Looking for a recipe for a roast beef dinner with all the trimmings, including Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, carrots and gravy? You’re in the right place! Rather than you having to jump around to different recipes, I’ve created a master recipe here for my favourite roast beef dinner, start to finish.
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A good roast beef is absolutely delicious, but I used to find making it at home a bit of a risk, particularly when you factor in the Yorkshire puddings. Getting perfectly cooked beef, puddings AND potatoes seemed a bit out of reach.
But then I tried cooking it this way, and it’s changed my roast dinners forever. Perfectly tender, pink beef – sorted. Beautifully fluffy Yorkshire puddings – done. Crisp, golden roast potatoes – easy. Plus carrots and gravy. The ideal roast beef dinner.
Now, I know everyone likes to do things slightly differently, which is why this recipe is customisable. You can add whatever you like. In particular, I left out green vegetables. This is partly because they’re pretty easy to cook, and partly because I know everyone has a different preference. Peas or kale or broccoli or leeks? You decide! You could even go for my Welsh style dauphinoise potatoes – delicious.
The key to your roast beef dinner working properly is timings. I’ve been as accurate as possible in the recipe – just follow along and make sure to read the next step in advance for the best results.
Roast Beef Dinner with Yorkshire Puddings – The Ingredients
- Beef – get a beef roasting joint, ideally from your butchers. I got one which was 1.5kg, and it would have easily served 5-6, with all of the sides. The cooking times below are for a 1.5kg piece of meat.
- Mustard powder, salt, olive oil, garlic, onion – for the beef rub and flavouring while it’s roasting. You’ll want all of these for the best results.
- Potatoes, cornflour, goose fat – for the roast potatoes. You want white potatoes. Goose fat is ideal for roasting potatoes. You could use olive oil instead, but you just won’t get the same results.
- Milk, eggs, plain flour, goose fat – for the Yorkshire puddings. You DO NOT need self-raising flour for Yorkshire puddings, no matter how much it might seem that way! The hot fat causes the perfect rise. I used goose fat here because I was already using it for my potatoes, but if you’re making Yorkshire puddings as part of a separate meal you can use vegetable oil instead.
- Carrots, honey, thyme, olive oil – there’s nothing quite like accentuating a carrot’s natural sweetness with honey on a rich dish like this. You’ll love this flavour combination.
- Red wine, beef stock, plain flour- when you make gravy from the roasting juices, there’s very few additional ingredients needed. This gravy is packed full of flavour.
Cooking the Roast – Top Tips
As I said, this roast is all about timings. I used to struggle with the fact that roast beef really needs to be cooked at a low temperature to get the perfect medium rare pinkness, but Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes need high heat. What gives when you only have one oven? Well, here are my tips:
- Don’t skip the resting time! Beef is best when it has been allowed to rest for plenty of time. I rested mine for an hour here. Under tin foil, it stays warm and becomes perfectly tender.
- Make sure your fat or oil is hot! This is true for both the potatoes and the Yorkshire puddings. Cold fat means flat yorkshires and rubbish roasties.
- Treat your roast with love – you’ve paid a lot for this piece of meat. Treat it well, cook slowly and keep an eye on it.
- Got leftovers? Good! You can now make a banging leftover cottage pie.
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Roast Beef Dinner with Yorkshire Puddings
Save This RecipeIngredients
Beef
- 1.5 kg beef roasting joint
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 1 bulb garlic
Yorkshire puddings
- 140 g plain flour
- 4 medium eggs
- 200 ml milk
- 2 tbsps goose fat
Potatoes
- 1 kg white potatoes
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 2 tbsps goose fat
Carrots
- 500 g carrots
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsps honey
Gravy
- 150 ml red wine
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 400 ml beef stock
Instructions
- 6 hours before you plan to start cooking the beef, remove it from the fridge. Take off all packaging and put in a large roasting dish. Rub all over with the mustard powder and salt. Leave it to sit at room temperature for six hours.
- When you’re ready to start cooking (approx two hours before you want to eat), preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
- Take a very large casserole dish or frying pan that can go on the hob. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and turn on a medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the beef joint (fat side down). Cook on each side for about 2 minutes, turning when it starts to caramelise. Don’t cook for any longer than this! When it is browned on all sides, remove from the pan and put it back in the roasting dish.
- Cut the onion in half (no need to peel) and cut the garlic bulb in half. Put in the roasting dish with the beef and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil. Put in the oven for 50 minutes.
- For the Yorkshire puddings, put the flour in a large bowl. Crack in the eggs and whisk until combined. Add the milk and continue whisking until completely smooth. Leave to sit until ready to cook.
- For the potatoes, peel and half all of the potatoes. Put in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Put on a medium heat and bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Drain.
- Next, prepare the carrots. Peel them and cut into small batons. Put into a small oven dish and drizzle over the olive oil, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Leave for the moment.
- When the beef has been in the oven for 50 minutes, remove it. Cover the roasting dish with a double layer of tin foil and leave on the side to rest for an hour.
- Now, turn the oven up to 210 degrees Celsius. Take 2 tbsps goose fat and put into a separate roasting dish for the roast potatoes. Take a 12 hole muffin tin and drizzle another 2 tbsps goose fat evenly into each of the holes. Put both of the pans into the oven to allow the fat to heat for 15 minutes.
- Spoon the cornflour over the drained potatoes. Season them with salt and pepper and shake.
- When the fat is hot, remove the tins from the oven. Tip the potatoes into their dish (be careful! The fat may spit) and put on the top shelf of the oven. Pour or ladle the Yorkshire pudding mix into the muffin tin. Put on the middle shelf of the oven. Put the carrots on the bottom shelf.
- Leave everything to cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Don’t open the oven door during this time. After 30 minutes, check everything. If the Yorkshires are golden and risen, they are done. If the potatoes are crisp, they are done. If the carrots are soft, they are done. If anything is not yet cooked, give it another 10 minutes then check again.
- Pour the honey over the carrots and toss until they are well coated.
- For the gravy, tip the red wine into a small saucepan. Spoon in any juices that have collected in the beef roasting dish. Put on a medium heat. When it comes to a boil, quickly whisk in the flour then gradually add the stock, stirring all the time until you have a smooth consistency.
- To serve, slice the beef and pile on plates along with the Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, carrots and gravy. Enjoy!
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