The perfect beef Wellington air fryer recipe

Ever wondered if you could air fry this classic dish? Sam and Dom Milner of RecipeThis have explained how to do just that – no oven needed.

A succulent fillet of beef surrounded by a flavoursome layer of prosciutto, pate and garlic mushrooms, all covered with crisp, golden pastry is the ultimate dinner party favourite.

It first became popular to cook beef Wellingtons in the air fryer back in 2018, and it’s easier than you think to prepare.

Special occasion beef Wellington recipe

Ingredients

• 900g beef fillet
• Extra virgin olive oil spray
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried parsley
• 250g chestnut (cremini) mushrooms
• A pinch of garlic powder
• Plain (all-purpose) flour, for dusting
• 1 x 500g pack of puff pastry
• 100g prosciutto slices
• 180g Brussels pate
• 1 egg, beaten
• Salt and black pepper

Method

• Place your fillet on a chopping board, spray with olive oil, then rub the herbs and salt and pepper all over the fillet. Air fry at 180C for five minutes, flip over and cook at the same temperature for another five minutes.
• Allow to rest and, once cool, wrap in foil and put in the fridge overnight. The next day, remove the fillet from the fridge, unwrap the foil and pat it dry with kitchen paper/paper towel.
• Slice the mushrooms into 5mm slices and tip them into the air fryer basket. Spray with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Set the temperature to 180C and cook for nine minutes. Tip the mushrooms onto a plate to cool.
• Flour a clean worktop and your rolling pin, and roll out the puff pastry to a large rectangle measuring about 35 x 28cm. Lay your prosciutto slices over the pastry, leaving a 1cm border around the edge, then spread an even layer of pate over the prosciutto. Add a layer of the cold sliced mushrooms over the pate, overlapping them so that there are no gaps. Place the fillet of beef over the mushrooms in the centre of the pastry sheet.
• Using a pastry brush, brush a layer of egg wash over the border around the edge of the pastry. Carefully roll the pastry over to create a tight log, tucking in the pastry at the sides as you go.
• Poke holes in a paper air fryer liner so that the air can circulate (this is important so that it doesn’t slow down the cooking time) and place the liner in the air fryer basket. Carefully place the Wellington into the air fryer basket over the paper liner, with the seal side upwards (and best side down – you’ll flip it later), and brush the top with egg wash. Cook at 180C for 20 minutes.
• Use the sides of the paper liner as handles to help you lift the Wellington out of the air fryer onto a worktop.
• Carefully roll it over, so that it’s now the right way up and place back onto the paper liner. Cut small slits in the pastry along the top of the Wellington to let the steam escape so that the pastry won’t go soggy. Use the liner again to carefully place the Wellington back into the air fryer basket and brush the top and sides with extra egg wash. Set the temperature to 180C and air fry for 45 minutes, or until the centre of the beef reads a temperature of 52C for medium rare or 57C for medium. Remove the Wellington from the air fryer basket, and allow to rest for five minutes before slicing.

Top tips

• Slice your mushrooms thinly. Too thick and your beef Wellington will end up too wide once rolled and will be too big for the air fryer.
• Aim for a maximum size of 900g beef fillet so that the Wellington will fit in the air fryer.
• Prosciutto or pancakes? These are both popular ingredients for layering into the Wellington to help prevent soggy pastry. We prefer to use prosciutto as it adds extra flavour to the beef.
• Go diagonal If you have a smaller air fryer, you may struggle to move the Wellington. By placing it diagonally in an air fryer basket, it will be easier to get it in and out of the air fryer.
• Add a non-stick layer It’s important to use a paper liner or place a sheet of baking parchment under your beef Wellington to stop it from sticking. Use a knife to poke air holes in the paper so that the air can still circulate and you will avoid an uncooked base. The excess paper at the sides will also give you “handles” to help you lower the Wellington in, and lift it out, of the fryer.
• Flipping the beef Wellington: This is important as air fryers cook from the top, so to make sure our Wellington doesn’t have a soggy bottom, we turn it during cooking. Cook the bottom of the Wellington first, pastry seal up, then flip it over and then cook the top. Remember our tip for the paper liner above? Well, that also makes it easier to flip.
• Don’t overcook your beef. Remember that beef Wellington will continue cooking for a little while once it comes out of the air fryer. Aim for 52ºC for medium rare, and it will finish at 55ºC once it is done resting.
• Start small. When we first made a beef Wellington, we were very aware of the cost involved. Therefore, we made two mini Wellingtons out of two 170g fillet steaks. It was the perfect portion for the two of us. To do this, sear the steaks and assemble as in the recipe, but decrease the other main ingredient quantities and use 85g mushrooms; 300g pastry; 60g pate; 60g prosciutto. Cook, pastry seal up, at 180C for 10 minutes, then flip it over and cook at 200C for another 10 minutes.
• Adjust for your air fryer size If you have a smaller air fryer, you could also make a smaller Wellington with a 675g beef fillet. When going smaller, reduce the main ingredients to the following: 85g mushrooms; 250g pastry; 60g pâté; 60g prosciutto. Cook at 180C for 15 minutes, then flip it over and cook for another 18 minutes for medium rare or another 22 minutes for medium. A Wellington this size will still feed four people (rather than six from a big one), so it is still a great choice.
• Dual air fryer: If you have a dual air fryer, you are likely to have a problem fitting a full-sized Wellington into the air fryer drawer. If this is you, we recommend doing two smaller ones, as mentioned above.

Edited extract from Air Fryer Easy Everyday: 140 Super-Simple, Delicious Recipes by Sam Milner and Dom Milner, $39.99, published by Quarto.

This article was first published by the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.