Filet Mignon with Rich Balsamic Glaze Recipe

This glaze is the best sauce I've ever tasted. I think it's impossible to mess it up, you could put in any variation of the ingredients and it would still be tasty. I followed the recipe until the steaks finished, then took them out, and let the glaze cook down for about 3 minutes, adding brown sugar (1 to 2 tbsp.) and butter (1/2 to 1 tbsp). I forgot to double the recipe like everyone else mentioned, make sure you do! Not only is the sauce fantastic on the meat, but SO good with asparagus, dip bread in it, put it on potatoes. I'm going to make it over and over again.

Here's the trick to make this recipe work: We seasoned the filets with salt and fresh ground pepper and let them rest out of the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes; THEN, we grilled them. In the meantime, we mixed the balsamic vinegar, red wine (used Bordeaux) and a generous pinch of brown sugar. Let it reduce and then served in little sauce cups alongside the filets. My husband LOVED this. I didn't want to take the chance of ruining some great filets by cooking them in the wine/vinegar mixture since a lot of people were turned off by this in their reviews. By allowing it to reduce, it was a little bit thicker (still a bit too thin for me however) and you can merely dunk your bite into the sauce, thereby adjusting how much or little you would like. Will make this again because of the simplicity of the recipe.

I have been searching for this over 2yrs. I’ve talked this dish up to those that would listen. If you haven’t had this, life is passing you buy. *I used a red blend(3) 1 for the dish & 2 for, well…

What a special treat! I used another reviewer's suggestion of a spoonful of brown sugar in the sauce; this was a good idea since I think that balsamic can be pretty tart, and because I knew that the sugar would assist in the sauce caramelization process. I also made 2x the sauce, based on review suggestions. That was also a good idea, to make sure there was plenty. I don't have a cast iron skillet, so I pre-heated my stainless steel oven-proof skillet in a 500 degree oven, and also pre-heated the gas burner I was going to use on the stove-top. That way I get a serious sear, and it didn't take much time to reduce the sauce. Followed the recipe with these changes. Great for special occasion (Valentine's Day), as good as a grill house (without the grill :).

Wonderful! I followed the recipe, but didn’t have red wine, so I used red wine vinegar. After removing the filets from the pan, I added 1TBS butter and 3 TBS brown sugar and reduced the sauce as noted by other reviewers for another 2-3 minutes. I served the sauce as a side instead of pouring it over meat. Delicious! I also rested the meat by removing it from the fridge 20 minutes before cooking and again for several minutes during the sauce reduction. Good tips from previous reviewers!

cooked the filets separately from the glaze. 1.5" filets, seared 2 min per side then 5 min in the oven @ 400. Used honey, brown sugar with the wine and BV and added a small amount of cornstarch. Came out fantastic! Will do this again for sure.

I have to say that this is one of my all time favorites for both me and my husband, it's also a winner for a Sunday dinner because it can be made in about a half an hour, who want's to cook all day on a Sunday? I salt and pepper the steaks along with a small amount of granulated garlic then pop them in the refrigerator in the morning, go have fun during the day, return home and it's an easy meal from there. I cook mine in a hot cast iron skillet just a couple of minutes on each side. Ever since I discovered pre-made Balsamic Glaze in a bottle I use this and put the wine in a glass!

I always read the reviews on recipes prior to making it. I'm an accomplished cook, but do like to see what others liked, or didn't, in efforts to avoid problems. And I often agree with others, about rating a recipe when you tweak it here and there, and yet, here I am. :) I used a venison tenderloin, because this time of year, we have a well stocked freezer. I brought it to room temperature, sprinkled with fresh ground pepper, salt and roasted garlic powder, and let it set for about 40 minutes to so. Then placed on the grill. Braising a tenderloin of any kind just toughens the meat. I sauteed some shallots in a little butter, then removed and added a good quality balsamic vinegar and them hemmed and hawed about a red wine v. Marsala that another reader suggested. I went with the Marsala, which was a great choice, as the slight sweetness really balanced the vinegar. For the reader that found the vinegar overwhelming when cooking, yes! It smells really venaregy (is that even a word?), but, but once the sauce reduces down, it's to die for. I served the tenderloin with shallots, sauce and a side of steamed green beans and wild rice. This is a great base recipe that will definitely find it's way to our table again.

