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Traditional Yorkshire Pudding

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Consistently ranked as one of the most beloved icons of British culture, Yorkshire pudding captures all the warmth and charm of old-fashioned English cooking.  This traditional Yorkshire pudding recipe includes all the tips & tricks you need to create the BEST, the crispiest, most flavorful Yorkshire puddings EVER!

Serve these Yorkshire puddings with your favorite Sunday roast, my popular Pot Roast recipe , or with two of our reader favorites – Onion Gravy and Mushroom Gravy!

yorkshire pudding recipe traditional authentic sunday roast dinner popover

Traditional Yorkshire Pudding

The very first home-cooked meal I had after moving to England was a traditional Sunday roast with Yorkshire pudding.  We were still in the process of moving into our home and were invited over to dinner by a British family from church who would soon become dear friends.  A dinner of sliced roast beef, crispy roasted potatoes (no one in the world makes them as good as the Brits), green peas, carrots, brown gravy and Yorkshire pudding greeted us – our first introduction to English home cooking.  And it was the perfect welcome.

What is known as “Sunday dinner”, aka “Sunday roast”, in the UK (roast beef, roasted potatoes, veggies and Yorkshire pudding) is believed to have originated during medieval times and has remained a strong-held tradition for centuries.  The British concept of the Sunday roast dinner would go on to greatly influence the food culture of the English-speaking world at large.

Sunday Dinner is regarded as one of England’s national dishes and in a poll a couple of years ago it ranked #2 out of the 50 things people most love about Britain.

You’re probably as curious as I was about the other top-ranking items, so here are a few:  First place was the bacon butty; third, a cup of tea; fourth, their proud national history; fifth, BBC; sixth, Big Ben; 7th, Buckingham Palace.  To beat out Big Ben and Buckingham Palace sure says something about the Brits’ love of their culinary heritage.  (Now I will say I only ever had a bacon butty once or twice during the 6 years I lived there.  Yorkshire puddings on the other hand…I couldn’t get enough.)  Fish & Chips came in 9th and the Yorkshire Pudding, this time in its own right, came in 10th.  Again, that’s out of the 50 most-loved things about Great Britain.  Even the Queen herself was beat out by food, coming in #15.

So all this is to say that if you love Great Britain and you love good food, there’s no way around it – you HAVE to make Yorkshire Puddings to accompany your next Sunday roast dinner!

yorkshire pudding recipe traditional authentic sunday roast dinner popover

What Is Yorkshire Pudding?

Yorkshire pudding is made from a batter of eggs, flour, milk and salt and is similar to a popover in its texture and flavor.  It is served as a side dish and is quite versatile in how it can be served.

Its origin is ambiguous but we do have some solid clues.  We do know the first printed reference was published in 1737 in a book called “The Whole Duty of a Woman” (*wince*) in the form of a recipe called “dripping pudding,” something that had already at that point been a well-known dish for several centuries.

old recipe

The clever cooks of northern England had developed a way to make use of the fat that would drip down onto the dripping pan from the joint of meat roasting on the spit above it in the fiery hearth.  They found that they could place a pan of batter underneath to cook simultaneously with the roast and those fat drippings contributed both a marvelous flavor and texture to the dripping pudding.

Ten years later it was published in Hannah Glasse’s highly acclaimed 1747 cookbook “The Art of Cookery,” a bestseller for a century after its first publication.  This time it was named “Yorkshire pudding” and the name has stuck ever since.

old cookbook

Yorkshire Pudding vs. Popovers

While there are other foods made from batter such as popovers, gougรจre and Dutch baby pancakes, Yorkshire pudding are distinctive in their wonderfully crisp texture and fabulous flavor from the meat drippings.  Yes, we owe a debt of gratitude to those northern England cooks and their culinary ingenuity!

So what is a Yorkshire Pudding exactly?  Martha Stewart described it as “a cross between a popover and a souffle.”  When you use the traditional Yorkshire puddings tins, they’re flatter than popovers and have a very distinct cup shape with a hollow center that allows you to fill them with gravy and other ingredients.  For serving the traditional Sunday Dinner, some like to place the roast beef, potatoes and veggies directly in the Yorkshire puddings and pour the gravy over it.  However you choose to serve them, they’re incredibly delicious. And I’m going to give you all the expert tips and tricks you need to make the BEST authentic Yorkshire Puddings!

yorkshire pudding recipe authentic traditional best

One Large Pudding Vs. Small Individual Puddings?

