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Best-of-the-best steak tartare

By: Pollyanna Coupland
Food producer, delicious.

Published: 10 Jun 24
Updated: 20 Sep 24

A classic steak tartare is a perfectly balanced thing of beauty, the rich, savoury beef, anchovy and egg yolk punctuated by zingy cornichons and capers. This French classic is a restaurant favourite, but with some good quality beef fillet, it’s a breeze to make at home.

Read our full guide on how to create the ultimate steak tartare.

Medium
June 2024

Test kitchen approved

Serves 2-4 as a starter or main
Hands-on time 20 min, plus freezing

Read our full guide on how to create the ultimate steak tartare.

Gluten-free recipes

Nutrition: Per serving (for 4)

Calories: 262kcals
Fat: 22g (4.2g saturated)
Protein: 14g
Carbohydrates: 1.8g (1.6g sugars)
Fibre: 0.5g
Salt: 1.3g

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Before you start

As you’re eating it raw, buy the highest quality beef from your local butcher – they can tell you how fresh it is. If your beef is good quality, it will be safe to eat raw. If you’re still concerned, buy more steak than you need and finely slice off the edges (this is where any harmful bacteria would be), then use the centre for your tartare. Use the cooked trimmings in a salad or a little sandwich.

An important note! Never use mince or pre-chopped beef; the surface area open to bacteria is huge, which increases the chance of food poisoning. Dicing your beef immediately before serving and keeping it chilled is the way to go.

Before you start

Ingredients

200g high quality beef fillet from your butcher
35-40g shallot (1 medium)
20g cornichons (3 medium)
2 tsp capers
1 medium free-range egg yolk
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
3 anchovy fillets in oil, drained
¼ tsp sriracha
1 tsp tomato ketchup (check it’s gluten free if need be)
2 tbsp chopped chives
1 tbsp chopped tarragon
Fresh lemon juice to taste

To garnish

10g parmesan, finely grated
1½ tbsp mayonnaise
Cress

Specialist kit

8cm metal rings

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Method

Put the beef in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm it up and make slicing easier. In the meantime, finely dice the shallot and cornichons, then roughly chop the capers. Put the egg yolk in a mixing bowl, add the 2 types of mustard, then whisk for 1 minute until the yolk has visibly thickened. Slowly trickle in the oil while whisking to get an emulsified dressing.
Finely chop the anchovies, then use the side of the blade to mash to a paste. Add this to the dressing with the sriracha, ketchup, chopped shallot, cornichons and capers. Add most of the herbs, reserving some to garnish. Taste and season with fresh lemon juice, salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Chill until ready to serve.
Mix the parmesan and mayonnaise (for the best results, make our homemade mayo) and transfer to a piping bag until ready to serve.

Remove the beef from the freezer and finely dice: first slice thinly across the grain (as though cutting into thin steaks), then into sticks, then into 5-7mm cubes, so it’s almost minced but still has a little texture. Transfer to the bowl of dressing and mix thoroughly until every piece of beef is coated with the dressing.
Plate up using metal rings, if you have them, to get nice neat ‘pucks’ of beef. Sprinkle over the reserved herbs, then pipe on dots of parmesan mayonnaise. Finish with sprigs of cress and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.