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beef tartare recipe

French Bistro Style Beef Tartare

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A French classic, Beef Tartare is an easy yet impressive and tasty dish to prepare and is perfect for dinner parties. Served in restaurants all over France, it’s a popular dish that is surprisingly easy to make at home and uses a lot of store cupboard staples.

  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 2 portions 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 200g beef fillet (or other prime-cut of your choice)
  • 1 tbsp shallot, finely minced,
  • 1 tsp capers, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp cornichon, finely minced
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1.5 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp chives, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp ketchup
  • Splash of Worcestershire Sauce
  • Splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper, as required

Instructions

  1. Place a metal mixing bowl into the fridge 15 minutes before you prepare your tartare.
  2. Cut your fridge cold beef* into thin slices (1cm/0.25 inch thick). Slice each slice length-wise so you have one long rectangle of meat. Repeat for all slices.
  3. Line up all your strands of beef and chop into equal sized cubes. You don’t need to be super precise with this.
  4. Place the beef into the metal mixing bowl and reserve in the fridge.
  5. Chop up the rest of your ingredients and once complete, mix in with the cold beef.
  6. Add the sauces, egg yolk*, chives, olive oil to the bowl and mix to combine. You should have a sticky mix that’s well binded. Seasoned to taste with salt and pepper – you will need a fair amount as raw beef fillet doesn’t have that much flavour.
  7. Serve immediately and eat within 30 minutes. Serve with French fries and salad.

Notes

  1. If the beef is too tender, put it into the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up – this will make the slicing process much quicker.
  2. If you are worried about eating a raw egg yolk, you can confit them in the oven. Simply add them to a small oven-proof container and submerge in oil. Put them into a 100c/210f oven for 50 minutes to cook/pasturize.
  3. Optional Ingredients: A beef tartare is extremely customisable and you can adjust to your tastes. Classically, a tartare is finished with a raw or confit egg yolk. If you’re preparing it as a starter then try a quail egg. In the mood for a different style? Make it pan-Asian by adding spring onions, chilli, sesame seeds, nori and season with soy-sauce.
  • Author: Richard
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 minutes
  • Category: Entree
  • Cuisine: French