This succulent, medium-rare beef topside is full of flavors of red wine, mustard, and rosemary, and makes a delicious, melt-in-your-mouth roast dinner. Just don’t forget the duck fat roast potatoes!

A roast topside of beef is sitting on a timber board. A few slices have been carves. A glass of red wine and mustard sit beside it.

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We’re roast people around here! Whether you’re looking for an easy Sunday lunch, midweek family supper, or even the easiest Christmas dinner ever, I’ve got you covered with this collection of roast dinner recipes.

Why you’ll love this roast beef recipe

The flavors! All beef’s besties are here. Red wine, garlic, rosemary, mustard. How can you go wrong with that combination?

It’s a super simple traditional roast recipe. All the hard work is done by leaving the meat to marinate and roasting at the right temperature. It’s a nice, simple way to infuse flavors into your roast. Pour a glass of wine, you’ve earned it.

A topside of beef is generally one of the cheaper cuts of beef, yet a great cut of meat for a roast. While it can be a tougher cut when used for fast cooking methods, by allowing it to cook slower, the connective tissue breaks down resulting in a dreamy, melt-in-your-mouth beef roast.

What you need to get started

Beef topside roast. I aim for about 1.5kg to feed 6 people. In our house that’s dinner and roast beef sandwiches for days!
Mustards – seeded mustard and Dijon mustard.
Red wine – I use whatever is in my pantry. I always have a bottle of merlot or pinot in my house whether it’s to drink or cook with. When you are slow cooking with red wine, you don’t need to use the most expensive bottle on the shelf. For cooking, I normally will spend about $10-12 on a bottle, however because this dish pairs so well with red wine (and you only need a couple of tablespoons), I’ll buy a nice bottle to have with my roast dinner and just use that.
Herbs and Vegetables – garlic cloves, brown onions, fresh rosemary, and thyme (stripped of leaves and finely chopped)
Porcini powder. You’ll find porcini powder in specialty food stores. Porcini powder is one of my favorite ingredients, so you’ll find it in a lot of my recipes. It adds a good bit of depth to a dish that ordinary white mushrooms don’t. Use it sparingly! A little goes a long way. If you can’t get your hands on it, grind down a few dried porcini mushrooms with a mortar and pestle – it’s the same thing.
Olive oil, sea salt flakes, and freshly ground black pepper

All the ingredients you need to make beef topside roast with garlic and rosemary.

How much beef topside per person?

I generally work on 250g per person. It doesn’t matter if it’s lamb, beef or other, it’s always 250g. While not everyone will eat that I find that it’s a great guide – especially when there’s a growing teenager in the house!

A 1kg topside roast will comfortably feed 4 people, while a 1.5kg roast is perfect for 6 with enough leftovers for a roast beef sandwich or two the next day. Because, cold roast beef sandwiches are the BEST, and you want leftovers!

1 kg topside will feed 4 people
1.5kg topside will feed 6 people
2kg topside will feed 8 people

If you’re feeding a crowd with lots of sides like roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, and veggies, you can usually stretch it a little further.

The Nitty Gritty

Pat dry the beef with a paper towel and place it on a plate.
In a small bowl, combine the mustard, red wine, rosemary, thyme, garlic, porcini powder, salt, and pepper. Stir all the ingredients together to combine. Rub the outside of the beef in the marinade and let the beef come to room temperature for an hour while the marinade infuses the beef.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Cut the onion horizontally into 4 equal slices and place in the bottom of the roasting pan.
Place the marinated beef on top of the onion slices.
Drizzle with the olive oil and pop into the preheated oven.
Roast on high heat for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/340°F and cook for a further 45 minutes or until your beef has an internal temperature of 50°C/122°F Remove from the oven and cover with foil. Let the meat rest for 20 minutes or until your meat has an internal temperature of 55-60 °C/131-140°F. Carve and eat!

A piece of beef topside marinating on a roasting tray.

Beef Cooking Temperatures

How do you like your beef cooked? I’m a medium-rare girl myself! As meat continues to cook once it leaves the oven, it’s important to use a thermometer to avoid overcooked meat. It’s equally important to let your meat rest (10-20 minutes for a roast beef topside) after cooking. While it still will continue to cook (also called carryover cooking), the juices that have pooled in areas will redistribute throughout the meat, giving that juicy interior we all love!

