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Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

Written By: The Old Farmer’s Almanac Editors The Almanac Editors and Staff
Category
Puddings and Custards
Course
Side Dishes
Occasions
Christmas
Preparation Method
Bake
Sources
Favorite New England Recipes

Yorkshire pudding is a cross between a dinner roll, popover, and soufflé. It’s the classic English side dish at the traditional “Sunday roast”—the perfect gravy-absorbing companion. In the U.S., Yorkshire pudding is a hit at Christmastime, served with roast beef or sometimes roast chicken.

Note: The word “pudding” in the U.S. means dessert. However, a Yorkshire Pudding is a puffed pastry baked with meat drippings. It’s not airy and hard like a popover but more of a soft, eggy side dish to the roast beef.

Named after the northern county in England, Yorkshire pudding was devised by cooks to use the fat that dropped into the dripping pan to cook a battered pudding while the meat was roasted. The Yorkshire pudding was served as a first course alongside a thick gravy; the low-cost ingredients dulled the appetite so that diners would not eat as much of the more expensive meat in the next course.

After the roast is finished, the beef drippings are added to the bottom of a large roasting pan or a large (12-cup) muffin tin. The oven’s heat (or fire) makes the pudding rise, and fat seeps in, so it puffs up. The Royal Society of Chemistry of England says, “A Yorkshire pudding isn’t a Yorkshire pudding if it is less than four inches tall.” That might be a “tall” challenge, but the idea is certainly to rise until puffed and golden brown. 

Ingredients
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons beef drippings
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
  2. Sift flour into a bowl. Make a hole in the center of the flour and slowly whisk in the beaten eggs. Add salt and pepper.
  3. Gradually add milk and water, whisking continuously. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula so that any lumps can be pushed down into the batter, then whisk again until all the liquid is mixed. Try to get the batter smooth and airy.
  4. (Optional Step: Cover and leave batter to rest for up to 1 hour. Just before cooking, whisk thoroughly again to break down any lumps and add more air.)
  5. Pour a small amount of drippings (or oil) into your baking dish or muffing tin. The baking dish should have deep straight sides to help the pudding rise. Or, if you’re using a 12-cup muffin tin, brush drippings into the bottom (about 1 teaspoon per muffin cup).
  6. Heat pan and drippings in oven until sizzling hot. It’s very important to heat up the pan before adding the batter for the pudding to rise.
  7. Carefully take out the warmed tin. Pour batter into the drippings and quickly return to oven (preferably a middle or high shelf).
  8. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until puddings have risen and are golden brown. (Do not open the oven door in the first 10 to 15 minutes or puddings will collapse! Use the oven light to keep an eye on them.)
  9. When done, puddings will be puffy and golden brown.
  10. Serve immediately with roast and spoonfuls of hot gravy.

About The Author

The Old Farmer’s Almanac Editors

The Old Farmer’s Almanac Editors

The Almanac Editors and Staff

Under the guiding hand of its first editor, Robert B. Thomas, the premiere issue of The Old Farmer’s Almanac was published in 1792 during George Washington’s first term as president.Today, the Almanac...

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Comments

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 12/21/2020 - 10:19

Hi Heather, Not at all! The original Yorkshire Pudding is traditionally made in one pan (even more traditionally in the pan catching the drippings from the roast above). We speak to this in the intro above. You can also make a popover version with the same batter and drippings in a muffin tin or popover pan. Many folks do the latter for presentation, even in the British pubs.

 <span>Ollie</span> Wed, 12/16/2020 - 10:06
I’m a bit puzzled by the ingredient list. I make a Yorkie nearly every weekend with the same quantities but with 3 eggs. To fill a 2 cup measuring jug with eggs would I think take many more, perhaps up to six?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 12/21/2020 - 10:51

Apologies, we're not sure what you mean. This ingredient list is pretty standard for a traditional Yorkshire Pudding. Some have 2 eggs; some have 3 eggs. Some have less or more flour or drippings. But it's tested out! Let us know if you try it!

 <span>Georgis</span> Sun, 12/19/2021 - 08:31
I'm with the OP, who is not quibbling over 2 eggs or 3 eggs. Your recipe as published says 2 CUPS of eggs. I've been hybridizing several recipes over the years, including the 2-egg vs. 3-egg question, and have settled down to 3 eggs with ~1 cup of liquid (mixed milk and water) and 1 cup of flour, in a square pan. The 3rd egg produces a lot more rise and openness. Recently experimented with a half recipe, but with 2 eggs, in a glass loaf pan, as we are now empty nesters. Worked out great!
<span>Joy</span> Fri, 12/17/2021 - 11:58
2 cups beaten eggs? That's a lot of eggs.
<span>John Brear</span> Wed, 12/16/2020 - 06:46
As a yorkshireman, I can vouch for this recipe - enjoy! We always had yorkshire pudding with our Sunday roast. In winter it was four-inch puddings filled with rich onion gravy as a starter; in summer it was muffin-sized as a side. Mutton was a popular meat in the '50s and yielded an equally good dripping. Butter works fine for vegetarians. As the batter is close to that for pancakes, leftover puds make a great tea-time treat with strawberry jam! Another option as a mid-week main is 'toad-in-the-hole'. Heat a large, straight-sided baking pan with the dripping in the bottom, add your favourite sausages and pour the batter over, than bake as described. Roast vegetables - batons of carrot, parsnip, swede/rutabaga, wedges of onion, strips of pepper - make a great veggie alternative. Glad to know our best export is appreciated in the US!
<span>Cat Slater</span> Fri, 12/24/2010 - 01:07
Thanks and cannot wait to give this a try.
<span>Kevin Murphy 2</span> Thu, 12/23/2010 - 20:07
My grandmother's recipe (she came here from Yorkshire as a senior citizen) also emphasized the beef drippings--1/2 cup, as I recall her original recipe. However, not confident about adequate supplies of beef drippings, I have, for decades, substituted 1/8 pound (1/2 a stick) of butter, cut up and melted in the container just before adding the batter. It works just as well as my grandmother's original. Her recipe also specified 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup of water (possibly an economy move in the later 1800s and early 20th century in Yorkshire). I have retained that ratio, as well. My grandmother also specified one egg, but my mother tended to use 2, and I follow that rule--but one egg will work. However, the Yorkshire pudding that results is, as I recall, thinner, and crustier. I also vary the time and temperature, using 400 degrees, for 45 minutes to an hour, to coincide with the meat and other items, and that has worked well for us. We have also recently stopped using salt in the recipe, and that is no problem.