How to make Yorkshire puddings

A homemade Yorkshire pudding is very often the crowning glory of a satisfying Sunday lunch, and it's a firm favourite at Christmas too. However, despite being much loved by dinner guests, advice differs over how to make them.

If you search for Yorkshire pudding recipe on Google, you get around 8.5 million results. BBC Good Food has 24 Yorkshire pudding recipes at the time of writing. 

Recipes are all based on the basic Yorkshire pudding batter of eggs, flour, milk and some oil or fat. But varying quantities will give you crispier or fluffier results.

Our advice is to keep trying different recipes until you find your favourite. 

Below is our basic starter recipe for easy Yorkshire puddings, which will make enough for two people to enjoy. 

We've also included tips and links to recipes from top chefs, including James Martin and Mary Berry, in case you want to experiment a bit.

What do you serve your Yorkshire puddings with? Use our guide on how to cook roast beef to make your Sunday dinner special

Best Yorkshire puddings recipe

For enough for Yorkshire puddings for two people (four puddings), you'll need:

• 1 large egg
• 55g plain flour
• 75ml milk
• Sunflower oil, rapeseed oil or dripping/lard
• Non-stick muffin tin
• Salt and petter

Method:

1. Put the flour into a mixing bowl, then lightly beat the egg with a fork and add it to the flour. 
2. Add half the milk and whisk until the mixture is smooth and lump-free.
3. Add the other half of the milk and whisk again.
4. Season with a little salt and pepper.
5. Pour the batter into a jug, then leave it to stand for 10 minutes in the fridge.
6. Meanwhile, switch your oven on and set it to the highest possible temperature.
7. Drizzle a dot of oil, or add half a teaspoon of dripping or lard, into four of the holes in a non-stick muffin tin. Pop the tin into your oven until you see that the oven has reached its hottest temperature.
8. Carefully remove the tin, and pour the batter evenly into the holes with the oil or lard. The batter should come about half way up each hole.
9. Place the tin back in the oven, immediately turn the temperature down to 230°C/gas mark 7 and cook for 20 minutes until the puddings have risen and browned. Do not open the oven during cooking.
10. Serve immediately.

Weigh out the ingredients accurately with a set of the best kitchen scales

Yorkshire puddings: top cooking tips

Don’t open the oven

Keep the oven door closed when cooking your puddings. This is to keep the temperature high and to avoid them losing their rise.

Always heat up the fat

Make sure the fat and the tin are heated thoroughly before you add the batter.

What flour should I use for Yorkshire puddings?

Plain flour is what's recommended for Yorkshire puddings.

Should I chill the batter?

If you want taller, crispier puddings, keep your batter warm before cooking it. Chilling your batter in the fridge will make for denser, cup-like puddings.

Should I add water or not?

If you like a crispier Yorkshire pudding, try swapping some of the milk for water. Some people use equal parts water and milk, but it really depends on your preference. 

Should I leave the batter to rest overnight?

For puds with a taller, stretchier interior, allow your batter to rest for a few hours, or even overnight. Don’t panic if you don’t have time, though – you’ll still be able to make delicious puddings without that long a rest. But make sure you do allow some time.

What fat should I cook with?

The more solid the fat, the crispier your puddings are likely to be. For example, puddings baked with beef fat will be more structured than puddings baked with vegetable oil.

What is the key to making Yorkshire puddings rise?

• Mix the batter thoroughly – there shouldn't be any lumps in the mixture.
• Give your batter time to rest – leave it to settle at room temperature as this allows the flour to fully absorb the liquid.
• Don't overfill your moulds – if you use too much batter, the puddings will collapse.
• Avoid opening your oven door – doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature and cooler air will make your yorkies collapse.

If you don't think your current oven is up to the job, head straight to our best single ovens.

More Yorkshire pudding recipes 

How to cook Yorkshire puddings in an air fryer

It should take around 13-15 minutes to cook Yorkshire puddings from scratch in an air fryer.

Heat your air fryer to 180°C and follow these steps:

1. Add 70g flour to a jug and whisk in two eggs.
2. Add 100ml milk and whisk until smooth.
3. Pour ½ tsp oil into all of your heatproof pudding moulds.
4. Place the moulds in your air fryer and wait until the oil is hot.
5. Carefully open the fryer and pour your batter into the moulds and cook for around 10 minutes.
6. Flip the puddings and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

See BBC Good Food for further details.

If you're cooking ready-made Yorkshires from frozen, Aunt Bessies recommends heating the air fryer to 200°C and cooking your puds for 4-5 minutes until golden, shaking them half-way through cooking.

How to make a Yorkshire pudding wrap

If you fancy something a little different this Christmas, why not try a Yorkshire pudding wrap? It's essentially a Yorkshire pudding pancake and is a great way to use up roast dinner leftovers.

For two wraps, simply triple the quantity of batter in our Yorkshire pudding recipe above.

Instead of using a muffin tray, heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a 40x30cm roasting tin until hot, as per our recipe, and then pour in your batter mix.

Cook for 20 minutes. When you remove it from the oven, take the pudding out of the tray and flatten it with the back of a large metal or wooden spoon. Then cut it into two equal portions.

Fill with leftovers from your festive roast, either heated up or cold, according to preference. Roll it up like a wrap and serve.

Follow our tips on how to make roast potatoes.