Gordon Ramsay's 'beet Wellington' is getting roasted on social media, but a Michelin-starred chef is defending his vegan spin on the dish

Anneta Konstantinides

Jan 16, 2021, 01:18 IST

Gordon Ramsay's 'beet Wellington' is getting roasted on social media, but a Michelin-starred chef is defending his vegan spin on the dish

Gordon Ramsay has created a new vegan beef Wellington dish, but fans aren't impressed.Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Gordon Ramsay has made a vegan version of beef Wellington, replacing the meat with beet.
Ramsay told fans he made the dish in honor of Veganuary, but some weren't impressed with his recipe.
Michelin-starred chef Brad Carter told Insider Ramsay's vegan dish was "quite a cool idea."

From a $106 burger to thin gravy, Gordon Ramsay's food is always sparking conversation.

The "MasterChef" star got his followers talking again this week after creating a vegan version of one of his most beloved dishes: a classic beef Wellington.

Ramsay uses beet instead of beef for the revised recipe, which is being served at his Bread Street Kitchen restaurant in London.

A post shared by Gordon Ramsay (@gordongram)

The Michelin-starred chef told fans that he made the dish in honor of Veganuary, a pledge started by a UK nonprofit of the same name that encourages people to go vegan for 31 days.

Ramsay even shared the recipe for his beet Wellington so that fans could try making it at home.

Meat fans weren't too impressed with the vegan substitution

"No way, very sad to see a Wellington with beets," one commenter wrote. "There are many other ways to cook vegetarian recipes."

"I've always thought beets taste like dirt," another added. "You could wrap them in bacon and they'd still taste like dirt, just slightly more palatable."

"This looks like a fried 'Fruit by the Foot,'" one follower wrote, referring to the fruit roll-up snack that was popular in the 1990s.

Some were shocked that Ramsay, who once said he was 'allergic to vegans,' would add a plant-based dish to his menu

Ramsay made headlines in 2016 when he joked that he was allergic to vegans and vegetarians after a fan asked if he had any allergies.

—Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) February 22, 2016

In 2008, Ramsay joked that he'd never forgive his daughters if one of their "boyfriends turns out to be vegetarian."

But Ramsay has changed his tune in recent years. In 2019, he called out Piers Morgan after the "Good Morning Britain" host criticized his vegan roast.

—Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 10, 2019

Ramsay was asked about Morgan's tweet while appearing on "The Late Late Show with James Corden," and he didn't mince his words.

"So, Piers Morgan is now a food critic. Go and f--- yourself," he responded.

Others have praised Ramsay's new vegan dish; a Michelin-starred chef told Insider it's 'quite a cool idea'

Brad Carter, of Carters of Moseley in Birmingham, England, said he loved that Ramsay selected an ingredient that still looks "like a piece of red meat."

"I actually use beetroot on my vegetarian menu in place of beef as a tartare dish, so we basically mince the beetroot in the same way," Carter said. "So I think it's quite a cool idea to make a vegan or vegetarian not feel as left out."

Carter said daikon would also work well for the center of a vegan Wellington.

"You can peel them, they run all the way down the center in a perfect circle and you can make a mushroom duxelles the same way, and spinach, and wrap it around," Carter said of the root vegetable. "Obviously it's white, but you get a really nice radish-y kind of vegetable flavor from that as well."

To make a vegan-friendly gravy, Carter recommends roasting daikons, rutabagas, and turnips in the oven.

"Infuse that in a vegetable stock to get a nice, dark vegetable gravy," he added.

Representatives for Ramsay and Bread Street Kitchen did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.