Traditionally Yorkshire pudding was cooked in a large, shallow baking dish and then cut into squares, but today individual puddings are most common.  I prefer the individual ones because you have more surface area that is browned and crispy.  While Yorkshire pudding today is served as an accompaniment to meat and vegetables, it was traditionally served as a first course with gravy.  Can you guess why?  The purpose was to satisfy your hunger on lower-cost ingredients so you wouldn’t eat as much of the more expensive meat during the second course.  Clever and economical.

yorkshire pudding recipe traditional authentic british english sunday roast dinner popover

Tips for Making the BEST Yorkshire Pudding

1.  Use the Right Pan

What’s Your Preference:  Cup-Shaped or Taller?

In addition to the pan you’re using, the temperature of your batter will determine the height and shape of your Yorkshire puddings.  You can either go for height or your can go for shape (specifically that classic cup shape).

Traditional Cup-Shaped Yorkshire Puddings:  You’ll need to use a traditional Yorkshire pudding tin and use cold batter that’s been chilled in the fridge.  As the cold batter hits the piping hot tins the sides will rise while the center is weighed down and rises more slowly, creating that famous and distinct cup shape for which traditional Yorkshire puddings are known.  Yorkshire pudding tins are also wider with a larger surface area, so you’ll more crispiness and the puddings will have a larger diameter.  You can fill them up with gravy to your heart’s content or add some roast beef and veggies and pour the gravy over it.

Taller Yorkshire Puddings:  As more people have skipped purchasing the traditional dedicated Yorkshire pudding tin in favor of using what they already have on hand – a muffin or popover pan – taller Yorkshire puddings have surfaced all over the web.  If you want to go this route, use room temperature batter.  As the room temp batter is poured into the piping hot tins, the puddings will rise faster and taller.  If you want them even taller you can add an extra egg white to the batter.

You can experiment with both methods and decide which one you prefer. Below left:  Using a Yorkshire pudding tin.  Below right:  Using a muffin tin.

yorkshire pudding tin

Bottom line (in my opinion): Popover and muffin tins will work but what you’ll get is, well, popovers.  If popovers is what you want, fine.  But if you want Yorkshire Puddings, I highly recommend using the traditional Yorkshire pudding tin.

2.  Let the Batter Rest

To Rest or Not To Rest?  Let it rest!

Non-rested batter will result in Yorkshire puddings that are flat, both in shape and in flavor.

Letting the batter rest, either at room temp or in the fridge (see above, “Cup-Shaped or Taller?”), will allow the liquid to penetrate the starch molecules in the flour, causing them to swell and creating a thicker consistency with a more uniform structure.  This will enable a better rise for your Yorkshire puddings.

Let the batter rest of at least an hour but preferably longer and up to overnight.  Resting the batter for a generous length of time is vital for the best flavor because it will create a more complex flavor (think of bread – the longer the bread dough rests the better the flavor of the bread).

Either keep the batter in the fridge the entire time until ready to use (if using cold batter, see above), or chill it in the fridge and then remove it and let it sit a couple of hours to come to room temp.  Then give it a few whisks to aerate the batter.

yorkshire pudding recipe best authentic traditional English British

3. Preheat the Pan

Get ‘Em Hot – Piping Hot!

For the crispiest Yorkshire puddings you must preheat the tins with the fat in them until they’re piping hot.  They should be so hot that when you pour the batter in them you’ll hear it sizzle.  You’ll get a better rise and, most importantly, a crispier texture.

4.  Use Fat!

Traditionally called “dripping pudding” because it was baked under the roast hanging above it, dripping fat down onto the pan of batter, Yorkshire puddings aren’t Yorkshire puddings without beef fat (called “beef dripping” in the UK).

Beef fat not only contributes the best flavor, it makes all the difference in the texture of the puddings.

There’s a reason French fries used to be deep fried in beef tallow – it unequivocally produces the crispiest, most flavorful results.  The higher in saturated fat the oil is, the crispier the results will be, and longer they’ll remain crispy.  Using vegetable oils or butter will result in limper Yorkshire puddings. Do it right, use beef tallow.

To make beef tallow yourself – and MUCH cheaper – check my tutorial on How to Make Beef Tallow. It’s super easy!

how to make beef tallow rendering fat suet diy homemade

5.  Serve Immediately

How long do Yorkshire puddings keep?  They don’t.  Serve them immediately! These puddings are very delicate and will lose their crispiness quickly.  So time your dinner to have everything else ready with your guests seated at the table a few minutes before your puddings are done.  Then take puddings out of the oven and immediately put them on the plates.

yorkshire pudding recipe authentic traditional best

Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

Let’s get started!