My general rule for a beef topside roast is…

Rare – cook until the interior is 45°C/113°F and rest for 15-20 minutes.
Medium rare – cook until the interior is 50°C/122°F and rest for 15-20 minutes.
Medium – cook until the interior is 55°C/131°F and rest for 15-20 minutes.

Equipment

First, you’ll need something to roast your beef in, like a roasting pan. I always cook this in either my stainless steel roaster (pictured) or my enamel cast iron roasting dish if I want to make gravy from any drippings . I make my marinade in a mortar and pestle to bruise the herbs a little; however, this is not necessary, and a small bowl will work as well. You’ll also need measuring tools and a basting brush.

To get a perfectly cooked beef joint to your liking, you’ll need a meat thermometer. I’m a huge fan of digital meat thermometers like the Meater. They Bluetooth to your phone and tell you when your meat is at the correct temperature, how long to rest for, etc. It definitely takes the guesswork out of trying to get a whole joint of meat perfectly medium rare!

Cooks notes

Always slice against the grain when carving up your roast beef.

The cooking time will depend on the size of your topside. Please adjust according to your thermometer reading.

When you are carving up your topside joint, only carve enough for that meal. A cold roast beef is way easier to carve into thin slices than a hot roast. You’ll find it goes a lot further.

If you really love your garlic, cut a whole garlic bulb in half horizontally and place it with the onions in the bottom of the roasting tray.

How to serve roast topside beef

Go nuts for the perfect Sunday roast (or Monday roast!) and serve up your roast dinner with ALL the roast vegetables, potato & onion gratin, Yorkshire pudding, mushy peas, and homemade beef gravy. I’m drooling just thinking about it!

How to make beef gravy from the drippings

Reserve any dripping from roasting and resting. In the roasting tin or skillet, combine the drippings and 2 tbsp plain flour. On medium heat, cook the flour until the drippings start to thicken.

Add some beef stock and stir through the flour mix. Once it starts to thicken, add a little more stock. Add any extra flavor with herbs, mustard, wine, etc, and simmer for 15 minutes to deepen the flavor. The gravy will thicken the longer it simmers. At any time, if you would like a thinner consistency, just add a little more beef stock or a splash of water.

Season with sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper.

A medium rare topside beef roast on a wooden cutting board.

Have leftovers?

Roast beef sandwiches all week sounds fab to me! A little mustard, cheese, tomato, lettuce, and some Spanish onion, and I’m in sandwich heaven.

Any leftover meat from a roast topside joint makes the BEST beef salad the next day with a red wine vinaigrette. Next day dinner done!

FAQ’s

Topside is naturally a leaner cut of beef, due to it having less marbling than other cuts, so it can become tough if overcooked. Using a meat thermometer is the easiest way to avoid dry roast beef. I also recommend resting the meat well after cooking and always slicing against the grain when carving for the most tender slices.

Yes! Medium rare is where it’s at! Because it’s such a lean cut, cooking it past medium can dry it out quite quickly. For medium rare beef, remove the roast from the oven when the internal temperature reaches 50°C and allow it to rest before carving.

For a topside roast, I like to rest the beef for at least 15-20 minutes before carving. Resting allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, giving you that lovely juicy interior instead of all the juices running onto the chopping board and you’re left with one dry topside!

Storage

One cool, store any leftover beef roast in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

To reheat roast beef, place thin slices in a roasting tray in an even layer. Drizzle with a little gravy, cover with aluminum foil, and warm in a preheated 150 °C oven for 20 minutes.

Here are a few more roast night recipes you might like…

A rare medium rare roast beef being carved on a timber board. A bottle of Angullong red wine sits behind.

Do you have a favorite roast dinner tradition? Let me know in the comments.

Happy roasting!

Start slow. Cook confidently.

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4 Comments

Leah says:

5 January 2026 at

Followed the cook time, absolutely spot on thank you so much!

1. Emma Lee says:
  
  5 January 2026 at
  
  That’s wonderful Leah! x
  
James says:

31 January 2026 at

Thank you – perfect recipe, I can still taste it and I think I may be preparing it again soon!

1. Emma Lee says:
  
  2 February 2026 at
  
  Wonderful! Thanks for your lovely words James 🙂 x

Roast Beef Topside with Red Wine & Rosemary