potted beef

A traditional British food that&#39;s so simple you won&#39;t believe how delicious it is spread on crusty bread or toast. Seasoned, diced beef is left to slowly cook in butter until meltingly soft, then whizzed to a smooth paste.

Homemade Potted Beef

500 g stewing beef, diced (see Recipe Notes)

salt & pepper

beef stock

g butter, sliced

Preheat the oven to 160C/140C fan/Gas 3

Put the beef in an ovenproof dish which has a lid. Season sparingly with salt but be generous with the pepper.Stir in 50ml of the stock.

Lay the butter slices over the beef to cover. Put the lid on the dish - if the lid isn&#x27;t tight-fitting, put a piece of foil over the dish before putting on the lid.

Put the dish in the oven and cook until the beef is very soft (3-5 hours).After 30-40 minutes remove the lid, stir to separate any pieces of meat that have stuck together, then replace the lid and return to the oven until done.

When the beef is very tender, remove the dish from the oven, take off the lid and leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Tip the contents of the dish into a blender or food processor and whizz until smooth, adding as much extra stock as needed to loosen it. IMPORTANT: the potted meat will firm up a lot when cold so should be a rather loose mixture at this stage.Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Transfer the potted beef to individual ramekins, jars or one larger container, cover and leave to chill in the fridge.

Serve spread on crusty bread or toast, with pickles such as cornichons, onions etc. on the side.Should keep for 4 days in the fridge or can be frozen.Tip: if the cooled potted beef is firmer than you&#39;d like, beat in a little cold beef stock. It&#39;s also delicious pinged in the microwave for 12- 20 seconds which will soften and warm it.

I came across this recipe, I ve had potted meats before and Love them. So I decided to make this one. I am overjoyed with how it came out. I barely sprinkled any salt which I am glad but there was a saltiness before blending but afterwards the flavor was very nice. I will be making this again along with other potted meat and cheeses. Thank you so much.

As a child introduced to ham hock pressed to create sliced ham meat in sandwishes. I have recently decided that the ham hocks are now too expensive.. I cooked a prime rib dinner for my adult son, last night,, of course it was delicious, but there was a lot of this meat left over. Very familiar with potted meats i was thrilled to find your recipe..  I now have ramikins in the fridge with lightly weighted covers (as my nanny did it.)   I also make my own Piccallily, ususally annually.  As to a possible seasoning addition I would suggest Horseradish. Even in small amounts it lifts all flavours. ( I often add to soups)  Thank you for this recipe, kind regards, Jackie

This recipe made the most delicious potted meat I have tried yet. Thank you

Just once, as a child, my grandma served us a pasty ground roast beef sandwich spread on white bread. Ever since, I've had flashbacks to that wonderful taste and wished I could have it again. I've searched for a recipe for years, but never knew to look for it as "potted" meat. I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon your recipe. I can't wait to try it! It sounds like exactly what I have been dreaming about for the last 70 years or so!! Thank you so much for posting your recipe online!  ~Bev

Had some cooked  roast beef which husband was unable to chew so put in the food processor with your ingredients and he was quite impressed. Probably not as tasty as shin beef but it meant it wasn't wasted. Thank you for your inspiration

I hate waste. So when I do a load of bone broth in the slow cooker for 48 hours on low, the 'remnants' - beef, fat, etc. - get put into my spice grinder with some butter and simple seasoning. Thus out of some very inexpensive but quality beef bones and a bit of butter and time, a brilliant stock/broth and several ramikens of potted beef.

Followed the instructions and used the beef stock quite sparingly. Put most of the stock in at the end,a bit like making concrete,you can add it but can't take it out. Plenty of ground pepper,nutmeg and allspice. After cooling poured butter into the ramekins to cover and seal. Lid on after cooling and left in the fridge overnight. 
I can only say that it's better than shop bought. An absolute treasure of a recipe.  Five stars. Can't really take the credit,but I will. A fabulous find. Thank you so much.
Used my instant pot pressure cooker. 15 minutes at low then 15 minutes at high worked really well. 
Highly recommended.

I have been making this for many years now living in Australia we cannot buy anything similar here. If I may, I add a few anchovy fillets into the food processor before blasting, gives a real english authentic taste (not fishy at all) I got this tip from a great aunt many years ago, it adds a subtle saltiness, I've also found adding a little good olive oil aids spreading straight from the fridge.

Potted Beef

lb Stewing Beef (450 grams)

Salt

Seasoning

Dice the stewing beef up into cubes and place in a bowl. Choose a bowl or jar which is going to fit nicely into a pan of boiling water later and leave enough space around the edge to lift it in and out easily.

Add 6 tablespoons (about 100ml) of water and 1tsp salt and mix with the beef.

Cover the bowl with foil and place into a pan of water that is just boiling. That meant leaving it on the lowest setting for me to avoid it boiling over.   And basically leave it to boil for 2 1/2 hours - handy for Dalesfolk to get on with other chores while it boiled away on the stove or range. I checked mine a couple times and and gave it a little stir every half mainly because I was curious to see how it was getting on.

When fully cooked the meat should flake apart easily. Take the bowl out of the pan, remove the foil, drain and then mash it up with a fork together with some seasoning (i just used salt and black pepper but you could use whatever you fancy) - or just give it a pulse in a mixer so that it is nicely mashed up into a course pate like paste.

Press the beef into either small glass jars or pots  and then seal the top with a thin layer of melted butter. This sealing allows the potted beef to keep for several days without deteriorating which would have been handy before refrigerators - even electricity - were commonplace on remote Dales farms..

Serve either on toast or crackers with some salad and pickles, or in sandwiches.  I decided to serve mine on some toasted homemade sourdough bread which was hit the spot nicely and was a popular choice with the family.

Top 2 potted beef recipes from across the web

The most viewed potted beef recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Homemade Potted Beef

Potted Beef

Top 2 potted beef recipes from across the web

The most viewed potted beef recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Homemade Potted Beef

Potted Beef

The most viewed potted beef recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine