Traditional Welsh Rarebit Recipe - Culinary Ginger (2024)
Jump to Recipe
Traditional Welsh Rarebit Recipe is an open-faced grilled cheese or cheese on toast. Toasted bread slices are topped with a savory cheese sauce made from beer, cheese, butter, mustard, then browned in the oven to golden, bubbly perfection. This may just be the tastiest grilled cheese ever!
This easy, comfort food is basically a grown-up grilled cheese made with with beer, mustard and cheese. What’s not to love?
As a kid, cheese on toast, as we Brits call it, was one of my favorites things to eat. It was also a meal when my parents were out that I could make myself. Then I met Welsh rarebit.
What is the difference between cheese on toast (grilled cheese) and Welsh rarebit?
Cheese on toast is just that, cheese melted on top of bread. A grilled cheese is cheese melted between 2 slices of bread cooked in a pan. Welsh rarebit is a toasted slice of bread topped with a cheese and beer sauce and broiled/grilled until the top is bubbly.
Why do they call it Welsh Rarebit?
In Welsh it is called Mochyn Du.The recipe is over 2 centuries old and common in Southern and Western England and the rarebit/rabbit part is the cheese sauce that is poured over toasted bread.
Welsh Rarebit origin is a little sketchy, but it is said the dish was a way to highlight the Welsh wheat bread and cheese. Some say that toasted cheese is so popular in Wales that it spread like rabbits, others say only the wealthiest of people could afford to eat rabbit, so they alternative ‘Welsh rarebit’ was born. A much more appetizing name I think and since there is no rabbit in the dish, a more befitting name.
The best bread for Welsh rarebit
A good, hearty, thick sliced bread is optimal for this recipe. A bread that can hold up to the weight of the cheese sauce and not turn soggy on you. Sourdough or grain bread are all good choices.
Welsh rarebit without beer
If you don’t want to serve beer to your kids, you can substitute the beer for milk.
What do you serve with Welsh Rarebit?
I serve this Welsh Rarebit with a side of Warm Cherry Tomato and Basil Salad. You can also serve with a simple lettuce salad or a vegetable of your choice.
National Welsh Rarebit Day
Yes, it has a National Day and falls on 3rd September every year. I don’t know why, but there seems to be a National holiday for just about any food and dish, so why not.
Welsh Rarebit Cheese
A good sharp white cheddar is best for this recipe. If you can find a Welsh cheddar, even better. A grocery store with a large cheese department will most likely have white Welsh cheddar. I found it at my Kroger store. I have also seen it Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
Leftover cheese sauce
Sometimes when I make this, I have sauce leftover. It keeps well in a sealed container refrigerated for up to 4 days. Then you can enjoy Welsh rarebit for days.
Traditional Welsh Rarebit Recipe – Step by Step
Toast bread slices until browned on both sides.
Melt butter in a saucepan until bubbling.
Whisk flour into the melted butter and cook for 1 minute to cook out the flour taste.
Whisk dark ale, Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder into the flour mix.
Add white sharp cheddar cheese and stir until completely melted and smooth.
Spread the cheese sauce onto the slices of toasted bread. Broil until melted, brown and bubbly.
If you’ve tried this Traditional Welsh Rarebit Recipe or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how it turned out in the comments below. I love to hear from my readers!
Yield: 4
Traditional Welsh Rarebit Recipe
A thick slice of bread is topped with a savory cheese sauce made from beer, cheese, butter, mustard and broiled to bubbly perfection.
To a saucepan, add the butter over medium heat.When the butter is melted and sizzling, whisk in the flour and cook for a minute. Continue whisking until the flour is well mixed and not lumpy.
Slowly pour in the ale while whisking, then the Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder. Use a spatula and stir in the cheese until it is completely melted and the sauce is smooth.
Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl to slightly cool and thicken.
Preheat broiler (oven grill).
Spread the cheese sauce on all of the slices of bread. Broil until bubbly and browned. Serve immediately
Put the cheese, mustard, Worcester sauce and Tabasco sauce in and stir until melted. Beat in the egg yolks and flour and gently cook for a further 2 minutes. Evenly spoon over the bread and bacon then spoon the cheese mix all over and bake for 5 minutes until golden and bubbly.
Cheese on toast is made by grilling slices of pure cheese on toasted bread whereas welsh rarebit is a grilled cheese based sauce made from cheese, flour, beer and often added egg.
Variants include English rabbit, Scotch rabbit, buck rabbit, golden buck, and blushing bunny. Though there is no strong evidence that the dish originated in Welsh cuisine, it is sometimes identified with the Welsh caws pobi 'baked cheese', documented in the 1500s.
Toastie Welsh Rarebit! Rich cheesy sauce served with slices of toasted bread with a salad of nettles, alexanders, sea radish and sorrels dressed with vinaigrette.
An indulgent twist on the more traditional Welsh Rarebit. This savoury treat is expertly made by combining our West Country Farmhouse Cheddar with Worcestershire sauce, mustard, a whole egg and a drop of Fortnum's Ale with dry-cured bacon. A favourite in our restaurants.
My favourite is a golden ale, which brings a fantastic hoppy, boozy flavour, without being domineering. Stout or Guinness can be a delicious addition to a Welsh rarebit, but they can be potent: cut them with milk (75g of each) to prevent the sauce becoming overwhelming.
"Le Welsh" (Welsh rarebit or rabbit) is a dish often found on the menus of brasseries in the North, especially near the coast. This old substitute dish originated in Wales and, according to the "legend", came to the Opal Coast during the 1st World War.
This Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit microwave dish includes creamy cheese sauce made with 100% real cheddar cheese. This creamy and delicious classic frozen dish has been a favorite for over 60 years, and is sure to satisfy every taste bud.
Welsh rarebit is a savory dish comprised of a hot cheese sauce served over toast that is then grilled or broiled. It originated in 18th century Great Britain as "Welsh rabbit," but the name was eventually changed to avoid confusion. (There is no rabbit in this dish.)
A popular legend suggests that the meat-based name for this meatless dish stems from Welsh peasants for whom cheese was a substitute for the meat they could not afford. Whatever its origins, the dish is today a staple of British fare and a common pub food, often paired with a pint of beer or ale.
“It's typically a cheese sauce, like a bechamel or mornay, and you can flavor it from that point however you wish.” Common inclusions in recipes for rarebit are elements that deepen and enhance the cheese sauce flavor such as beer, Worcestershire, mustard, cayenne, or nutmeg.
Read allIn folk tradition, Welsh rarebit is believed to cause nightmares. But when a new restaurant opens near the base and both Pyle and the sergeant indulge in the dish, it's sleepwalking that the simple meal of toast and cheese sauce induces in both men--sleepwalking, and changes in personality.
Method. To make butter put the cream into a kitchen aid with a whisk attachment. Whisk on high until the cream separates into butter and buttermilk, spoon into a sieve lined with muslin and strain off. Mix the butter with any of the above and season.
To make the gravy: Drain all juices from the turkey roasting tray into a clean saucepan. Add 1 tbsp of Bovril or Marmite yeast extract. Bring to the boil and reduce. To thicken add 25g softened butter to another pan with 25g plain flour and mix together to form a paste.
To make the melba toast, put the bread onto a baking tray, toast under a hot grill on both sides. Remove the crusts and the slice through the bread horizontally. Rub the underside on the board to remove any excess crumbs, cut each piece into two triangles put back on the tray untoasted side up and toast until golden.
Put buttered bread slices on griddle (butter side down). Add cheeses on one bread slice and move bread around on griddle as cheese melts. Check color of bread slices - when golden brown, join bread. Butter top of sandwich lightly again, flip, butter new top of sandwich.
Introduction: My name is Edwin Metz, I am a fair, energetic, helpful, brave, outstanding, nice, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
