Gordon Ramsay’s Welsh rarebit is a beer and Cheddar cheese sauce, thickened with a roux and Dijon, spread over toast and grilled until blistered. The recipe comes from Ultimate Home Cooking, serves four and takes about 20 minutes.
He writes that it is “so much more than just fancy cheese on toast”, and he means it. Rarebit turns up in three of his books, from Ultimate Home Cooking to Uncharted, where he made it in Wales itself with cave-aged cheddar.
The trick is patience with the sauce, twice. The roux needs a few minutes so the flour loses its rawness, and the finished mixture must cool before it goes near the toast. Skip the cooling and it soaks straight through.
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Gordon Ramsay Welsh Rarebit
Course: AppetizersCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes10
minutes460
kcal20 minutes
The recipe Ramsay files under hearty lunches in Ultimate Home Cooking, made for cold, wet days. A proper Welsh rarebit sauce spooned thick over rustic toast before it hits the grill.
Ingredients
50g (3½ tbsp) butter
3 tbsp plain flour
150ml (⅔ cup) beer or strong ale
1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
200g (7 oz) best-quality Cheddar cheese, such as Montgomery, grated
4 large slices of rustic country bread
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Preheat: Heat the grill until medium hot.
- Make the roux: Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the flour and mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the rawness is cooked out.
- Add the beer: Slowly pour in the beer, stirring until well combined. Remove from the heat, then mix in the mustard and Worcestershire sauce.
- Melt the cheese: Add three-quarters of the cheese and beat until completely melted. Set aside to cool.
- Toast the bread: Toast the slices on both sides until golden and place on a baking sheet.
- Grill: Spoon the cheese mixture over each slice so it is completely covered. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, then grill until dark golden and bubbling. Cool slightly and serve.
Notes
- Cutting each slice into fingers before grilling turns these into dunkers, which is exactly how the book’s index lists them.
FAQs
Is Welsh rarebit just cheese on toast?
No, and the difference is the sauce. Cheese on toast melts slices under the grill, while rarebit builds a thick beer and mustard cheese sauce first, so every bite tastes seasoned through.
Ramsay’s version makes the gap obvious, because the Cheddar is beaten into a cooked roux with Dijon and ale. It is the same mustard-spiked cheese sauce thinking behind his cauliflower cheese, which he serves in his restaurants.
Why is it called Welsh rarebit?
The name started as “Welsh rabbit” in the 1700s, an English joke implying the Welsh were too poor for meat, so cheese was their rabbit. No rabbit has ever been involved.
“Rarebit” came later to clear up exactly that confusion. Ramsay never comments on the name in his books, so that bit of history is the internet’s, not his.
What cheese does Gordon Ramsay use for Welsh rarebit?
Best-quality mature Cheddar, and in Ultimate Home Cooking he names Montgomery specifically. Three-quarters goes into the sauce and the rest gets sprinkled on top before grilling.
His other two rarebits change the cheese completely. In Uncharted he used Rock Star, a cave-aged cheddar matured in Welsh slate caverns. His Ramsay in 10 croque-monsieur mashup swaps in Gruyère and mozzarella instead.
Can you make Welsh rarebit without beer?
Yes, milk is the usual swap at the same 150ml. You lose the malty bitterness though. Ramsay hints the beer matters, writing “maybe it’s the beer, maybe it’s the mustard and Worcestershire sauce”.
If you open a bottle just for the sauce, the rest has a home. His beer bread from the same book gets eight mini loaves on the table inside 40 minutes, no yeast, no kneading.
Does Welsh rarebit have egg in it?
Not in Ramsay’s version, which binds with a roux instead. Some traditional recipes whisk an egg yolk into the sauce, and topping rarebit with a poached egg turns it into a buck rabbit.
If eggs on toast is the actual craving, his eggy bread from the same book scratches it differently. Stale white bread dipped in a cinnamon egg mix, fried in butter until crisp.
What do you serve with Welsh rarebit?
Ramsay answers this one himself, pairing it with his roasted tomato soup in Ultimate Home Cooking. Each headnote points at the other, soup to rarebit and back. That soup roasts 1.5kg of tomatoes until the edges char, then finishes with cream and a sundried tomato pesto.
The rarebit is rich, so anything creamy alongside is too much. Something sharp like a watercress salad does the balancing instead.
