Toad in the Hole with Beef Dripping and Onion Gravy

Toad in the hole is the best of British autumn comfort food: fat pork sausages baked in a tall, crisp Yorkshire pudding batter and served with a jug of onion gravy. It is cheap, it feeds a family from one tin, and it is exactly what you want on a cold, dark evening. We bake ours in beef dripping, the way it has always been done in British kitchens, and fry the gravy onions in butter. No vegetable oil anywhere.

Why beef dripping?

The batter only puffs up if it lands in fat that is already very hot, and the tin goes into a 220 °C oven. Beef dripping is rendered beef fat (the same fat sold as beef tallow), and it handles that heat comfortably, as our cooking fat smoke points guide explains. It also gives the batter a savoury, beefy edge that butter or a bland oil simply cannot. Lard is a fine second choice. Butter is not: its milk solids burn long before the tin is hot enough, so we save it for the gravy, where it belongs.

Serves: 4 · Prep: 15 minutes, plus at least 30 minutes resting · Cook: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 140g plain flour
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 4 large eggs
• 200ml whole milk
• 6–8 good pork sausages (high meat content, about 450–500g)
• 3 tbsp beef dripping or beef tallow (about 40g)
• A few sprigs of thyme (optional)
• For the onion gravy: 30g butter
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 400ml hot beef stock
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Make the batter first. Whisk the flour and salt in a jug, add the eggs and whisk to a thick, smooth paste, then whisk in the milk a little at a time until it is the consistency of single cream. Rest it for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours covered in the fridge.
2. Heat the oven to 220 °C (200 °C fan / 425 °F). Put the dripping and sausages in a metal roasting tin about 30 x 20cm and roast for 12–15 minutes, turning once, until the sausages are browned all over and the fat is shimmering hot.
3. Whisk the batter again. Take the tin out, set it on the hob over medium heat if it is flameproof, and pour the batter straight in around the sausages. It should sizzle at the edges. Scatter over the thyme.
4. Return the tin to the oven at once and bake for 25–30 minutes, until the batter is tall, deep golden and crisp at the edges. Keep the door shut for the first 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, make the gravy. Melt the butter in a pan over medium-low heat, add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook slowly for 15–20 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and golden.
6. Stir the flour into the onions and cook for 1 minute, then gradually stir in the hot stock. Simmer for 5 minutes until glossy and thickened. Add the Worcestershire sauce if using and season to taste.
7. Check the sausages are cooked through (at least 71 °C / 160 °F in the centre), then cut the toad in the hole into portions and serve straight away with plenty of onion gravy.

Tips

• Buy the best sausages you can. Check the label for added vegetable oil; a good butcher's sausage rarely has any.
• Use a metal roasting tin. It gets hotter, faster, than glass or ceramic.
• A probe thermometer such as the Alpha Grillers instant-read thermometer takes the guesswork out of the sausages. The UK Food Standards Agency has clear guidance on cooking meat through, and the ThermoWorks blog is excellent on reading temperatures.
• No dripping saved from a roast? A jar of Fatworks grass-fed beef tallow does the same job, or render your own from butcher's suet.

This is the same batter as our Yorkshire puddings in beef dripping, just baked in one big tin around the sausages. For the long history of batter puddings, the Food Timeline is a good place to start.

FAQ

Why did my toad in the hole not rise?

The fat was not hot enough, the oven was not fully heated or the door was opened too early. The batter has to hit smoking-hot fat and then stay in a steady, high heat. Browning the sausages first also heats the tin properly.

Can I use lard or butter instead of dripping?

Lard works well and gives a cleaner, more neutral flavour. Ghee copes with the heat too. Plain butter is not a good choice for the tin, because its milk solids burn at this temperature, so keep the butter for the gravy.

Do I need to brown the sausages first?

Yes. Raw sausages under batter come out pale and soft, and they need the head start to cook through. Browning them in the dripping also flavours the fat the batter cooks in.

Can I make the batter ahead?

Yes. It keeps covered in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Let it sit out while the sausages brown, then whisk it again before pouring.

Can I use a glass or ceramic dish?

You can, but a metal tin heats faster and holds the heat better, so you get a taller, crisper rise. If you use glass or ceramic, give it the full time in the oven with the fat and sausages before adding the batter.

What do I serve with toad in the hole?

Onion gravy is non-negotiable in our kitchen. Add buttery mash or colcannon, and peas, greens or roast carrots.

More ideas: shepherd's pie with beef dripping · colcannon with Irish butter · butter mashed potatoes · all our beef tallow recipes. If you like cooking this way, Savannah's seed-oil-free cookbooks are full of dishes built on the same traditional fats.