How to Make Yorkshire Pudding: Batter, Hot Tray and Timing
Whisk a smooth batter of flour, milk, eggs and water, pour it into a hot oiled tray, and bake at 400°F for 25 minutes. That is the method in Jamie Oliver's version, which makes one large pudding in a roasting tray that you tear or slice into portions. Jamie likes to make the batter the day before, the tray goes into the oven to heat before you pour, and the oven door stays shut while it puffs. Below are the amounts, the steps and the usual reasons a Yorkshire pudding fails to rise.
What do you need to make Yorkshire pudding?
These are the amounts in the recipe for Epic Yorkshire Pudding, which fills one 35 cm x 25 cm (14 x 10 inch) roasting tray. The recipe gives metric amounts, so a kitchen scale and a measuring jug make it easiest:
Plain flour: 150 g (all-purpose flour in the US)
Whole milk: 150 ml
Eggs: 4 large
Cold water: 50 ml
Sea salt: a pinch
Vegetable oil or beef fat: 4 tablespoons, for the tray
Equipment: a bowl, a whisk, a measuring jug, measuring spoons, the roasting tray and a serving board
The recipe accepts either oil or beef fat in the tray. Because it makes one big pudding rather than individual ones, the tray is the only baking dish you need.
How do you make Yorkshire pudding batter?
Put the flour and milk in a bowl, crack in the eggs, add a pinch of sea salt and 50 ml of cold water, then whisk vigorously until the batter is smooth. Pour it into a jug and put it in the refrigerator until you need it. Jamie makes his the day before, and a rest gives the flour time to absorb the liquid.
How long and at what temperature do you bake it?
Everything happens at one temperature, and the order matters:
Oven: 400°F (200°C, gas 6), set when you are almost ready to cook, with the shelf lowered so the pudding has room to rise
Fat: 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil or beef fat drizzled into the roasting tray
Heat the tray: put it in the oven to get hot, then take it out quickly but carefully
Batter: pour it into the hot tray
Bake: 25 minutes, until puffed up and golden
Oven door: keep it shut for the whole bake
The recipe gives no time for heating the tray, only that it should be hot. When the pudding is done, move it to a serving board and tear or slice it into portions.
Why did my Yorkshire pudding not rise?
The recipe’s own instructions point to three usual causes. The tray was not hot: the batter is meant to hit a tray that has been heating in the oven with the fat in it, so it starts cooking the moment it lands. There was no room: the shelf is lowered so the pudding can rise, and a high shelf leaves it nowhere to go. The oven door was opened: the recipe says not to, because every opening lets heat out while the pudding is still puffing up. Check those three before you blame the batter.
What do you serve with Yorkshire pudding, and can you make it ahead?
A Yorkshire pudding is a roast side dish, made for the table next to roast beef and gravy. Our prime rib roast guide covers time, temperature and doneness for the beef, and our holiday side dishes roundup has more for the rest of the plate. The batter is the part to make early. The recipe has no make-ahead step for the baked pudding, so bake it close to serving. To see it made from start to finish, Jamie Oliver teaches it in Jamie’s Sunday Roast, alongside the roast beef, roast potatoes and gravy it is meant to sit beside.
During a 20-year television and publishing career, British chef Jamie Oliver has inspired millions to cook healthy and delicious food. A global phenomenon, Jamie has published over 20 bestselling internationally acclaimed cookbooks. He leads a global food revolution helping to reduce childhood obesity and promote nutrition education.