This is a simply seared elk tenderloin recipe, served with a rich ancho sauce that’s not overly spicy and and easy pico de gallo: Elk tenderloin meets Mexico.

Cooking an elk tenderloin is a special occasion. If you’re like most people, you don’t shoot an elk every year, and each elk only has two tenderloins, which are the same cut as filet mignon in beef.

Given that, almost everyone just sears or grills their elk tenderloin or backstrap simply. As jazz great Thelonious Monk would say, straight, no chaser. Well, this recipe has a chaser. And it is a good one. No, a great one. It’s this ancho sauce.

I do a lot of Mexican cooking, and one thing that strikes me is how reliant Mexican cuisine is on sauces; I daresay even moreso than French cooking. Everything from chunky salsas to smooth dipping sauces and rich, complicated moles. Well there are simpler sauces, too.

This ancho sauce is one of them. I found the recipe in Chef Enrique Olvera’s book Mexico from the Inside Out, which is a beautiful book centered around Chef Olvera’s famous Mexico City restaurant Pujol. Most of his dishes are complex, beautiful, white-linen affairs. But if you tease out the components you can find simple jewels. Like this sauce.

All it consists of are ancho chiles, caramelized onions and garlic. Olvera’s version is picante, as he uses the hotter arbol chiles. I wanted a more approachable, mellower base sauce here, and the mild, almost raisiny anchos do the trick; dried ancho chiles are easier to find, too.

Why a sauce at all? Well, let’s face it: Both backstrap and elk tenderloin are, as the name suggests, super tender. But they are also fairly light in flavor. Nothing like a ribeye or flatiron steak. The ancho sauce provides some bass in the music on the plate.

The zippy pico de gallo adds bright, high notes. It’s a basic pico — white onion soaked in lime juice, diced tomato, cilantro — only I use habanero chiles instead of serranos. You can use whatever chile you want. But it should be as spicy as you feel comfortable with.

You may notice something on the sides of the tenderloin. That’s dried, powdered green onion with some black pepper. It is a cheffy touch I like, as it adds one more layer of flavor. But you can skip that if you want. Porcini powder would be another great option, or just go with black pepper. 

No matter whether you like your deer or elk tenderloin simple or not, make this ancho sauce. Serve it alongside any red meat, pork, or turkey. Or hell, dip tortilla chips in it.

Cooking Elk Tenderloin

Elk tenderloin, or really any tenderloin, is not a forgiving cut of meat. It is on the underside of the spine inside the animal, which is why it is so tender — it does little work. A tenderloin has a strong horizontal grain to it, so you almost always want to cook a whole elk tenderloin, not medallions. This makes it easier to achieve that medium-rare doneness you’ll want. 

Never cook a tenderloin past medium-well, and I prefer medium-rare. If you are unsure, use the finger test for doneness, or a probe thermometer (you’re looking for about 120°F before resting). When in doubt, undercook your elk tenderloin. You can always cook it more. You can’t uncook something. 

Unless you like your elk tenderloin super rare, you will want to rest it about 5 to 10 minutes before slicing into medallions. This is the time to add the porcini powder, black pepper, or whatever spice rub you like.