I Made Gordon Ramsay’s Famous Beef Wellington (and Here’s What You Should Know)

There’s hardly a roast more alluring, majestic, and intimidating than beef Wellington. A filet of beef gets wrapped in puff pastry with the hope that both the beef and pastry will bake up to a gorgeous, golden-brown on the outside and tender, pink perfection on the inside. And Gordon Ramsay’s version is as infamous as it is beloved.

You might already know Ramsay as the hot-tempered chef at the helm of shows like Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, and MasterChef. He’s a stickler for perfection — so when it came to making one of his dishes for the first time, beef Wellington stood out as the standard-bearer.

Now, I’ve made beef Wellington a handful of times, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to try Ramsay’s version. I wanted to see if the final product lived up to its pristine reputation, and if it was worth both the hefty price tag and the days-long prep.

There are two givens that often come along with making beef Wellington: It’s not a quick process and it’s expensive. (I knew both of these things going into it, but I still took a hard gulp and felt a little despair when my butcher rang up the total.)

But still, if you can nail it, beef Wellington can be a total showstopper. (Alternatively, if you don’t? It can be a kitchen nightmare, as Gordon might say. And a very pricey one at that.)

A quick search for beef Wellington will give you Ramsay’s version, and there are several Reddit channels dedicated to discussing this specific recipe. Many people struggle with preparing the beef so that it’s a rosy medium temperature when the puff pastry is fully baked. Give the roast too much time in the pan (when you’re browning it to create a crust) and you’ll have overcooked beef in the oven. It’s a tricky balance, to be sure.

Ramsay’s recipe tells you to brown the beef gently in a pan, then use the dirty pan to sauté very finely chopped mushrooms into a paste (known as duxelles). Next, you’ll wrap the duxelles-smeared puff pastry around the beef. There’s fridge chilling in between each step — including an overnight stint — so you spend a lot of time waiting. (You’ll also probably curse a bit trying to wrap the beef in puff pastry without losing any duxelles, even if Gordon Ramsay isn’t standing over your shoulder.)

Ramsay’s beef Wellington has a clever addition, too: Parma ham is used between the puff pastry and the duxelles, which creates a moisture barrier protecting the puff pastry from the beef’s juices. It’s really smart.

But it’s also worth noting that all the shopping, prep, cooking, and resting takes several days. (I repeat: days.) If I were making this for a holiday party, I’d likely do everything up to the cooking well in advance, as Ramsay suggests.

As long as his recipe and the process were, I fell really hard for Ramsay’s version of beef Wellington. Ramsay’s recipe, though fussy, all but guarantees your success. (For that reason, it’s a great template if you’re attempting beef Wellington for the first time.) Those hours of waiting pay off in a beef filet and puff pastry that are gorgeous and beautifully cooked if you follow the instructions dutifully. My husband and kids hungrily devoured every savory morsel with sheer delight.

One caveat, though? Ramsay’s recipe also includes instructions for a separate wine sauce. But honestly, I didn’t love it or think it was worth the time. Skip it.

• Buy the best puff pastry you can find — I love the all-butter version from Trader Joe’s, but it seems to be seasonal so I stock up around the holidays.
• Don’t rush the seemingly fussy steps like wrapping the beef alone and letting it sit overnight.
• Wrap the Parma ham around the beef separately from the puff pastry. I didn’t quite catch that in wrapping my first fllet and the final Wellington didn’t hold together as well.
• Ramsay doesn’t give an internal temperature for the finished beef, but aim for 135°F for medium-rare and insert a probe thermometer in the end of each Wellington to ensure they are cooked properly before removing and resting.
• Use a sharp serrated knife to halve or slice the Wellington. It makes cutting through the puff pastry without tearing much, much easier.

There is small room for improvement in Gordon Ramsay’s beef Wellington, like adding an internal temperature for doneness so that you’re not worried that the beef will be raw when you slice it. But with patience, this is one of the best beef Wellingtons I’ve ever made or eaten.

Recipe: Gordon Ramsay’s Beef Wellington

Have you tried Gordon Ramsay’s beef Wellington? What did you think of it? Or is there another famous recipe you swear by every year? Tell us everything in the comments below!