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Is there anything more comforting than the classic English dish Toad in the Hole? Golden baked sausages roasted in a light and crispy giant Yorkshire Pudding. This is one recipe that we all need a foolproof, easy version of, and here’s mine!
This is the kind of dish that we all loved as children but the pressure to come up with a perfect Yorkshire Pudding recipe can make it feel a bit daunting to attempt as adults.
Well, I am here to tell you that it’s not that difficult, you don’t have to worry about perfection here (NEVER!) and that when you find the quickest Toad in the Hole recipe – and the simplest – you’ll be making this homemade version over and over again.
This foolproof recipe has only 7 ingredients and takes about 45 minutes to make, giving us a meal of meaty sausages and that unmistakable crispy/squidgy Yorkshire Pudding that tastes unreal.
Start off by making up your batter so it has time to rest. (In fact, ‘resting’ the batter in the fridge is an important step in making Yorkshire Puddings, so make sure you do so for at least 15-20 minutes if you can.)
Meanwhile, brown the sausages (or you can use precooked ones you’ve made earlier to save time, or cook them in the air fryer if you prefer). Just make sure they’re nicely coloured all over before you pour in your batter.
For Toad in the Hole, we use all of the usual Yorkshire Pud rules, including being sure to use a tin (NOT a dish), getting our oil very hot first and – this one is important – keep the oven door shut!
I once forgot to whisk my batter thoroughly and lumpy Yorkshires is a total no-no, so to make sure this doesn’t happen to you, I’d recommend using a very small whisk (or an electric whisk), and adding SOME of the liquid first, or the eggs first, then mix until you get a smooth paste, gradually adding the rest of the milk in, each time making sure it’s smooth before adding more.
When it comes to removing it from the tin, let it sit for 5-10 minutes after cooking. It’ll be much easier to lift it in one piece and it won’t stick to the sides as much!
Serve this up with Onion Gravy and your choice of veg.
Why you’ll love this recipe
⭐️ Ultimate traditional comfort food
⭐️ Just 7 ingredients
⭐️ Quick, no faff, easy-to-follow foolproof recipe
“I love this recipe, it’s so quick and easy to make and works perfectly every time. A firm favourite in our house now.”
What is Toad in the Hole?
It’s a rite of passage for everyone in the land who loves cooking to perfect Yorkshire Puddings, and indeed Toad in the Hole. So what is this strange dish, I hear non-British people cry? And why on earth is it called Toad in the Hole?
It is a dish made up of sausages cooked inside a big Yorkshire Pudding, which is usually served with vegetables on the side and onion gravy over the top.
We are proud of our humble origins of Yorkshire Puddings, which date back to the 18th century and were a way for the poor to feed their families (they are made up of eggs, flour and milk).
Adding a little meat meant a whole meal was on offer, so a Toad in the Hole recipe helped to bulk up meals that had meagre meat portions. So, nothing at all to do with toads!
Here’s a theory in The Culture Trip as to how that name might have come about.
Toad in the Hole Ingredients
- Sunflower oil – Olive oil won’t work as well here as it needs to get up to a very high temperature.
- Sausages – As good quality as you can afford and nice plump ones.
- Milk – Semi-skimmed is fine.
- Eggs – Medium sized.
- Plain flour – Regular plain baking flour (all-purpose flour in the US).
- Salt – I like sea salt.
How to make a Toad in the Hole
1. Make up the Yorkshire Pudding batter and leave to rest (as per the full recipe below).
2. Meanwhile, cook the sausages in the oven until browned all over.
3. Add the batter in with the sausages and place back in the oven at a reduced temperature.
4. Cook until rise, and golden and crispy. Rest a little before serving.
Hint: Do not open the oven door until the batter has been cooking for at least 25 minutes!
Substitutions
- Veggie sausages – If you want to make this as a vegetarian dish, veggies sausages are fine to use. They might need slightly less cooking time, so keep an eye on them and adjust according to the timings on the pack.