**READ BLOG POST ABOVE FOR DETAILED TIPS AND TRICKS FOR GETTING THE BEST RESULTS!**

In a mixing bowl, whisk or beat together the flour, salt and eggs until relatively smooth.

whisking eggs and flour together

Gradually add the milk, whisking until the batter is smooth and lump-free.  Cover with plastic wrap refrigerate for at least 2 hours and preferably overnight for maximum flavor.  The longer the batter rests the better the flavor will be.  (*See discussion in blog post about cold versus room temperature batter.)

whisking in milk

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Using a traditional Yorkshire pudding tin (*see blog post for discussion about which type of tin to use), place a teaspoon or two of beef tallow in each tin and place the tin in the oven for about 6-7 minutes until piping hot.

Pour the batter into each tin (the pan should be hot enough that the batter sizzles) between 1/2 to 3/4 full.  (Note: If making two large Yorkshire puddings in two 8-inch cast iron pans, fill each pan slightly less than half full.  These will need to bake slightly longer than individual puddings.)

melting lard and putting batter into molds

Bake the Yorkshire puddings for 11-13 minutes or until a deep golden brown.

yorkshire pudding recipe authentic traditional best

Serve immediately.

For two of our most favorite homemade gravy recipes be sure to try our Onion Gravy and Mushroom Gravy!

Enjoy!

yorkshire pudding recipe traditional authentic best english british

For more authentic British recipes try our:

yorkshire pudding recipe best authentic traditional English British

Traditional Yorkshire Pudding

Consistently ranked as one of the most beloved icons of British culture, Yorkshire pudding captures all the warmth and charm of old-fashioned English cooking.  This recipe includes all the tips & tricks you need to create the BEST, the crispiest, most flavorful Yorkshire pudding!
4.99 from 234 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 17 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine British, english
Servings 12 Yorkshire puddings
Calories 111 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup beef tallow (called beef dripping in the UK), the flavorful culinary tallow, not the kind for soap-making
  • Make your own beef tallow (click link for recipe) Highly Recommended

Instructions
 

  • **SEE BLOG POST for a complete discussion on tips and tricks for creating the best results**
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk or beat together the flour, salt and eggs until relatively smooth.ย  Gradually add the milk, whisking until the batter is smooth and lump-free.ย  Cover with plastic wrap refrigerate for at least 2 hours and preferably overnight for maximum flavor.ย  The longer the batter rests the better the flavor will be.ย  (*See blog post for discussion about cold versus room temperature batter to determine which results you prefer)
  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  
    Using a traditional Yorkshire pudding tin (*see blog post for discussion about which type of tin to use), place a teaspoon or two of beef tallow in each tin and place the tin in the oven for about 6-7 minutes until piping hot.  
    Pour the batter into each tin (the pan should be hot enough that the batter sizzles) between 1/2 to 3/4 full.  (Note: If making two large Yorkshire puddings in two 8-inch cast iron pans, fill each pan slightly less than half full.  These will need to bake slightly longer than individual puddings.)  Bake the Yorkshire puddings for 11-13 minutes or until a deep golden brown.
  • Makes enough for 12 Yorkshire pudding tins or regular muffin tin or two 8-inch cast irons if making two large Yorkshire puddings.
  • Serve immediately.   Traditionally served with a roast, roasted potatoes, veggies and brown gravy.

Notes

To Freeze:ย  Let the Yorkshire puddings cool completely then freeze them in ziplock bags or an airtight container for up to one month.ย  Let thaw and then toast in the oven.ย ย 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Yorkshire puddingCalories: 111kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 3gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 126mgPotassium: 58mgSugar: 1gVitamin A: 110IUCalcium: 33mgIron: 0.7mg
Keyword Yorkshire Pudding
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Originally published on The Daring Gourmet February 8, 2019

 

kimberly killebrew the daring gourmet

Hi, Iโ€™m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!

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Recipe Rating




4.99 from 234 votes (203 ratings without comment)

92 Comments

  1. Thanks for the info. I look forward to trying the recipe.

    Note that your link to making beef tallow takes us to making lard ๐Ÿค”

    1. I hope you enjoy the recipe! Yes, as noted in the blog post the process for making beef tallow and lard is identical. At the time I only had a tutorial for making lard but have recently published a tutorial about making tallow, so the link is now updated.

