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Juicy and delicious Italian Roast beef served with a super simple marsala and onion gravy. This family roast is super simple to prepare made with just four ingredients and ready in under 2 hours! Serve with roasted potatoes and your favourite sides.
A roast dinner is always so comforting, hearty and delicious whether it’s a roast chicken, pork tenderloin or roast beef! There’s just something about the juicy, tender meat, fluffy mash or roast potatoes and of course the flavour packed gravy to pour over it all!
This Italian roast beef has been our family favourite for a while now and you just won’t believe just how simple and effortless it is to make.
The blushing pink roast beef cooks in it’s own gravy made from marsala, onions and herbs so there’s no need to make that separately it’s that easy!
Ingredients – what you need
The ingredients you need are super simple all you need is a bottom round or rump roast beef (silverside in the UK), Marsala fortified wine, onion, fresh rosemary and sage, olive oil and salt and pepper.
See the photo below that shows all the ingredients you need!
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Pin ItHow to make Italian Roast Beef – step by step
Make sure the fat is trimmed off of the beef and season it well with salt and pepper (photo 1).
Heat the oil in a Dutch Oven (or ovenproof pot with a lid), once hot add the beef and brown it on all sides, remove to a plate and set aside (photos 2 & 3).
Add the sliced onion and chopped herbs to the pot (add a little extra olive oil if needed) and saute on a medium heat for 5 minutes until softened (photo 4).
Add the beef back to the pot and pour over the marsala. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 25 minutes turn the beef round, cover again and cook for a further 25 minutes (photos 5 – 7).
Once cooked, remove from the oven and set the beef on a plate or cutting board covered with aluminium foil to rest for at least 15-20 minutes. It’s important to let the beef rest so it doesn’t dry out.
Five minutes before serving heat the marsala sauce and onions on a medium heat to reduce slightly.
Cut the beef into slices and serve on plates topped with onions and the marsala sauce (photo 8).
Serving suggestions
I love to serve this roast beef with roasted potatoes and a side salad or arugula, shaved parmesan and olive oil. Here are more delicious side dish ideas that would also go great!
- Creamy Polenta (Italian Cornmeal)
- Baked Cauliflower Cheese And Fennel
- Crispy Baked Polenta Fries
- White Bean Mash With Rosemary And Lemon
- Pan Fried Gnocchi With Rosemary
- Roasted Asparagus with Gorgonzola
Top tips and recipe FAQs
- Marsala – Marsala is a sweet fortified wine and is the key ingredient that creates such a delicious and flavourful sauce!
- For a thicker gravy – if you’d like a thicker gravy mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water until dissolved, add it to the gravy and onions, and simmer until thickened.
- Let it rest – it’s so important to let the beef rest after cooking. The worst thing you can do is cut it straight away and let all those delicious juices run right out of it drying it out. Rest it for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing.
- Internal temperature – if you’re unsure whether your beef is cooked to your liking you can use a meat thermometer to check. Here are the internal temperatures to look for; Medium-Rare 135°F/57°C, for Medium 145°F/63°C, and for Well done 150°F/65°C. Remember that the beef will continue to cook as it rests so I recommend taking the beef out of the oven around 4-5 degrees earlier than the above-stated temperatures to avoid it overcooking.
I recommend using bottom round or rump roast also known as Silverside in the UK.
Leftovers will keep really well in the fridge for up to 1 week. Use leftover beef to make sandwiches, add to salads or stews!
Absolutely, leftovers can be frozen in suitable containers or bags and then thawed completely before reheating or serving.
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Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Italian Roast Beef with Marsala & Onions
Ingredients
- 2 lb bottom round or rump roast beef, fat trimmed off (1kg, silverside UK)
- 1.5 cups Marsala fortified wine, (350ml)
- 1 onion, cut in half and sliced
- 2 sprigs rosemary, chopped
- 3-4 fresh sage leaves, chopped
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper, for seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Make sure the fat is trimmed off of the beef and season it well with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil in a Dutch Oven on a medium heat (or ovenproof pot with a lid), once hot add the beef and brown it on all sides, remove to a plate and set aside.
- Add the sliced onion and chopped herbs to the pot (add a little extra olive oil if needed) and saute on a medium heat for 5 minutes until softened.
- Add the beef back to the pot and pour over the marsala. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 25 minutes turn the beef round, cover again and cook for a further 25 minutes (see notes for internal temperatures if needed).
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and set the beef on a plate or cutting board covered with aluminium foil to rest for at least 15-20 minutes. It’s important to let the beef rest so it doesn’t dry out.
- Five minutes before serving heat the marsala sauce and onions on a medium heat to reduce slightly.
- Cut the beef into slices and serve on plates topped with onions and the marsala sauce.
Video
Notes
- Marsala – Marsala is a sweet fortified wine and is the key ingredient that creates such a delicious and flavourful sauce!
- For a thicker gravy – if you’d like a thicker gravy mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsp of water until dissolved, add it to the gravy and onions, and simmer until thickened.
- Let it rest – it’s so important to let the beef rest after cooking. The worst thing you can do is cut it straight away and let all those delicious juices run right out of it drying it out. Rest it for at least 15-20 minutes before slicing.
- Internal temperature – if you’re unsure whether your beef is cooked to your liking you can use a meat thermometer to check. Here are the internal temperatures to look for; Medium-Rare 135°F/57°C, for Medium 145°F/63°C, and for Well done 150°F/65°C. Remember that the beef will continue to cook as it rests so I recommend taking the beef out of the oven around 4-5 degrees earlier than the above-stated temperatures to avoid it overcooking.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Chicken Marsala was delicious thank you.
Because I can’t use butter I thickened the sauce with cornflour at the end
Just so’s you know, the temperature in degrees Celcius is incorrect for medium rare beef. 135 deg F is 57.2 deg C – which you’ve published as 72C. That is on the really dried-out well-done side of well done…… 🙂
Thanks for catching that, I’ll correct that error now!