Summary
Welsh Rarebit is a classic British cheese sauce served over toast. This recipe comes from America's golden age of railroad dining and is served here with Canadian bacon on top, just like the original.
What’s on Your Plate
Sharp cheddar cheese sauce over toast, straight from a railroad dining car recipe. Use a double boiler (or a DIY version with a saucepan and heatproof bowl), grate your own cheese, and don’t touch the microwave. Ready in under 30 minutes.
This is dish I loved as a child. I was a military brat, a major’s daughter, and Welsh Rarebit was something that I looked forward to every time my father treated us to the Officer’s Club. It was my favorite. I love cheese, especially sharp cheddar, and that is exactly what good Welsh Rarebit is, cheese sauce over toast. It’s simple, elegant, and delicious.
For some reason, Welsh Rarebit fell out of favor and it is hardly seen anymore. That’s a pity because it’s easy to make, you can feed a lot of people, and everyone seems to like it. It probably stopped being as popular when homemakers started using Cheez Whiz, and even that was good because it had American cheese as the first ingredient. Kraft changed the formula to have whey, milk and canola oil as the main ingredients – Dean Southworth, who was part of the original team that developed Cheez Whiz in the 1950s, described a jar he sampled in 2001 as tasting “like axle grease.”
Well, I think it is time for the venerable dish to have a resurrection. Even if you can’t find it at your favorite restaurant, it’s easy to make at home.
Ingredients
The right ingredients are important here. The first is the cheese. Use real cheddar cheese, the sharper the better. The next thing to consider is ale. It brings flavor and you want ale or stout – so if you have leftover stout from St. Patrick’s Day, that’s the perfect use for it. You will not need the whole bottle, so there will be some left for the chef: you! Since cheese is naturally salty, use unsalted butter or your rarebit may come out too salty.
Two things that cheese loves and that love cheese are mustard and Worcestershire sauce. I suggest using dry mustard, like *Coleman’s, because it does not have any extra ingredients that way that prepared mustard does. I also highly recommend using the original Lee and Perrin’s Worcestershire for the best flavor.
One thing that is not usually in Welsh Rarebit is chili. Chilis do not keep as much of their heat when they have been deseeded and cooked, instead they offer a bit of extra brightness to the flavor of foods. I used a red serrano chili when I made this.
DIY Double Boiler
You don’t need special equipment to make Welsh Rarebit — you just need to understand what a double boiler is actually doing. Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan with about an inch of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. The steam rising from below heats the bowl gently and evenly, keeping the temperature low and controlled. That indirect heat is everything. It’s what keeps the proteins in the cheese from seizing up, the fat from separating, and your sauce from breaking.
Use a stainless steel bowl — it conducts heat evenly, stays stable over the pan, and you can lift it off safely when you’re done. Keep the water at a gentle simmer, not a rolling boil, and stir constantly while your sauce comes together.
Why Welsh Rarebit works
Welsh Rarebit succeeds or fails on heat control. Cheese is a combination of fat, protein, and water, and those three components only stay together as a smooth, glossy sauce when they’re heated gently and evenly. That’s the entire job of the double boiler — keeping the temperature low enough that the proteins never seize up and the fat never separates.
Grating your own sharp cheddar matters for the same reason. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with starch to prevent clumping in the bag, and that starch goes straight into your sauce, making it grainy instead of silky.
Coleman’s dry mustard brings a clean, sharp heat that prepared mustard can’t replicate — prepared mustard adds vinegar and water that will throw off your sauce consistency. The English ale adds depth and a slight bitterness that balances the richness of the cheese. Worcestershire contributes background umami without any identifiable flavor of its own. And the serrano chile doesn’t make the sauce spicy — it lifts the other flavors and keeps the richness from feeling heavy.
Sturdy bread toasted to a deep golden brown isn’t optional. It’s structural. The sauce is substantial, and soft bread will collapse under it before the dish reaches the table.
Common Mistakes and Gotchas
A list of common mistakes and Gotchas
- Don’t use pre-shredded cheese. The starch coating that keeps it from clumping in the bag will make your sauce grainy. Grate it yourself.
- Don’t use the microwave. It heats unevenly and too fast. The sauce will break before you realize it’s happening.
- Don’t walk away from the pot. Welsh Rarebit requires constant stirring. Step away and you risk the sauce seizing on the bottom of the bowl while the top is still liquid.
- Don’t rush the toast. Lightly toasted bread will go soggy under the sauce immediately. You want a deep golden brown with real structure.
- Don’t let it sit. Welsh Rarebit waits for no one. The sauce thickens and the toast softens quickly. Serve it the moment it’s plated.
- Don’t substitute prepared mustard for dry. The extra liquid and vinegar in prepared mustard will affect both the consistency and the flavor of the sauce.
Serving and Storage
Serving
Welsh Rarebit does very well with a sturdy bread, Pullman or Pain de Mei, would be perfect. You could also go with a small sour dough boule, cut the top off, scoop a little out and pour the Rarebit in the middle. A good, sturdy brown or black bread would also be interesting. Serve it with broccoli or a salad.
Storing
If you have leftover sauce, refrigerate it. It makes excellent macaroni and cheese!
FAQ
Why is it called Welsh Rarebit if there’s no rabbit?
