I love when recipes are passed down through the generations. Most of the traditional recipes that I know were taught to me by my mom who learned them from her mom. Like this recipe for stuffing. It’s the recipe I watch my mom make every holiday season. I love that she makes it muffin tins. Crunchy outside, soft inside. It’s the best stuffing ever.
But today’s recipe, while having been passed down through the generations did not come to me from my mom.
Instead, this one comes from my father-in-law who learned it from his mother. It’s a recipe that my husband has watched his father make every holiday season and I was honored when my father-in-law offered to teach it to me.
It’s a recipe for Sage and Onion Pudding (which my husband’s family calls “Grannie’s Pie”). It’s a twist on Yorkshire Pudding that you serve with roast pork instead of with roast beef.
Sage and Onion Pudding has a robust herby flavor and a very tender texture that is perfect for sopping up gravy, which, I suspect, is the reason Yorkshire Pudding was invented in the first place!
It’s simple to make. You can make it easier still by mixing the batter a day ahead and then refrigerating it.
The only ever-so-slightly tricky thing about this recipe is getting the thickness of the yorkshire pudding batter right. I therefore had my father-in-law dribble some from a spoon to demonstrate what you’re looking for.
What I aim for is a consistency similar to a thin pancake batter.
Once you’ve got the batter right, all you need to do is beat it by hand for a couple of minutes and then set it aside until it’s time for baking. Then you add herbs and sautéed onions and pour it into a casserole dish or pie plate that contains heated oil or lard. Once it’s in the oven it takes care of itself as it puffs into this pretty savory pie.
Serve your Yorkshire pudding hot and drizzled with gravy.
You’ll definitely want seconds. I had two slices, see? You should probably make two pies just in case.
To serve this up with a delicious roast pork, be sure to also check out my recipe on how to roast pork perfectly.
Before giving you the recipe, I want to say a huge thank you to my father-in-law John for his patience in showing me how to make this delicious twist on Yorkshire pudding and for letting me take pictures as he cooked. I love eating everything he makes so it was a treat to document part of his process.
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Yorkshire Pudding With Sage and Onion
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: British
DESCRIPTION
This recipe is basically a yorkshire pudding but it has sauteed onions and herbs mixed into the batter. This makes it a bit like a cross between stuffing (which often has lots of herby flavor) and Yorkshire Pudding. It’s wonderful served with roast pork and also with roast chicken.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, chopped
- Vegetable oil or lard
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tsp. dried sage leaves (or 3 tsp. fresh sage, chopped fine)
- 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves (or 2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped fine)
Instructions
- In a skillet warm 1 tablespoon of oil or lard over medium low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft but not brown, 4-5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center and crack in the eggs. Stir well.
- In a small measuring cup, mix together the milk and water. Pour about half of it into the flour and egg mixture and stir. Add a dribble more and then stir. Continue adding liquid just until the batter is about the thickness of a thin pancake batter. I typically use about two-thirds of the liquid. Beat by hand with a whisk for 2 minutes. Let the batter sit at room temperature for one hour. Or cover and refrigerate it up to 24 hours. *Everything up to this point can be done ahead of time.*
- If the batter is in the fridge, take it out. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Measure 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil or lard into a 9″ pie plate or a rimmed 9″x11″ baking sheet. Put the pan into the oven until the oil is very very VERY hot, 7-10 minutes.
- While the oil heats, stir the onions, sage, and thyme into the batter. Once the oil is hot tilt it around to distribute the oil evenly in the pan. Then immediately and carefully (watch out for oil spatters!) pour the batter into the pan and put it back into the oven. Don’t open the oven for at least 20 minutes.
- Bake until it is well-browned on the top and on the bottom, 25-30 minutes. Serve while hot.
Kris says
I LOVE seasoned Yorkshire puddings!
I have never had them like this though. My grandparents just added some sage and onion stuffing mix to the batter just before putting it in the oven which seems a simpler way of doing it if you’re in a rush.
They taste amazing though compared to plain Yorkshire puddings!
★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Kris, there are likely easier ways to make a seasoned Yorkshire pudding, yes. This particular recipe came to me from my British father-in-law who was taught it by his mother, who learned it from her mother, and her grandmother before her. I like the tradition of it. I’m happy to hear that you liked the results.
Chris says
Thank you so much for your recipe. I was delighted to find it. My mother would make Seasoned Pudding whenever we had a pork roast. She had learned it from her father-in-law, a Yorkshire lad who moved to Canada in the early 1900’s. But the recipe was never written down and was lost with the passing of my mother. I made the pudding last night, with a pork loin roast. It was perfect! The smell and flavour brought back memories from over thirty years ago. Thank you.
