The Ultimate Two-Bite Beef Wellington Appetizer

Beef Wellington is one of those elegant dishes that immediately makes an at-home date night or dinner party feel elevated. While the esteemed dish is often served as a main course, this beef Wellington bites recipe — brought to us by recipe developer Patterson Watkins — reimagines the pastry-wrapped beef into bite-sized appetizer form. You still get all of the buttery, savory sophistication of classic beef Wellington, from the tenderloin steak to the mushroom duxelles to the flaky pastry exterior, but in a snackable, poppable format that will instantly make your appetizer spread feel ultra-fancy.

Considering how delicious classic beef Wellington is, it's not much of a surprise that these little bites are just as rich, tender, and tasty. They're so tasty, in fact, that Watkins feels confident that she could eat dozens (or possibly already has). "This is a hearty appetizer," Watkins says, describing "... the seasoned steak nestled in flaky puff pastry and accented with sherry and herb-spiked mushrooms." The recipe also comes with a Dijon dip, and Watkins tells us, "The zesty creamy Dijon dip balances those meaty-buttery elements nicely — almost like a tasty palate reset." Serve these bites at an hors d'oeuvre-heavy party where the wine is flowing, and you'll no doubt have a crowd-pleaser on your hands.

For the bites themselves, you'll start with beef tenderloin steak, cut into 24 pieces, along with salt and pepper for seasoning and olive oil for giving the steak pieces an initial sear. From there, you'll build a mushroom duxelles-inspired filling with salted butter, minced cremini mushrooms, minced shallot, minced garlic, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, cooking sherry, and Worcestershire sauce. A package of puff pastry and a beaten egg round out the ingredients needed for the bites. Then, all that's left to make is the creamy Dijon dip, which consists of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, prepared horseradish, and chives.

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Spritz a 24-cup mini muffin pan with cooking spray.

Pat the steak pieces dry with paper towels.

Season the steak with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat.

Once hot, working in batches if necessary, add the steak, and sear on all sides until brown.

Remove the steak from the skillet and set it aside. Reduce the heat to medium.

Add the butter to the skillet.

Once the butter has melted, add the mushrooms, and saute until tender and dry-looking, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the shallot, garlic, rosemary, and thyme to the skillet and stir to combine with the mushrooms. Saute for 2 minutes more.

Deglaze the skillet with sherry and Worcestershire and bring to a simmer.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until the wine has mostly evaporated. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Dust a clean work surface with a little flour and roll the puff pastry sheet into a large square.

Cut each sheet into 12 even portions (24 portions total).

Transfer the puff portions to the prepared muffin pan. Press the dough into the bottom and sides of the tins, making sure to leave plenty of dough hanging over.

Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the mushroom mixture into the center of each.

Top the mushroom mixture with a piece of steak.

Brush the exposed puff pastry with egg wash.

Fold the corners of the puff pastry over the steak, concealing the filling.

Generously brush the tops of the Wellingtons with the remaining egg wash and place in the oven.

Bake the Wellingtons for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.

While the Wellingtons are baking, place mayonnaise, mustard, horseradish, and chives in a medium bowl.

Stir to combine and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Remove the muffin pan from the oven and set aside to cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack.

Using a butter knife or thin metal spatula, loosen and remove the Wellingtons from the muffin pan.

Transfer the Wellingtons to a serving platter and serve with the creamy Dijon dip on the side.

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Beef tenderloin is one of the best cuts of steak for beef Wellington, and it's the very cut that Watkins opts for in this appetizer recipe. She highlights the fact that you don't need to splurge on a super expensive cut of steak, like filet mignon or Chateaubriand, especially since the steak isn't operating alone here. When it comes to seeking out the beef tenderloin, you might find it in all different sizes and possible cuts, but any uniform piece will do (especially since you'll be chopping it up into even smaller pieces once you get it home). 

When it comes to searing the steaks, not only does this step serve to lock in flavor, but it also helps eliminate moisture so as to avoid soggy pastries down the line. Luckily, searing the steak bites is a pretty easy process. "All you need to do is make sure your skillet and oil are well preheated, and you can sear in batches to prevent heat reduction," Watkins advises. It's important to work in batches to ensure that the temperature of the skillet doesn't dip too low, and so that each piece of steak has some good wiggle room so that they all cook evenly.

Just like a regular-sized beef Wellington has a layer of mushroom duxelles tucked in the pastry with the beef itself, these bite-sized Wellingtons follow suit. A big goal in searing the steak is reducing moisture, and we have a similar goal when cooking and reducing the mushrooms. At first, when the mushrooms are just beginning to saute, it may look like they're only becoming moister by the minute, but Watkins assures us that it's all part of the cooking process. "This is the stage where the mushrooms are off-putting/releasing their moisture," she explains. "Keep stirring and sauteing until all of the liquid has evaporated — this will also help us achieve maximum concentration of tasty mushroom flavor."

You may be wondering — if the goal is to reduce moisture in the mushrooms, then why do we go back in and deglaze the pan with more liquid? Believe it or not, there is a method to the double-mushroom-sauteing madness. "Once to remove the mushroom liquor (pan juices) and another time to infuse the mushrooms with our sherry and Worcestershire," Watkins explains. The final product, the mushroom duxelles, should be dark, glistening, deeply umami-rich, and not at all soupy.

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