Eye Round Roast

The eye round is the leanest roast on the animal — a tight, uniform cylinder from the rear leg with almost no fat and a fine, dense grain that, when treated right, slices into clean, rosy medallions that hold together on the knife. The key word is "treated right." Push it too hard with heat and it toughens; give it a low oven and pull it early and it earns its place on the table.

The method is simple: season generously with salt the night before if you can, then roast uncovered at 250°F until the center reads 125°F — plan for roughly 20 to 25 minutes per pound depending on the size. Pull it, tent it loosely, and let it rest a full 15 minutes before slicing. A quick sear in a screaming hot cast iron before resting will give you color on the outside if that matters to you, though it is optional. Slice thin against the grain and you have roast beef that makes the deli counter irrelevant — medium rare throughout, clean beefy flavor, nothing added that shouldn't be there.

It is the right cut for sandwiches. Thin-sliced on good bread with horseradish and a little of the resting juices, or built into an Italian beef with the slices braised briefly in seasoned broth and served soaking wet on a crusty roll — either way, it does what expensive deli roast beef pretends to do.

Sold by weight. Select the size that best suits your recipe. For reference, a 3.5 lb roast is pictured in a 10" x 15" roasting pan.

If you enjoy the eye round, our bottom round and London broil cover similar lean-beef territory with slightly different applications. And if you're building a sandwich spread, our bone broth makes the dipping liquid for an Italian beef considerably better than anything store-bought.