I love a good steak. I’ve been spoiled by great beef around the world and though my favourite steak house Chop Bloc in Chelmsford is no more, I’m quite partial to Miller & Carter. It’s a chain of about 100 steakhouses across the UK focusing on premium beef. I’m going to take you through my recipe for Miller and Carter beef dripping sauce but before that, a little history…

Miller & Carter was founded by William and Frederick Miller in 2003. The brothers initially opened their first restaurant in Birmingham, United Kingdom, with a vision to create a premium steakhouse experience. Over time, the restaurant gained popularity and expanded, leading to additional locations across the United Kingdom.

The restaurant chain is currently owned by Mitchells & Butlers, one of the largest operators of restaurants and pubs in the UK. Mitchells & Butlers acquired Miller & Carter in 2011, adding it to their portfolio of well-known dining and hospitality brands like Harvester and Toby Carvery.

You can expect a wide selection of steaks, including classic cuts like ribeye, sirloin, and fillet, as well as specialty cuts such as Chateaubriand and T-bone. In addition to their steaks, Miller & Carter offer seafood dishes, salads, and soups. Their menu also features a variety of sides, including fries and vegetables. And of course, sauces.

I’m aware this all sounds very #sponsored but I assure you it isn’t. Just a very consistent meal out that we enjoy as a family. The signature is a ‘steak experience’, where you choose a cut of steak, wedge salad with choice of dressing, fries, onion loaf and your choice of sauce on the side.

How the restaurant serve the ‘steak experience’ including the beef dripping sauce on the side

I almost always have the ‘beef dripping sauce’ – a very savoury gravy with a lip-smacking quality that leaves you with beefy goodness that you keep tasting later. I just had to have a go at recreating it at home. And after a number of attempts I’m pleased to say I think I’ve cracked it. Check out this pour!

And the Miller and Carter Twitter account have given it the seal of approval!

Looks delicious! 😍 LB.

— Miller & Carter (@MillerandCarter) June 24, 2023

It is not a diet food. It needs a lot of beef dripping (very easily available at supermarkets, look for it with the other butters and fats in the chiller) and a good slug of booze. I’ve also chosen to thicken it with xanthan gum, which far from being an alien life form is actually present in lots of foods probably already in your cupboard. It’s less sciencey than it sounds, being derived from glucose fed to bacteria. Sounds yummy, doesn’t it. But it’s available in loads of high street shops like Holland & Barrett. Watch this great video on xanthan gum by the excellent Polar Ice Creamery for more info. If you can’t get it or don’t fancy it, you can thicken your sauce in the traditional ways like cornflour slurry or monte butter. Either way – try this sauce next time you have beef. It’s lick-your-plate-clean good.

Pairs well with top rump roast beef!

Looking to recreate the Miller & Carter experience? Try my Miller and Carter onion loaf recipe to complement it! Or the bordelaise sauce.

beef dripping sauce miller & carter style

A simple sauce that just needs a little time to deliver loads of flavours.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Course sauce

Cuisine British

Servings 2 people

Calories 225 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 50 g beef dripping
• 2 shallots
• 3 garlic cloves
• ½ star anise
• 100 g fatty stewing steak like skirt, flank, chuck etc
• 80 g red wine
• 20 g port
• 500 g beef stock
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• red wine vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum see notes

Instructions

 

• Get a wide sauce pan over a medium heat.
• Peel and finely dice the shallots. Peel and mince the garlic. Slice the beef into thin slices. Add about a third of the beef dripping to the pan and once melted, add the shallots, garlic, star anise and beef and stir fry for 4 - 6 minutes. Cook until the beef has started to brown and everything smells great.
• Turn the heat up. Discard the star anise. Add the red wine and port and move everything around to get the great crusty bits off the bottom of the pan. Once the wine has bubbled away to about a third of it's volume, add in the beef stock and remaining beef dripping. Bring to a furious boil.
• Let this all simmer away until it's about half of what you started with. This will take 20 - 30 minutes. Strain off all the solids (see note) and return the sauce to the pan. Turn the heat down low and adjust seasoning: it might need salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar, and add a couple of drops (I do mean a couple of drops) of red wine vinegar to taste to help balance the richness.
• Once the flavour is right, whisk in the xanthan gum. You can serve immediately, or it refrigerates or freezes well.

Video

Notes

Xanthan gum is not an essential thickener, but doesn't have a floury taste and dissolves easily. It's available from larger supermarkets and health food stores like Holland & Barrett. If you can't find it use a teaspoon of cornflour mixed with a splash of water which will lighten the colour slightly.

The discarded beef and diced onion make a great last minute addition to a stir fry, or tossed with lamb's lettuce for a quick salad.

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