  2. I recently made your Toad in the Hole (excellent) and had equal success with these Yorkies. I am an expat living in Thailand and as it’s very difficult to find some of my favorite dishes from home here I spend a good amount of time in the kitchen. Thank you for bringing me a taste of home.

  3. Iโ€™ve been making Yorkshire puddings for over 40 years. Your particular batter recipe has become my favorite, but Iโ€™ve always used the same steps you mention in your blog, including a proper pudding tin. The only thing I do differently is I use leaf lard instead of beef tallow simply because I always have it around (for biscuits and pie dough), and itโ€™s readily available at (of all places) Etsy. With just a little dollop in the pan, I doubt anyone could tell the fat comes from a pig. However thereโ€™s one thing in your directions that is contradictory โ€” โ€œHow long do Yorkshire puddings keep?ย  They donโ€™t.ย  Serve them immediately!โ€ Then in the notes you explain how to โ€œkeepโ€ them in the freezer? I make the puddings to serve with fillings for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. When I have guests (or just me) to serve one of these puddings, I sometimes make them ahead of time, freeze them, then give them a little toast before serving them filled or empty. Nothing beats serving them immediately after theyโ€™re made, but freshly reheated/toasted from the freezer is a pretty closed second, and makes a 7:00 am breakfast a lot easier. Thanks for this and all your other GREAT recipes.

    1. Hi Toni, what a compliment, thank you! I’m so happy that this has become your go-to for Yorkshire puddings. Sorry for the confusing info on keeping the puddings – that’s meant to be understood that they either need to be served immediately or they can be frozen (i.e., not covered and left at room temp or put in the fridge until later).

  4. My kitchen was flooded so I made Yorkshire pudding in a cast iron fry pan on the grill outside. Came out great. My recipe called for 1/2 water and 1/2 milk to 7/8 cup of flour. Instead of drippings I have used butter and it still tastes great.

  5. Not a bad recipe. I’m surprised… One thing. You cook these while your roast rests, correct? Use the fat from the pan. If you like, you can strain out the impurities through cheesecloth. The flavors then marry better to your dish, and you get a wonderful rich flavor that processed tallow lacks. I do like how you link to rendering your own beef tallow though, go gurl!

  6. Far too many eggs. If you read the original Hannah Glasse recipe youโ€™ll see it should be one egg for four ounces of flour. Same quantity in Mrs, Beeton. This recipe is an egg pudding, not a Yorkshire pudding.

  7. I have to try this… not had any luck with yorkshires since I have lived over here but I introduced my wife who is American to them back in the UK and she and I miss them since moving here…Tbh if you make them right and they are crispy (like they should be) (just don’t refrigerate them cover and leave on counter top) my family had a tradition (if any were left over.. you wish)us kids filled them with Jam/jelly (strawberry or raspberry) had them for dessert later that evening or even the next day..

    1. YES, they’re excellent for desserts! I’ve done the same and have also filled them with caramelized bananas and caramel sauce for “banana fosters Yorkshire pudding” – good stuff! I wish you success with these, Ian, happy cooking!

  8. If I may, Kimberly, Merry Christmas. Your recipe and tips guided me to make the best Yorkshire ever, we make them on Xmas day for the whole family with an 18# Prime Rib. The posted photos of them by my relatives always cause awe with their friends! Yes, The batter is in the fridge for tomorrow and I let it sit outside for a few hours. Thank you again, you’re the best!

  9. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Loved reading through your post. My yorkshire deflated after i got them out of the oven but I shall keep trying! Maybe the tin should be hotter before i pour the batter in. ๐Ÿฅด

    1. I’ve read that you should poke a hole (such as with a paring knife) in the top to vent it, so the cooling air doesn’t cause it to collapse.

  10. Loved this post, especially the pics from those old cookbooks – the language and references are baffling but fascinating. Id never made YP before but you inspired me to have a Sunday roast dinner รฌn honour of the Queen (funeral is tmrw). Easy to follow recipe and great tips. I just don’t know if I cooked them enough, is the consistency supposed to be moist inside or like bread?

  11. My parents used to make the batter and let it sit, then they started to prepare everything from peeling potatoes all way down to prepare vegetables then they would start cooking and when the beef was ready they took it out of the pan and drained some of the drippings for gravy then put the pan back into the oven until the drippings started to smoke then poured the batter into the meat tin it took about 20 minutes to cook the Yorkshire while it was cooking the vegetables and potatoes were finished and the beef roast had time to rest and then be sliced everything was ready on the plates when they took out the most perfect every time Yorkshire pudding. I tried your recipe and it worked perfect I used a cast iron frying pan