Gordon Ramsay’s Kedgeree Recipe

Gordon Ramsay’s kedgeree is smoked haddock poached and flaked through spiced rice, topped with soft-boiled eggs. The recipe comes from Ultimate Cookery Course and serves 4-6. He calls it “wonderfully comforting, especially after a hard night.”

He has four different versions across four cookbooks, each with a different protein and technique. UCC uses haddock with yoghurt, Make It Easy swaps in salmon with saffron, and the Posh Kedgeree adds prawns and quail eggs for a dinner party.

The detail nobody else mentions is using mustard seeds alongside the curry powder. They pop in the hot butter and add a sharp heat that balances the rich, smoky fish. Most kedgeree recipes skip them entirely.

Gordon Ramsay’s Kedgeree

Recipe by Sophie LaneCourse: BreakfastCuisine: British, IndianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Calories

420

kcal

Total time

35

minutes

An Anglo-Indian breakfast from Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course. Four kedgeree recipes exist across four of his cookbooks: smoked haddock with yoghurt, salmon with saffron, a posh version with prawns and quail eggs, and a 10-minute version using pre-cooked rice. This is the full method.

Ingredients

• 700g undyed smoked haddock fillets, pin-boned

• 2 bay leaves

• 110g butter or ghee

• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• Thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated

• 2 tbsp curry powder

• 1 tbsp mustard seeds

• 2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

• 170g basmati rice

• Juice of 2 lemons

• 100g natural yoghurt

• 4 large eggs

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• For serving:

• 2 handfuls of coriander, chopped

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

Directions

• Poach the haddock: Heat 750ml water with the bay leaves in a large frying pan and bring to a simmer. Add the haddock skin side up and simmer for 5 minutes until flaky. Remove and drain. Reserve the cooking liquid.
• Fry the base: Melt the butter in a second pan. Gently fry the garlic and onion for 2 minutes. Add the ginger, curry powder, mustard seeds and tomatoes and cook for 3 more minutes until softened.
• Cook the rice: Add the rice, stir to coat in the butter, then gradually add the lemon juice and reserved poaching liquid, stirring after each addition. Cook for about 20 minutes until the rice is tender.
• Boil the eggs: Boil the eggs for 5 minutes so the yolks stay soft. Peel and halve.
• Assemble: Pull the skin off the haddock and flake the flesh, checking for bones. Fold into the rice with the yoghurt.
• Serve: Divide between warmed plates, top with the egg halves, scatter over coriander and chilli. Season with salt and pepper.

FAQs

Why does Ramsay poach the haddock before adding it to the rice?

The poaching liquid becomes the stock for the rice. Instead of cooking rice in plain water and dropping fish on top, every grain absorbs the smoky haddock flavour from the poaching liquid. Bay leaves in the water add extra depth.

His smoked haddock risotto uses the same principle: poaching the fish first, then building the rice in the flavoured liquid. The technique works for any smoked fish dish where you want the flavour in every bite.

Why use yoghurt instead of cream?

Ramsay says he uses yoghurt “to enrich it and make a lighter dish” than the traditional butter or cream finish. The acidity of the yoghurt also cuts through the smokiness of the haddock and the richness of the butter.

The Ramsay in 10 version goes the opposite way and uses double cream with milk for a richer, faster result. Both work, but the yoghurt version from UCC is lighter and lets the curry spices come through more clearly.

How does the Posh Kedgeree differ?

The dinner party version uses smoked salmon and raw prawns instead of haddock. They poach in chicken stock with saffron and thyme, and the rice simmers in the same liquid. The biggest difference is 12 quail eggs instead of 4 hen eggs.

In the video, Ramsay says to keep the prawns “slightly pink inside” and not to break the salmon up too much. He finishes with butter for shine and says “kedgeree is not served in small portions.” His scrambled eggs with smoked salmon is a quicker breakfast using the same fish.

Can you use different fish?

Ramsay says in UCC that “hot-smoked trout or even mackerel work just as well as smoked haddock.” Make It Easy uses fresh salmon with turmeric and saffron instead of curry powder. The key is finding haddock “traditionally smoked over wood chips rather than industrially flavoured.”

Fresh salmon gives a milder, less smoky result than haddock. If using mackerel, the oiliness means you can skip the butter and use less cream. Each fish changes the character of the dish.

What makes the 10-minute version work?

Pre-cooked basmati rice skips the 20-minute risotto step. Instead of poaching liquid, he uses cream and milk heated with curry powder, cardamom and turmeric. The fish steams above the boiling egg water, so one burner cooks two things at once.

He finishes with crispy fried onions and lime pickle on the side. His boiled eggs article covers the timing for the 8-minute hard boil he uses in this quick version. For another fast breakfast, his omelette takes just 3 minutes.