks. No half-cooked rubbery bacon for me!
Below you can see the side-by-side of how the bacon is able to better fully cook and crisp up without the toothpick being there while cooking. Look at how wonderfully crispy that bacon on the right is, all the way around the steak. For the steak on the left, the toothpick was left in, and it seems to have acted like an insulator not allowing the bacon to heat and to cook as well.
How To Cook Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon
For my bacon-wrapped filet mignon recipe, I found it best to cook them completely on the stovetop. Some recipes have you sear on the stovetop and then finish in the oven. But, because the filets would only been in the oven for a short time, and because it’s difficult to control what happens in the oven, I liked it better staying on the stove. That really allowed me to monitor the crispiness of the bacon, and the temperature of the steak closely.
If you are using a cast iron pan, you may want to render some fat out of your trimmed bits of bacon left from doing the wrapping before getting started. Just put those bacon pieces in there and cook them up. Remove the bacon (snack time!) and spread the fat around so you can cook your steak in there. For my nonstick skillet, it didn’t end up being necessary though.
The bacon is seared first, all around, until very crispy. Start with the section that overlaps, where the toothpick was to seal it together. Remove the toothpick and then sear where it was. The continue cooking all around the sides of the steak, letting it sear each section of bacon for about 30 seconds. After that, you cook the top and bottom of the steak to achieve your desired level of doneness – 4 minutes each side for rare, 6 minutes each side for medium, or 8 minutes each side for well done. Right before removing the steaks from the pan, the bacon is crisped up one last time for a few seconds. After resting for 6 or so minutes, the steaks can be served.
The bacon will be perfectly rendered, crisp, and cooked through. The longer the steaks rest, however, the less crispy the bacon becomes, but it’s still thin and cooked through with a good sear on it. With this recipe, the bacon does not end up rubbery at all, even after a 30-minute rest time. Enjoy! – Christine xo
Print
Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Rest Time: 6 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
Perfectly cooked steak and beautifully crispy bacon come together for an impressive, special occasion entrée.
Listen to learn how to make this recipe, along with some great tips from Christine:
Ingredients
- 4 (1 and ½-inch thick) filet mignon steaks
- 4 strips thin-cut bacon*
- 4 small toothpicks
- ½ tsp. salt
Instructions
- Wrap 1 strip of bacon around 1 filet. Secure in place with 1 toothpick leaving about ¼-inch of bacon overlapping itself. Using scissors, cut away any excess overlapping bacon and reserve for the cooking stage. Repeat with remaining steaks.
- Sprinkle salt evenly over the tops and bottoms of each steak. Do not salt bacon strips. At this point, steaks can be refrigerated for dry-brining or cooked immediately.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add reserved bacon, render until bottom of the pan is coated in fat, about 45 seconds. Remove bacon and discard (or continue cooking in another pan or microwave for other recipes).
- Remove toothpicks from filets. Place filets into the pan on its side such that the overlapping bacon where the toothpick was is in contact with the pan. Cook undisturbed 30 seconds or until this part of the bacon is crispy, which will seal it closed. Then turn steaks every 30 seconds to crisp the bacon all the way around.
- Turn steaks upright. Cook undisturbed 4 minutes each side for rare, 6 minutes each side for medium, or 8 minutes each side for well done.
- Turn steaks on their sides again and quickly sear the bacon all around to ensure it is crispy.
- Transfer steaks to a cutting board to rest 6 minutes. Serve immediately.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
*If you have regular thickness slices, you can stretch the bacon before wrapping it to thin it out a bit.
Cheryl says
This worked perfectly! Great tip about the toothpick. I wouldn’t have realized that at all.
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Glad you liked it, Cheryl!
Dawn says
This worked so well! Thank you for the tips – I’ve never been able to get the bacon crispy without overcooking everything.
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
You’re very welcome! :)
Rose says
I’ve tried many, many times to get the bacon crisp on a bacon wrapped filet, and this is the first time it has worked. I’ll definitely be using this technique and recipe again.
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Thank you, Rose! Yes, the crispy bacon was important for me to figure out!