I took "IMVINTAGE" advice and did the glaze very differently and didn't cook the steaks in it. I was serving 6 steaks so made it with a cup of balsamic and a 1/2 cup merlot and six tablespoons of brown sugar. It took about 20-25 minutes to reduce from almost two cups to less than 1/2 cup but it was worth it! The reduction was thick & syrupy and out of this world delicious and pairing it with melted Gorgonzola on the steak was a HUGE HIT! Served with roasted veggies that were used to sop up every last drop of the glaze. I told all my friends and family about this recipe because it was so easy and soooo delicious! I'll be making the glaze in large quantities next time since it keeps for over a month in the fridge.

Excellent recipe! I quickly browned the steak in a little high smoke point oil (1-2 minutes each side) which I then poured off and added the balsamic vinegar and the dry red wine. Since I like my steak rare and I was afraid that covering and cooking it would result in well done meat, I quickly concentrated the sauce at medium high heat until it was bubbling and syrupy with the meat in it. Done! Take it off the fire and let the steaks rest 5-10 minutes in the warm skillet. I added two pats of butter during the concentrating of the sauce but that was probably overkill and next time I will try without it. As recommended by others,I doubled the amount of the sauce because it is so good. But PLEASE, PLEASE don't add sugar to the sauce. Balsamic vinegar is rich with natural sugars and once the acetic acid is boiled off you will find it is already quite sweet!

We love this recipe. I follow the timing directions. However, after I have removed the filets from the wine and vinegar sauce, I add just a touch of butter, about a tablespoon or little less of brown sugar and some rosemary (some may not like the rosemary) I cook that for just a few minutes. It thickens up and the brown sugar cuts the vinegar taste a bit. Great dipping sauce.

I've been making this for 8 years! We love it!

Grilled my steaks after seasoning with prime rib rub. Sautéed mushroom and let the glaze cook down as suggested by others

Save your filet mignons and find another recipe. This one is too vinegary, and the glaze is too thin. It was like boiling a gorgeous steak in vinegar. We ate it because it was what we had for dinner, but if I had it in a restaurant I would have sent it back. First recipe I have ever saved on this site that I removed from my account.

I tried this recipe on four 2 ounce steaks last night using a cast iron skillet, but cut the cooking time in half due to their thin and tiny size. The flavor was decent but very light and vinegar-heavy. I was highly disappointed that the balsamic vinegar and red wine "sauce" (I used cooking red wine because that's what I had on hand) did not thicken up whatsoever (as it appears in the photos to be quite thick like barbeque sauce), even after removing the steaks and leaving it to reduce for much longer than the 8 minutes this recipe calls for. Sadly I ended up serving the steaks with a side of premade steak sauce, which defeats the purpose of following a recipe at all because I could have just seared the salted and peppered steaks, saved myself at least 15 minutes trying to make a "sauce" at all and been in the same boat in the end. I had high hopes for this as it seemed like a really simple recipe and had rave reviews, but it fell short and flat on its face! Unfortunately I didn't have time to read through the reviews and tweaks beforehand as I was short on time, but even after the fact it seems that most followed this recipe exactly as written as I did, yet for whatever reason mine didn't turn out. I literally kept going back to reread it thinking I was missing something, but nope! So disappointed I wasted perfectly good (expensive) filet mignons on this recipe.

I made this a few years ago and it turned out perfect!! I would not change a thing. I will be making this again for our 33rd year anniversary this Valentines Day. Thank you so much!!

I enjoy Blue Cheese crumble as do the majority of my guests. “Great Paring” ! Pan seared steaks and oven finished ,set aside. Developed the glaze reduction then spoon basted steaks to complete. Lovely entree.

I don't care for wine I've been looking for recipes for filet mignon but I want a different kind of glaze wish I could find one with no alcohol

So good, I’ll be making it again soon.

Why destroy a beautiful piece of meat!