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Chris! I’m thrilled to hear it brought back memories for you.
Phil Doig says
Re: Yorkshire Pudding with Sage and Onion
As a non-cooking Yorkshireman I have long considered the ‘Onion Pudding’ that my mum used to make and wondered if I might find a recipe to remind myself how absolutely fantastic it was, with the right gravy of course – something that used to be eaten prior to Sunday Dinner in my part of the world, as a starter course. Here is that recipe!
Cooked it, with the required fantastic results – even by my wife’s estimation. Am in Covid-19 lock-down, so made it without the sage ingredient, just the Thyme, plus used up all the water/milk and mixed everything together prior to standing (so that I didn’t forget to add later on!). Just whipped some air into it again before cooking, so that it rose in the oven quite nicely – nice photo available if can attach.
Thank you for the recipe, my new cookery party-piece and for reviving the memory of a true Yorkshire dish.
Christine Pittman says
That is fantastic to hear, Phil! So happy that this dish brought back good memories. Thank you for sharing that with us.
Reid Arnold says
Well, apart from heating the oven to 400f, isn’t step 4 a little unnecessary?
Didn’t have sage so used fresh rosemary. Many delicious according to my Vietnamese wife. Thanks
Cobby says
Just had this for supper, I didn’t have an onion so used four cloves of garlic. It was SO tasty, many compliments from family. This dish will become a regular in my repertoire.Â
Christine Pittman says
Cobby, That’s fantastic to hear. We love it here as well. I can’t wait to try it with lots of garlic instead of onion. Great idea!
Alistair says
I take exception to the nomenclature, this is a recipe for what is known as Season Pudding. It’s markedly different from a Yorkshire Pudding, even though both are of Yorkshire provenance… My Grandmother used to eat hers with gravy as a ‘starter’ before anything else happened. The recipe I know and love has some differences; softly boiling five or six onions in stock with heaps of sage (fresh, dried or powder…it’s all the same) until soft, then adding the wet ingredients with wet, forget water, use the stock.
Christine Pittman says
Alistair, I know what you mean. My husband’s family calls the above recipe Grannie’s Pie, which is clearly not its name throughout the UK. I have seen Season Pudding except the recipes I’ve seen use breadcrumbs soaked in milk as the base, and not eggs and flour as this recipe does. I therefore decided to call this Yorkshire Pudding (albeit a variation on it) so that my mostly North American audience would have some idea of what to expect, a batter of eggs and flour that puffs up.
Alexis says
I appreciate that there’s a lot of variation from town to town but this isn’t how my family make it at all! My mum grates an onion and mixes it with stale bread soaked in milk with lots of sage…. it’s really good. Am going to see if I can dig out the recipe and let you know!
★★★
Christine Pittman says
Alexis, I would love to find out more about your mum’s recipe. It sounds like something I’ve heard of called Bread Sauce (see here http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/breadsauce_84755) but with different seasonings. I’ve never tried it but have always wanted to. All that I know about my sage and onion pie recipe is what I learned from my father-in-law. He was brought up in various parts of the UK and even spent part of his childhood in Wales. Whether this was a recipe that his mum learned from one of their locations or was something she learned from her own mum growing up, I don’t know. My in-laws are going to be visiting us soon and I’ll ask if he knows. I will say this, the recipe was not something that my mother-in-law (also British) was familiar with when they married. It was something that was special that she made and nobody else, which is why my husband’s family came to call it Grannie’s Pie.
I_Fortuna says
I love Yorkshire pudding any which way! This is a wonderful variation. I love onions, thyme and sage.
Great recipe, I would not change a thing! This is almost a meal in itself. Thanks! Merry Christmas!
★★★★★
Bill says
Sage and onions are a marriage made in heaven! I love everything about this recipe! Thanks for sharing it!
Veronica says
I love this idea! My family loves yorkshire pudding and this gives us an excuse to have it whenever we roast any kind of meat. Thanks!!!
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Veronica, So happy you like the idea. It’s definitely a family tradition that I’m happy to have learned from my husband’s family.
Janine says
Everyone over the age of about 20 should know this recipe – that is if you’re from Yorkshire!! My nanna and my mum made this from as long ago as I can remember and I’m a nanna myself now. Only difference is we boil the onions for a few minutes rather than saute. It’s such wonderful comfort food
★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Janine, It really is amazing comfort food. I consider myself so fortunate to have been welcomed into a family who taught me to make it. Thank you for your comment!