It’s old British humor. “Bit” is a playful corruption of “rabbit,” and the joke was that cheese on toast was what the Welsh ate instead of meat. The name stuck for centuries even after the joke was largely forgotten.
Can I use a different cheese?
Sharp cheddar is the right cheese for this dish — it has the flavor and the fat content to make the sauce work. Mild or medium cheddar won’t give you the depth the recipe needs. You can experiment with a small amount of Gruyère blended in, but sharp cheddar should be the base.
What if I don’t have English ale?
A pale ale or a brown ale both work. Avoid anything too hoppy or too dark, as either can make the sauce bitter. In a real pinch, a light lager will do, though you’ll lose some of the depth.
Do I have to use a double boiler?
You don’t have to own one — but you do have to use the technique. A saucepan with about an inch of simmering water and a heatproof bowl set on top works exactly the same way. The bowl should sit over the water without touching it.
Is the serrano chile necessary?
It’s not mandatory, but it does something important — it brightens the sauce and keeps the richness from feeling heavy. If you’re sensitive to any heat at all, use paprika instead.
Step by Step Photos
Welsh Rarebit Recipe
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Welsh Rarebit
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Ingredients
~~ Sauce ~~
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 serrano chili, seeded and diced
- 16 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4 ounces Ale, or stout
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon *dry mustard
~~ Garnish ~~
- 6 slices Toast
- 6 slices Canadian bacon
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients
Double Boiler
- Put about 1 to 2 inches of water at the bottom of a sauce pan.
- Put a metal bowl, wider than the pan, on top of the pan. Heat the water to a simmer.
- 3 tablespoons butterMelt butter in a double boiler.
- 1 serrano chiliAdd the chili and let it cook until it has softened.
- 16 ounces sharp cheddar cheeseGrate or shred cheese and add.
- Be patient, the cheese might take a while to completely melt.
- Cook until cheese is melted.
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustardAdd mustard, salt, Worcestershire sauce.
- 4 ounces AlePour in ale gradually, stirring constantly.
- 2 eggsThen add lightly beaten eggs and stir until it becomes thick.
- 6 slices Toast, 6 slices Canadian baconServe while hot on crisp toast and a piece of Canadian bacon.
Nutrition
Transcript of NAME OF RECIPE
Transcript
Good afternoon, and welcome to the Good Plate’s kitchen.
Today we’re making Welsh Rarebit.
Our recipe is from Dinner in the Diner by Will Hollister
and it comes from America’s era of great trains.
It was originally served on the Chesapeake and Ohio sportsman.
A steam-powered passenger train that took great pride in its dining cart,
real food, real technique, served its speed.
So let’s clear something up.
There is no rabbit in Welsh Rarebit.
The name is old British humor, where bit is a playful corruption of
rabbit and the joke was that this was the poor Welshman substitute for meat.
It actually is the rich silky cheese sauce served over toast.
Simple satisfying and once you make it this way,
you’ll understand why it lasts for two centuries.
The star is sharp cheddar, not mild, not medium-sharp.
Grate it yourself because pre-shred to cheese has a
starch coating that can make your sauce grainy.
In English Ale, pale or brown, that adds depth you can’t take.
Dry mustard. Use Coleman’s, which has a
sharpness that prepared mustard just doesn’t have.
A splash for Worcestershire for that background umami note.
For bread, you want something sturdy that can hold up under the sauce.
A good Pullman loaf is an excellent choice.
And The Good Plate has the recipe for that if you need it.
I also added a serrano chili.
Not for heat, but to lift.
It brightens the sauce without making spicy.
And I’m serving this Canadian bacon and laid run on top, just like the original.
Here is the most important part.
We’re making this in a double boiler.
And if you don’t have one, like I don’t have one, here’s what you do.
You take a saucepan with about an inch of
simmering water and set heat proof bone on top.
The bowl sits over the water without touching it.
The steam heats the mold gently and evenly.
That is double boiler.
Why does this matter?
Well, cheese is fat, protein and water.
Too much heat, too fast, and those protein seize up.
The fat seperates and your sauce breaks.
The double boiler keeps everything gentle and controlled.
So the sauce saves smooth and glossy.
I know you want to use a microwave.
But it heats unevenly and it heats fast.
And you will lose the sauce before you realize what happened.
Stir constantly when sauce coats the back of the spoon you’re done.
Then it’s just a matter of adding the remaining ingredients.
First up is the egg.
Make sure that it doesn’t coddle and get it stirred in very nicely.
Then you’re going to add the beer.
Excuse me, then you’re going to add the ale.
Next up is the mustard.
Stir that in.
Then you’re going to add the Worcestershire and stir that in as well.
And finally you have this lovely beautiful sauce.
It’s all ready to go.
Toast your bread to a deep golden brown.
It needs to hold up under that sauce.
Pour the cheese sauce generally over the toast.
Then lay your Canadian bacon right on top.
Steamed broccoli makes a lovely side.
The mild bitterness of the broccoli plays
really nicely against that rich cheese sauce.
Serve immediately, Welsh Rarebit waits for no one.
Thank you for watching.
See you next time on The Good Plate.
And remember, ever forward.
Ever flavorful.
Yum, yum!
