£195 for a beef wellington!

At the risk of whipping up another storm, I like it as part of a celebratory sort of meal, or dinner party, with many courses as there’s no need to serve potatoes or Yorkshire puddings, as one would with rib of beef. The pastry plays that role, and the whole course is just a little lighter :)

"...but you will be getting the biggest central cut so maybe £60/£75 of meat."

No, you're getting 670g of meat. Beef fillet is around £40 per kg retail so you're looking at around £28 of meat.

Sorry, but I very much doubt the Sainsburys fillet which you posted about after I asked the question is anywhere near the same quality as the one in the M&S wellington. I buy from Sainsburys most of the year and their meat is distinctly average. When I pop to my local M&S, even their ordinary every day range is so much better than Sainsburys highest quality one.

Granted i havnt made one for a few years, I don't eat steak of any variety so wouldn't take notice of prices really

I just posted this above, if you have look at the M&S website it says that the total weight is 2.1kg and that there is 32% beef. So that implies that there is 670g of beef.

The retail price of beef fillet is around £40 per kg so the M&S Beef Wellington contains £26.80 of beef fillet if bought retail (M&S are paying a lot less).

"make one of similar size and quality for under £40 is wild."

Add in 100 ml of red wine, some portobello mushrooms and a nice bit of pastry and, yes, you can certainly buy the ingredients for under £40. (see M&S ingredients list)

Who on earth is going to pay that!? If you can afford that much, you will go somewhere better than M&S.

"A piece of fillet large enough to feed six and of excellent quality will cost £100ish."

From the M&S website, the total weight of the Beef Wellington is 2.1kg of which 32% is the beef.

So, that would suggest that there is around 670g of meat.

Beef fillet suitable for Beef Wellington is around £40 per kg retail. For example, special order from Sainsburys, 1.6kg for £65:

https://food-to-order.sainsburys.co.uk/product/7902319/ttd-beef-fillet

It will cost M&S rather less than that. But, even costing it at retail, 670g of beef fillet is £26.80.

Of course, there is a lot of extra work involved in making a Beef Wellington but, even so, a price of around £100 seems a lot more realistic than £195

We made a veggie wellington a couple of years ago. Not a veggie household, but it was EXCELLENT (the recipe, not banging my own drum about the cooking ;) Lots of flavour & good textures & a nice break from meat-heavy options at Christmas.

Recipe here https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/mushroom-lentil-wellington?srsltid=AfmBOopacLhmRfyGCbRg9Qrc1Ou6E7jIg2lD5O64qLHIx_MoAF4GV-wN if anyone fancies giving it a crack with the change left over from their M&S shop?!?

Both things can be true.

You are definitely NOT being unreasonable. We had a beef Wellington last year from M&S for Christmas and it was a quarter of that price. We were hoping to do the same this year but not for £195!!!!

If you're feeling left out Walkers have introduced beef Wellington crisps for Christmas. 😄

They also have 125g caviar for £195.

I like looking, but realistically we will be having something for a tenner from Tesco, and won't have to queue for hours on Christmas eve to collect it. Will be easier.

Where are you buying a fillet and all the other ingredients for under £40 and it be large enough to feed 6 people? And of similar quality.

Despite saying upthread that I might buy one, I do think it is a little overpriced, but to say you could buy and make one of similar size and quality for under £40 is wild.

Make your own if you really want Beef Wellington. I did a cookery course which focused on making this dish - it took 2.5 hours but was the most delicious dish ever. Well worth making the effort - and cheaper!

DD is buying the Wagyu Beef joint from M & S this year. £90 for four servings!

I've never understood the beef Wellington. I love beef, I love how it looks slicing through a Wellington (auto is capitalising). Do I want pastry with that? No, not really, not at all.

What difference does the pastry make, other than adding pastry and a mushroom duxelle...?

Is it just performance food? Is it like sausage meat without it's roll?

It honestly baffles me.

Same with Salmon En Croute.

I do love a steak pie with gravy though.

Every year we get a meat pack from our local butcher. It’s gone up this year by £10 to £125. It’s always good quality and excellent. So this year we get 12-14lb turkey, 400g chipolatas, 400g bacon, two types of sausage meat, a beef joint, a ham joint and some pigs in blankets. All excellent quality. Collect Christmas Eve. I could make the beef in to a wellington I guess.

It always surprises me at Christmas how much more expensive supermarkets are than the local butcher.

I agree it's a lot of money but `I don't think it's unreasonable. I cook fillet of beef for fancy Sunday lunches/dinner parties and even from Costco a whole fillet is over £100 now.

admittedly you aren't getting a whole fillet here, but you will be getting the biggest central cut so maybe £60/£75 of meat. Then the cost of the ingredients for the duxelles topping and the pastry. Once you add labour and profit it seems like a reasonable price to me for a hassle free luxury treat.

That being said, I won't be buying it! We will have 2 free range turkey crowns to feed 9 people. And even that will cost £130.

If you factor in the time/wages, electricity, packaging, transport, marketing, cost of stores and their upkeep, plus profit, that makes the M&S pprice sound quite reasonable (though I'm sure yours is much nicer!)

Surely even if making it yourself it would still cost around £100 for the ingredients?
Mentioning the COL crisis is pointless - it's inflation that's causing the COL crisis, with food being a main offender. M&S isn't going to decrease food prices to help 😅
I'd never buy pre-made food like beef wellington, I'd make it myself. But I know people who do and none of them have ever felt "forced" to pay or felt that the store was "demanding", it's almost as if they grew up in a capitalist economy where money is exchanged for goods in shops.

You could make one yourself for £40 absolute tops, yes I appreciate fillet is expensive. I do the Mary Berry one so easy and so nice

if animals were raised humanely and prices reflected the real cost of meat this is not a bonkers price. I bet you are paying for marketing and the celebrity chef, however.

I saw this on an email sent to me by M & S. Absolutely rediculous price for a beef wellington and other Christmas fare. I must admit I've had quality issues with M & S in recent years so I'm not even tempted by this even if it was cheaper. Doubt Tom Kerridge cooked all of them or personally quality checked them (although he may have) and I would hate to part with that much money to find out the pastry was soggy and the beef tough on Christmas Day.

@Blueskybird I was reading the M&S Christmas food catalogue yesterday and snorted with derision when I got to the Beef Wellington. As if.😂

I’d expect Tom Kerridge to be cooking it for me at that price,