Meat Dishes
Beef Wellington
Centre-cut beef fillet seared and brushed with mustard, wrapped in a layer of thyme-scented mushroom duxelles and Parma ham, then sealed in golden puff pastry and roasted so the beef stays pink all the way through.
- Serves 6
- Hands-on 1 hr
- Chill 50 min
- Bake 35–45 min
- Rest 10 min
- Medium-rare: 50–52°C in the centre
- British
Method
Season the beef (1 kg) all over with salt and pepper. Heat the oil (2 tbsp) in a large frying pan until very hot and sear the beef for about 1 minute on each side, including the ends, until well browned. Lift onto a plate, cool for 5 minutes, then brush all over with the mustard (2 tbsp).
For the duxelles, chop the mushrooms (500 g) very finely, by hand or in short pulses in a food processor. Melt the butter (25 g) in the same pan, add the shallots (2 shallots), garlic (1 clove) and thyme (2 tsp) and cook for 3 minutes, then add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt.
Cook over a medium-high heat for 10–15 minutes, stirring often, until all the liquid has gone and the mixture is a dry, dark paste. Add the wine (75 ml) and cook until it has evaporated too. Spread on a plate to cool completely. A dry duxelles is what keeps the pastry crisp.
Lay a large sheet of cling film on the worktop. Overlap the Parma ham (140 g) on it in a rectangle big enough to wrap the beef. Spread the duxelles evenly over the ham, sit the beef along one edge and use the cling film to roll it into a tight log, twisting the ends like a sweet wrapper. Chill for 20 minutes.
Dust the worktop with the flour (1 tbsp) and roll the pastry (500 g) to a rectangle about 3 mm thick, large enough to wrap the beef. Unwrap the beef, place it in the middle, brush the pastry edges with egg yolk (2 eggs) and fold the pastry around it, trimming any thick overlaps. Seal the ends and roll it seam-side down onto a lined baking tray. Chill for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C, gas 7). Brush the pastry all over with egg yolk, score it lightly in a criss-cross with the back of a knife and sprinkle with a little sea salt.
Bake for 35–45 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden and a probe in the centre of the beef reads 50–52°C for medium-rare (55°C for medium). If the pastry browns too fast, cover it loosely with foil.
Rest for 10 minutes, then cut into thick slices with a serrated knife.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
Rate this recipe
Tried it? Rate it.
The readers’ average appears here once 5 readers have rated it.
One vote per recipe per browser, and you can change it. We keep only the stars: no name, e-mail or IP address. How ratings work
See also
Chef’s notes
- For a sauce, reduce 250 ml red wine with a sliced shallot by two-thirds, add 300 ml of our Demi-glace (or Quick Demi-glace) and simmer until it coats a spoon.
- Make ahead: wrap the beef in pastry up to 24 hours ahead, keep it chilled, and add 5 minutes to the baking time.
- Some versions spread pâté over the beef as well (America’s Test Kitchen and Allrecipes do); the Parma ham layer does the same job of keeping the pastry dry.
- A crêpe layer between ham and pastry is a chef’s trick for extra insurance against soggy pastry.
How this recipe was developed
We compared Gordon Ramsay’s beef Wellington (on his site and on BBC Good Food), Jamie Oliver’s, America’s Test Kitchen’s and the most-rated version on Allrecipes.
- Sear, then mustard. Gordon Ramsay sears the fillet hard and brushes it with English mustard; we allow Dijon for a milder result.
- A dry duxelles and Parma ham. Ramsay’s duxelles is cooked until dry and rolled in a layer of Parma ham with cling film; BBC Good Food’s version of his recipe has 4.55/5 from 330 ratings.
- Chill twice. Both Ramsay and Jamie Oliver chill the parcel before baking so it keeps its shape.
- Cook to temperature. America’s Test Kitchen cooks to a measured centre temperature; we give probe readings rather than fixed times.
- Pâté optional. Allrecipes’ Beef Wellington (4.7/5 from 365 ratings) and America’s Test Kitchen use pâté; we left it to the notes.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
- Gordon Ramsay: Beef Wellington
- BBC Good Food (Gordon Ramsay): Beef wellington (4.55/5, 330 ratings)
- Jamie Oliver: Beef Wellington
- America's Test Kitchen: Classic Beef Wellington (4.6/5, 43 ratings)
- Allrecipes (Marla): Beef Wellington (4.7/5, 365 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.