Gordon Ramsay’s black pudding salad is crispy fried slices crumbled over lettuce with poached eggs and a sharp cider vinegar dressing. Simple, fast, and the black pudding does all the heavy lifting. Serves 4.
This comes from Great British Pub Food, where Ramsay says to use “good-quality black pudding. Individually made small black puddings have a much better flavour than those mass-produced ones sold in vacuum packs.” He uses black pudding across four cookbooks and multiple F Word episodes, from sautéed with sage and onion rosti to crumbled into scotch eggs.
The technique is simple but the order matters. Fry the black pudding first so it gets crisp edges, then crumble it while it’s still hot over the cold lettuce. The heat wilts the leaves just slightly and the fat from the pudding becomes part of the dressing. If you let it cool before crumbling, you lose that contrast.
Gordon Ramsay Black Pudding Salad
Course: StarterCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes10
minutes380
kcal20
minutesFrom Great British Pub Food: black pudding fried until crisp, crumbled over lettuce leaves with poached eggs and a cider vinegar dressing. A classic British starter or light lunch.
Ingredients
450g (1 lb) black pudding
4-6 eggs
1 head of lettuce, leaves separated
Small handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves
Olive oil, for frying
Dash of vinegar, for poaching
- For the dressing:
2 tbsp cider vinegar
4 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Poach the eggs: Bring a pan of water to a simmer, add a dash of vinegar and swirl to create a whirlpool. Crack each egg into a small bowl and slide into the water. Poach for 3 minutes until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Lift out with a slotted spoon into iced water. Do no more than 3 at a time.
- Prepare the salad: Wash and separate the lettuce leaves, tearing larger ones into smaller pieces. Divide between serving plates. Whisk together the cider vinegar, olive oil and seasoning for the dressing.
- Fry the black pudding: Cut the black pudding into 4 portions, then halve each lengthways. Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a wide frying pan until hot. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side until browned and crisp at the edges.
- Assemble: Reheat the poached eggs in simmering water for about a minute. Crumble the hot black pudding over the lettuce and scatter with parsley. Lift the eggs out, drain well, pat the bases dry and place on top. Drizzle with the dressing and grind over black pepper. Serve immediately.
FAQs
How else does Ramsay cook with black pudding?
He uses it across four cookbooks. In Ultimate Home Cooking he crumbles it into scotch egg mix with sausage meat and grated Granny Smith apple, saying “the black pudding and grated apple work really well together.” In Bread Street Kitchen it’s a garnish for pea soup, fried until crispy and scattered on top.
On The F Word he serves it with sage and onion rosti and a fried egg as a starter, and in another episode crumbles it into a warm pigeon and pancetta salad with cherry vinegar.
What should you look for when buying black pudding?
Ramsay is specific about this in GBPF: individually made small black puddings, not the mass-produced vacuum-packed ones. The difference is texture and spice. Artisan black puddings have a coarser grain with more visible oatmeal and a stronger spice mix.
If you can, buy from a butcher who makes their own. Stornoway and Bury are the two most famous British styles.
Can you bake black pudding instead of frying?
Ramsay always fries it. Every recipe and every video shows pan-frying in a little oil for 3 to 4 minutes each side. Frying gives you those crisp caramelised edges that crumble properly over the salad.
Baking dries it out and you lose the contrast between the crispy outside and the soft, crumbly centre. The whole point of this dish is that textural difference.
