Beef Wellington Recipe
Published December 18, 2023. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This classic beef Wellington recipe has roasted beef tenderloin encrusted in homemade puff pastry for the perfect meal for those elegant parties with friends and family. You will love the incredible flavors of this traditional dish.
We don’t eat beef that often these days, but occasionally, we do have a craving for some. If you want a great steak, try my Steak au Poivre or Grilled T-bone Steak.
Beef Wellington
Beef Wellington is a pan-roasted beef tenderloin wrapped in fois gras paté, or duxelles, and baked in puff pastry. It has evolved slightly and is now commonly brushed in mustard (Dijon or yellow) and wrapped in prosciutto in addition to the duxelles.
Duxelles is a classic French filling consisting of finely minced mushrooms that are then sweated in a pan in olive oil with diced shallots, garlic, and fresh thyme. It is also used in soups and sauces aside from this recipe.
Beef wellington should be simply sliced using a serrated knife to keep the puff pastry intact and serve it by the slice to your guests. In addition, it can be served with a simple brown sauce underneath the slices on a plate you are serving. The higher grade of beef you purchase the more fat and marbling will be on it rendering a better, juicier flavor.
There is no clear history of this classic dish, but many have attributed it to England or France.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Beef – The classic cut of meat to use in this dish is a beef tenderloin, which can range in cost from $20 to $30 per pound, depending on the grade of beef you decide to purchase. Beef tenderloin is an extremely tender cut of meat with low-fat content.
- Mushrooms – I used a combination of button, cremini, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms. You can use 1 of these or any comb of the four. In addition, any mushrooms are good to use.
- Onions – You will need a shallot and garlic cloves. However, you can substitute the shallot with a red, white, or sweet onion.
- Fat – Olive or avocado oil is best to use.
- Wine – Any dry white wine such as chardonnay, pinot grigio, or sauvignon blanc will work well in this beef Wellington.
- Herbs – I use fresh thyme and parsley in the duxelles and for garnish. You can substitute the thyme with fresh rosemary or sage when cooking the beef. However, you can substitute the dry thyme in the duxelles with an equal amount of dry thyme.
- Mustard – Dijon or yellow mustard can be used.
- Pastry – You will need a sheet of puff pastry, which can be homemade or frozen, store-bought, and thawed.
- Ham – I use prosciutto ham to wrap around the beef tenderloin before encrusting it in the pastry. Other options are ham, speck, or serrano ham,
- Eggs – Large chilled or room temperature eggs must brush the puff pastry before baking to ensure it gets browned.
How to Make Beef Wellington
Add the mushrooms, shallots, and garlic to a food processor and pulse on high until the ingredients are about the size of rice.
Add olive oil to a large saute pan over low heat and add the mushroom mixture while frequently stirring.
Cook until the moisture in the mushrooms has evaporated or reduced.
Deglaze with wine and cook for 5-7 more minutes to evaporate and reduce the liquid.
Fold in herbs, salt, and pepper until combined, and then set aside on a plate to cool slightly.
Season the beef with salt and pepper.
Add the same mushroom pan back to the burner over medium-high heat and add olive oil until it smokes lightly.
Sear the beef until well browned on all sides.
Remove from the pan, generously brush it with the mustard on all sides, and let it rest on a plate.
Roll the puff pastry sheet and roll it out until it’s about 18” by 12”.
Overlap the prosciutto in the center of the puff pastry, then spread the mushroom mixture over the ham to cover it completely.
Put the tenderloin towards the bottom of the ham and mushroom mixture and roll it forward completely, encrusting the tenderloin.
Cut off the excess puff pastry from the sides and pinch the seams together.
Place on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Next, brush the puff pastry outside on all sides with the egg yolk and milk egg wash.
Score if it with the back side of your knife if desired to make a design and bake at 425° for 18-22 minutes or until a thermometer reads at 120° to 125° internally of the beef.
Remove from the oven at let it rest for 10 minutes before carefully slicing and serving it
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: This recipe is meant to be served as soon as it is done cooking.
How to Store: Cover it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It will freeze covered in plastic for up to 2 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before heating. It will lose a lot of moisture in the freezer, causing it to be dry and the puff pastry soggy.
How to Reheat: Caution that reheating beef will cause it to go up in temperature, which will overcook it. Place some slices of the beef Wellington in a pan with a lid and bake at 325° for 6 to 8 minutes or until hot.
chef notes + tips
- The higher your grade of beef, the more fat and marbling will be on it, rendering a better, juicier flavor.
- You can use whatever type of mushroom you’d like to make the duxelles.
- A typical beef Wellington at a restaurant may cost you around $100 and can feed 2 people. My recipe will cost that same amount and feed 4-5 people.
- Since the tenderloin was pre-seared and the puff pastry needs to bake and turn golden brown, the lowest temperature you could even serve it at is rare, which comes in at around 115° internally.
- You chill the beef wellington in the refrigerator before baking it to cool the butter in the pastry so that it does not sag as soon as you put it in the oven.
- I usually use a serrated knife when slicing this.
More Beef Recipes
Video
Beef Wellington Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound total of wild mushrooms, (I used button, cremini, shiitake, and oysters)
- 2 small peeled shallots
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup chardonnay
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 2- pound beef tenderloin
- 3 tablespoons yellow or Dijon mustard
- ½ recipe of puff pastry or 1 frozen and thawed puff pastry sheet
- 6 slices of ham di parma
- 2 egg yolks whisked with 1 tablespoon whole milk to make an egg wash
- Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°.
