You can serve this classic roast beef recipe hot as part of a Sunday lunch, or cold alongside seasonal salads. If serving hot, leave for 30 minutes to rest before carving; if serving cold, chill overnight and serve scattered with watercress and fiery horseradish crème.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Yields:
8
Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
1 hr 20 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 35 mins
Cal/Serv:
322
Ingredients
2
kg rolled topside beef roasting joint
2Tbsp.
light brown soft sugar
1Tbsp.
mustard powder
1Tbsp.
vegetable oil
Directions
Step 1
Take the beef out of the fridge 1hr before cooking to allow to come up to room temperature.
Step 2
Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. Pat beef dry with kitchen paper; take a note of its weight (just in case). In a small bowl, stir together sugar and mustard powder; rub over beef. Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat; fry beef on all sides, until well browned.
Step 3
Sit beef in a roasting tin just big enough to hold joint, cover loosely with foil. Roast in oven for 15min per 500g for rare meat, 20min per 500g for medium-rare meat or 25min per 500g for well-done meat, then roast for an extra 10min on top of the calculated time. Or use a meat thermometer - for medium-rare meat the internal temperature of the beef should be 60°C.
Step 4
Transfer beef to a board and leave to cool completely. Wrap well in foil and chill overnight.
Step 5
An hour before serving, slice beef thinly; arrange on a platter; cover. Serve with our coleslaw, watercress leaves and creamed horseradish.
Get ahead Roast beef up to 3 days ahead. Complete; chill.
For more Sunday lunch inspiration, check out our tips for making the best roast dinner.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
