Gordon Ramsay’s steak sandwich uses a whole fillet of beef, seared then oven-roasted, with spicy tomato relish and mustard mayonnaise on griddled ciabatta. The recipe comes from Ultimate Cookery Course, serves 4-6 and takes about 45 minutes including resting.
Ramsay insists on searing the fillet on the hob first, not the oven. He says meat straight in the oven “looks boiled rather than beautifully caramelised,” so that initial sear matters.
He also has a completely different 10-minute version in the Ramsay in 10 cookbook that swaps fillet for onglet and adds Guinness. In the video, both versions share the same rule: rest the steak for as long as you cooked it.
Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Steak Sandwich
Course: Main CourseCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Medium5
15
minutes30
minutes680
kcal45 min (including resting)
From Ultimate Cookery Course, what Ramsay calls “effectively very posh burgers.” Guests assemble their own from a platter of sliced fillet, tomato relish and mustard mayo. About £6 per serving at Tesco prices versus £15-20 at a restaurant.
Ingredients
- For the steak:
700g fillet of beef
Olive oil, for frying
1 whole head of garlic, cut in half horizontally
3-4 thyme sprigs
Butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the spicy tomato relish:
Olive oil, for frying
½ red onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped
250g mixed red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
1-2 tsp sherry vinegar, to taste
Small handful of shredded basil leaves
- For the mustard mayonnaise:
3 tbsp good-quality mayonnaise
3 tsp wholegrain mustard
- For serving:
12 slices of ciabatta, about 1.5cm thick
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 baby gem lettuce
Directions
- Preheat the oven: Set to 200°C (400°F / Gas 6).
- Sear the fillet: Grind salt and pepper onto a board and roll the fillet in the seasoning. Heat a large ovenproof frying pan with oil. Fry over high heat for 1-2 minutes on each side until coloured all over, including the ends.
- Add aromatics and roast: Add the garlic and thyme sprigs to the pan, sit the beef on top. Add a couple of knobs of butter and baste the steak. Transfer to the oven and roast for 15-17 minutes until rare or medium-rare.
- Rest the steak: Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and rest for 15 minutes, basting now and again with the pan juices.
- Make the relish: Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the onion and chillies for 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the tomatoes, season and cook for 6-8 minutes until collapsing. Add the vinegar and stew for 6 minutes until reduced to a rough relish. Stir in the basil and season well.
- Mix the mayo: Combine the mayonnaise and wholegrain mustard. Season to taste.
- Griddle the bread: Heat a griddle pan until smoking hot. Drizzle the ciabatta with olive oil, season and griddle for 1-2 minutes until golden on both sides.
- Serve: Thickly slice the rested fillet and place on a platter with the toast, mayonnaise, relish and lettuce leaves for guests to assemble their own sandwiches.
FAQs
What is the spicy tomato relish?
The relish starts with half a red onion and two deseeded red chillies fried in olive oil for 5 minutes. Stir through 250g mixed cherry tomatoes and cook for 6-8 minutes until they collapse. A teaspoon of sherry vinegar gives it an acidic edge, and shredded basil goes in right at the end for freshness.
Ramsay cooks it down until it reaches “almost like a jam” consistency, which takes about 12 minutes total. You can make it a day ahead since the flavour improves overnight, and it works with grilled chicken or fish too. His cranberry sauce follows the same cook-down-to-jam approach.
What is the 10-minute steak sandwich?
The Ramsay in 10 cookbook has a completely different version using 120g onglet steaks instead of fillet. Ramsay calls onglet “the butcher’s cut, supposedly because it is so good that the butcher always keeps it for himself.” It costs a fraction of fillet.
The build layers griddled Portobello mushrooms, red onion rings in Worcestershire sauce, and blue cheese melted over the hot steak. A splash of Guinness deglazes the grill, and the mayo swaps to Dijon with Tabasco for sharper heat. His chicken sandwich uses a similar quick-grill approach if you want something lighter.
Why does Ramsay use fillet for a steak sandwich?
Fillet has almost no fat or sinew, so every slice is tender enough to bite through without dragging the filling out. Ramsay calls it “the Rolls-Royce of beef” in the video, and the UCC recipe specifically says to use nothing else.
The trade-off is cost, since 700g of fillet runs about £22 at Tesco. The Ramsay in 10 version uses onglet at a third of the price, and across four videos he also uses bavette and New York strip. His sirloin steak page covers how to cook cheaper cuts properly.
What sauce goes on a steak sandwich?
The UCC version uses 3 tablespoons of mayo mixed with 3 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard, which gives a creamy, grainy heat. The Ramsay in 10 version swaps in Dijon mustard with Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce for something sharper and spicier.
In the Next Level Kitchen episode, he pairs horseradish cream with Swiss cheese melted directly in the pan. Every version adds a different fat source to balance the lean beef. His beef Wellington uses the same principle with mushroom duxelles wrapping the fillet.
How do you stop the bread going soggy?
Ramsay griddles the ciabatta in a smoking hot pan with olive oil until it has deep char marks on both sides. He says “those marks on the bread just stop the bread from becoming soggy” because the charred surface creates a barrier that holds the juices.
Both videos stress pushing the bread down with a plate or weight while it grills, which forces maximum contact with the hot surface. Season the bread before grilling too, not after, so the salt and pepper toast into the surface rather than sitting loose on top.