- Add the mushrooms, shallots, and garlic to a food processor and pulse on high until the ingredients are about the size of rice. Likewise, you can also finely mince everything on a cutting board with a sharp chef’s knife. Set aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large saute pan over low heat and add in the mushroom mixture. Frequently stir and do not burn it.
- Cook for 20 minutes or until the moisture in the mushrooms has evaporated or reduced.
- Deglaze with wine and cook for 5-7 more minutes to evaporate and reduce the wine liquid.
- Fold in parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper until combined, and then set aside on a plate to cool slightly.
- Add the same mushroom pan back to the burner over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- In the meantime, generously season the beef tenderloin on all sides with salt and pepper and brown it on all sides in the pan with olive oil, about 90 seconds per side.
- Remove from the pan, generously brush it with the mustard on all sides, and let it rest on a plate.
- Next, on a clean surface, lightly dusted with flour, add the puff pastry sheet, and roll it out until it’s about 16”-18” long by 12” wide.
- Overlap 6 slices of ham di parma right in the center of the puff pastry and then spread the mushroom mixture over top of the ham and spread around to completely cover it.
- Put the tenderloin towards the bottom part of the ham and mushroom mixture and roll it forward completely, encrusting the tenderloin.
- Pick up the beef tenderloin, place it back toward the bottom part of the puff pastry, and then roll it forward to wrap it up.
- Pinch the seams together, cut off the excess puff pastry from the sides, and pinch the seams together or twist them together to ensure it is airtight.
- Place on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Next, brush the puff pastry outside on all sides with the egg yolk and milk egg wash.
- Score it with the back side of your knife if desired to make a design and bake at 425° for 18-22 minutes or until a thermometer reads at 120° internally of the beef.
- Remove from the oven at let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving it.
Amazing recipe! I am making a second time for a birthday dinner. I would love to serve with a red wine sauce or port sauce. In your opinion, would a port sauce be too rich? (Or a combined red wine/port sauce?) Thx for any advice!
PS – love and trust your recipes; never fail!
So delish. Hubby made it for Valentine’s Day. Wish I could post a pic here. TY
Made this for the first time for my grandson. We all loved this recipe and it wasn’t as hard to make as I thought. Love many of your recipes. Highly recommend this .
thanks for giving it a shot!!
It was absolutely delicious! Looking forward to making it again!
Thank you ChefBilly fabulous tasty 😁😋👋
Thank you sooooo tasty 😋 👋
Delicious recipe. I would highly recommend.
Wow…this was a great dish and a lot easier than I’d imagined!
Flavors are outstanding and I paired it with a horseradish cream sauce. Hardest part was “peeling” the prosciutto de Parma without tearing (maybe a slightly thicker cut from the butcher instead of a deli package?) it and working the puff pastry (need some practice). Pretty enough when done after that the fam was eager to eat it
Made two of these for Christmas dinner. Absolutely the most wonderful dish I have ever served. It was impressive to look at and completely delicious.
Made this for Christmas dinner. It was lovely. My issue is I have a hard time slicing it pretty. The pastry doesn’t stay on the meat so while it tastes wonderful, it doesn’t look the way I would like it. Suggestions?
serrated knife
Good morning chef,
Quick question. What is the model # on your cuisinart food processor? I love the snap shut lid! Have a great Christmas, and please keep posting your amazing recipes. I’m soup #4 so far and they have all gotten great reviews. Love all the techniques you are teaching me.
Mike
I went back to my cuisinart.
Question! I am one of “those” who like my beef well done. Would I just cooking longer during the initial browning process or leave it in longer during the baking time….or a combo of both?
both
I made this!! Definitely cook the mushrooms longer! I didn’t use the Chardonnay. Pay attention to assembly and wrapping. Excellent flavor! I made individual wrapped filets.
Excellent!
Any suggestions on making a gluten free (and corn free) puff pastry? That is my big problem now with foods.
No sorry, gluten free is not my area of expertise.
GF puff pastry available online through Amazon and other retailers
was pretty easy to make 🙂 I seared and baked it a tiny bit longer to get med/rare
Delicious!
Going to try this. Never had a bad experience with Chef Billy’s recipes.
thank you so kindly!!
We made this Beef Wellington for the holidays. It was delicious, tender and perfectly cooked.
I’ve made this twice because of how easy Chef Billy Parisi made it look! He got me excited about cooking and I’ve never cooked before. As a woman in my 40s, finally learning to cook during COVID, Chef was amazing! I never would have had the confidence to attempt something of this caliber but his videos help SO much!
I am not a chef or a cook but I attempted this recipe and was actually successful! Altho I had way too much duxcel and it was too thick so it made it harder to roll. Also my prosciutto was too thin so it was harder to roll from under the duxcel also but I did my best and absolutely impressed myself. Thank you chef!
Made it for New Year’s Day dinner. It was delicious!!
OMG Chef ~ I am so doing for my New Year’s Eve Dinner ~ I know it will be splendid ~ a wine recommendation ~ I’m thinking a great Pinot Noir…..many thanks!!!!