- To make gluten free – I have not tested this myself, but I know it’s possible to make Yorkshire Puddings gluten free. Simply swap the flour for the same weight in corn flour (corn starch) or gluten free plain flour. Also, make sure your sausages do not contain gluten!
Leftovers
This is best eaten immediately if you want the best results (allowing a few minutes for it to be easier to remove from the tin as mentioned below) but you can get ahead by making the batter earlier and refrigerating. You can also brown the sausages first to save time.
If you want to reheat it, you can do this in the microwave or oven, but it may become soft in the microwave and dry out a little in the oven.
Recipe Tips
Rest the batter
‘Resting’ the batter in the fridge is an important step in making Yorkshire Puddings, so make sure you do so for at least 15-20 minutes. This helps them to rise and gives us the texture we want from them – crispy on the outside but slightly softer inside!
Cook time
Our tests gave us solid results at 220°C fan/240°C/475°F/Gas Mark 9 to cook the sausages, then turning down 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 to for 30 minutes, however all ovens tend to be slightly different, so if you think yours hasn’t quite reached the optimum consistency, give it a little more time. You don’t want any wetness/sogginess at the bottom when you serve.
Don’t open the oven door!
This is a well-known fact in Yorkshire Pudding-land. But I repeat: DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR until at least 25 minutes into the cooking time. If you do, your batter will sink.
Use a tin rather than ceramic dish
This will help your batter to rise as it will reach a higher temperature. I actually think this is pretty key to the dish.
Getting your Yorkshires to rise
Toad in the Hole needs a hot dish with plenty of oil. Using a metal baking tin and adding the batter quickly is recommended. Also, the dish needs to be large enough so that the batter can creep around the edges (at least 30cm x 25cm ideally).
What to serve with it?
- Onion gravy – Easier than you think to make your own!
- Mashed potatoes
- Colcannon – Decadent and delicious
- Bubble and Squeak – The British CLASSIC
- Red Cabbage – Love this veggie side dish
- Any other steamed vegetables
FAQs
I find using a very small whisk works best if you have one, or an electric whisk. (I recommend this whisk). Add SOME of the liquid first (in this case I add the eggs first), then mix until it’s a smooth paste, and then add the milk gradually, each time making sure the mixture is smooth before adding more.
Wait for 5-10 minutes after cooking before trying to remove it from the tin. The batter is more likely to lift in one piece instead of trying to hack it out as soon as it’s cooked!
Bear in mind that the ingredients are the right amount for the tin we’re using, so if you want to make more, I’d recommend making two, rather than adding more into a tin (or, of course, use a larger tin if you have it!)
This is because we need room around the sides of the sausages to allow the Yorkshire Pudding batter to rise, and too much in the tin will lead to a soggy, undercooked dish.
If you want to halve the amount, use the servings adjuster tool in the recipe below.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Toad in the Hole {Foolproof Recipe!}
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Sunflower oil
- 8 Sausages, About 450g
- 150 g (1.25 cups) Plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- Pinch Salt
- 3 Eggs, Medium, free range
- 200 ml (1 cups) Semi-skimmed milk
- 50 ml (0.25 cups) Water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: 220°C fan/240°C/475°F/Gas Mark 9.
- Make the batter: Whisk the flour and salt with the eggs until you have a very smooth, very thick paste. Add about a third of the milk, whisk until smooth, add the rest, along with the water and again whisk until totally smooth. Leave to rest in the fridge for at least 10-15 minutes.
- Cook the sausages: Add the oil and sausages to a metal oven proof tin and stir to coat everything with the oil. Place the dish in the oven and cook for 10 minutes until coloured all over.
- Batter goes in: Remove the dish from the oven and then pour in the batter around the sausages.
- Reduce the temperature and cook: Return to the oven and reduce the temperature to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7. Cook for 30 minutes.
- DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN: Until at least 25 minutes has passed! It is ready when crisp and golden (you can leave it in the tin for 5-10 minutes before serving if it's sticking to the sides slightly.)
Did you make this recipe? Click here to let us know how it went and give it a ⭐️ rating! Your feedback helps us to make more recipes you really want.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
This post was originally published on November 2, 2022 and updated later to make improvements.
This recipe is spot-on. I made the best ever toad in the hole using it and couldn’t make any improvements. Just perfect!
Hi Jeanne, the best ever toad in the hole, thank you! We’re so pleased it came out perfect for you! Thanks so much for the five star review and we hope you make this again.
This recipe went great. I put extra sausages and the batter rose all around the edges and turned crispy while the centre remained soft.
It didn’t even stick to the dish like other recipes!
I’d cook this again.
Hi Matthew, thank you for the five star review! Extra sausages are always a good idea and we’re so pleased the batter rose up crispy around the edges while staying soft in the middle. Not sticking to the dish is a big win too!
This is the first time in nearly 60 years I got a well risen crispy Yorkshire pudding. I’m thrilled. My cooking is generally ok but I’ve never managed a decent Yorkie! I made mine with McCartney veg sausages and it was delicious! Thank you…I love Yorkshires and toad in the hole but this is the first time I’ve made a decent one!
Hi Gigi, this is wonderful to hear! Your first well risen, crispy Yorkshire pudding after nearly 60 years is a real achievement, and we’re thrilled for you. Using veggie sausages is a great swap, and other community members will love knowing it works so well. Thanks for the five star review.
I did the sausages according to packet instructions, but the rest I followed your instructions and it was so much nicer than any other Yorkshire pudding I ever made.
Hi Eva, what a lovely thing to say and thank you for the five star review. We’re so pleased the batter turned out nicer than any you’ve made before, and cooking the sausages to the packet is a perfectly good shortcut to save a little time.
Absolutely amazing recipe, perfect every time!!
Hi Laura, perfect every time is exactly what we love to hear! We are so pleased the Toad in the Hole has become a reliable favourite for you. Thanks for the five star review!
Made this for dinner tonight as hubby had a desire for sausages. I’ve used the same recipe for years but decided to try something new. It turned out absolutely perfectly. The title is right, it is foolproof.
Hi Kat, we are so pleased it turned out perfectly, it’s not easy to switch from a recipe you’ve used for years! Thank you for the five star review. It’s great to hear it lived up to its foolproof name.
Works really well. The only recipe I use!
Hi Louise, thank you so much for the lovely five star review! We’re thrilled to hear this is the only toad in the hole recipe you use now!
Amazing!!! Hubby not keen on Yorkshire pudding ( he can’t be human!) so divided by 3 and it w as perfect! Best recipe for this ever!
Hi Louise, we can’t believe your husband isn’t keen on Yorkshire pudding! We’re so pleased dividing the recipe by three worked perfectly for you. Thanks for the lovely five star review!
This is a firm family favourite. When I told my husband I was making this, he said, this is such a difficult dish to make and I’ll never get it to rise. How wrong was he and he was happy to eat his humble ‘toad in a hole’. Not only was it easy to make, it turned out perfect! My son loves it and requests it every week :). I’ve made it several times now and got complacent and forgot to let the batter rest in the fridge and had flatish yorkshires, I won’t make that mistake again. Thank you!
Hi Clara Jane, it’s brilliant that your son requests it every week and we are so glad it turned out well! Thank you for the reminder about resting the batter in the fridge, other community members will find that really helpful. Thanks for the five star review.
we had to add more flour then suggested but it still tastes very good.
Hi Arthur, we’re so pleased you still enjoyed it, and thank you for the five star review! If the batter felt too thin, it’s worth checking the eggs were medium rather than large and whisking the flour and eggs into a very thick, smooth paste before adding the milk a little at a time. That usually gets the consistency spot on.