How Much Does Beef Wellington Cost?

Beef Wellington is an English steak dish, that has gained popularity through its fine and flavored taste. Made only from beef fillet, coated with a fine mixture of different ingredients, and wrapped in a puffy pastry, it is the perfect dish for an elegant event or to delight your tastes.

Generally, Beef Wellington is prepared in high-class restaurants by chefs, such as Gordon Ramsay, but it can also be done in-house if you purchase the proper ingredients and follow the recipe.

In this article, we will see how much each ingredient costs if you want to cook a tasty Beef Wellington.

How Much Does Beef Wellington Cost?

The cost to make Beef Wellington can be anywhere from $60 to $132. This will depend on the quantity and the quality of the ingredients. Also, your local prices may affect the overall cost, as well as any additional ingredients.

Seasonal ingredients may also influence the cost.

Some high-end restaurants have Beef Wellington on their menus as well, but they serve this dish for a considerably higher price tag.

Beef Wellington overview

First cooked in England, the Beef Wellington is also a very popular and classic dish in France. This luxurious dish is traditionally made from beef tenderloin or filet mignon, a tender and rich-in-flavor meat. Firstly seared, the tender meat is then glazed with a pâté coating, usually made from foie gras and mushroom duxelles.

Then, the meat will be wrapped in a puffy pastry and placed in the oven for baking. When it is ready, the pastry will have a golden tint. The dish is a delicious blend of textures and flavors, perfect for any special events and haute cuisine.

The dish is known to work best with a good wine.

Ingredients needed to make Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington is known to be a culinary treasure over the centuries. To get its traditional and savory taste, some essential ingredients need to be present in your kitchen.

Below you will find some mandatory ingredients that need to be picked up for an exquisite Beef Wellington dish.

Beef tenderloin

The main ingredient of the Beef Wellington recipe is the meat. As a general rule, to get the best results based on the traditional recipe, a high-quality cut of beef tenderloin or a filet mignon is required. As for their price, the average cost of a 1.5 lb cut of beef tenderloin is around $45.99. This amount of steak will be enough for a meal of four guests.

The quality of the tenderloin is crucial for a tasteful and tender dinner.

Puff Pastry

The puff pastry has an important role. This buttered puffy layer will wrap all the ingredients and maintain all the savory flavors. After baking, the puff pastry will have a golden tint and fluffy texture to complete the tenderloin’s tenderness. A box of 17.31 ounces of two puff pastry frozen sheets, the appropriate amount for a dish of four people, should cost around $9.99.

However, some people prefer a homemade puff pastry, which will usually cost a little less and be much tastier.

Pâté or Mushroom Duxelles

Based on the traditional recipe of Beef Wellington, the beef tenderloin is layered with fine pâté, usually made from a savory foie gras or chicken liver. As an option, some people choose to substitute foie gras or chicken liver with a mixture of mushroom duxelles. This mushroom mixture is made from chopped mushrooms enriched with garlic, onions, and flavored herbs. Also, several people may add both the pâté and mushroom duxelles.

These garnishes will prevent a mushy puff pastry while baking.

Prosciutto or Parma Ham Optional

For a much richer flavor, people like to encase the beef tenderloin in thin slices of ham before coating it with pâté. These salty slices of ham will amplify the meat’s taste, creating a layer that will retain all those juicy and delightful tastes.

Egg coat

A layer of a beaten egg is commonly applied to the puff pastry before baking. This egg wash is just a beaten egg sometimes mixed with a tint of milk or water. The egg layer will give the puff pastry that golden crusty texture.

Seasonings and herbs

Salt and pepper are the primary seasonings that cannot be absent. Along with several rich-in-flavor herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and parsley, they will marinate the meat and pâté. The combination should delight your tastes and senses.

Optional ingredients for making a Beef Wellington

Over the years, chefs have tried different ingredients in order to enrich the delightful taste of a Beef Wellington. This culinary masterpiece has been taken to another level by adding several new savory ingredients.

• Specialty cheese – Adding cheese such as blue cheese, Gruyere, or brie, will add a creamy texture.
• Truffle –  The rare and luxurious truffle, will enrich the dish’s flavors, with an earthy taste that complements the other tastes.
• Caramelized Onion – This caramelized onion will be a sweeter option to combine and complete the savory-flavored beef and pâté.

Factors affecting the cost of making a Beef Wellington

The cost of making a Beef Wellington dish may greatly vary based on several factors.

We listed some potential factors that can influence the overall cost.

• Beef Quality – The beef tenderloin or fillet mignon is the core of this exquisite dish. The taste of the meat is directly influenced by its quality. Due to this factor, purchasing a premium beef tenderloin or fillet mignon that guarantees a genuine and rich flavor and tender texture, from a specialized butchery will definitely increase your budget.
• Puff Pastry Quality – Puff pastry also has an important role in a Beef Wellington dish. Besides the golden fluffy crust texture that gives a much more appealing look, the taste and ingredients are very important. The buttered puffy layer needs the proper ingredients to have that texture and not be moist while baking. A quality puff pastry will preserve and enrich the taste of the beef and garnish.

Take into consideration that a high-rated puff pastry can come with an additional cost, rather than a simple puff pastry bought from a local store.

• Pâté or mushroom duxelles – Traditionally, the Beef Wellington is coated with a layer of pâté. This garnish can be significantly expensive, due to its ingredients. To acquire the best results, a pâté is made from foie gras or first-quality chicken liver. Those two ingredients have a great impact on your overall cost. However, a delicious and less expensive substitute can be the mushroom duxelles. Even if there is a cost difference between a pâté and mushroom duxelles, both will give a delightful taste and will offer the needed moisture.
• Additions – Additional ingredients will definitely increase the overall budget for a Beef Wellington Dish. Optional elements such as Parma Ham or different kinds of cheese will surely enrich the dish’s flavors, however, they will also have an impact on the cost. Using truffles as an ingredient will be the top end of taste but unfortunately, this will also increase the dish’s costs considerably.
• Seasonal ingredients – Usually, herbs and mushrooms are not that expensive. However, if think about acquiring fresh herbs or certain types of mushrooms when they are out of season, you may have to spend more.

Conclusion

The cost of making a Beef Wellington will greatly depend on the quality of the ingredients, quantity, and whether there are any additional ingredients.

At the time of this writing, a traditional Beef Wellington dish should cost between $60 and $132 on average, for a meal of four guests.