This is my version of Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit, a popular dish I often had as a child. It's a simple dish of gooey cheese sauce comfort food.
In this recipe, it's ladled over crostini piled with sliced tomatoes for an appetizer. But it's frequently served as a main course over toast and then broiled until a golden brown.
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🤷♀️ Why Do They Call It Welsh Rarebit?
It's said Wales didn't have any rabbits. They'd been hunted into extinction. And it's unlikely Welsh Rarebit, popular in Wales since at least the 1500s, actually ever involved rabbits.
Perhaps the Welsh name was a patronizing way to discount things. For example, a Welsh pearl was one of poor quality. So perhaps Welsh Rarebit was a Welsh name for a rabbit dish.
In truth, Wales was a land primarily of peasants at the time this dish became popular, and this dish likely had humble origins. Of note, cheese was a frequent substitute for meat in early Wales.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Unsalted butter
- All-purpose flour
- Whole milk
- Dark ale - I use Negro Modelo.
- Dry mustard powder (I use Coleman's) - or use Dijon mustard.
- Worcestershire sauce - I use Annie's Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
- Extra-sharp cheddar cheese - sharp cheddar cheese is fine, if that's what you have on hand.
- Hot sauce - or use a dash of cayenne pepper
- Egg yolk
😋 Perfect Comfort Food
All I know is it was a favorite dish of mine from my childhood, thanks to Stouffer's. When I had a rough day in school, my mom promptly toasted up a couple pieces of bread, stacked it with fried bacon and sliced tomatoes, and poured melted Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit cheese all over it.
The perfect comfort food for whatever ailed me.
It's a great vegetarian dinner since it comes together in about 20 minutes. But it's also a fantastic game day appetizer or a hearty lunch. For the meat eaters at the table, add strips of crispy bacon to the crostini.
Note: Another terrific bread with this sauce is rye bread.
👩🍳 Tips for Making Welsh Rarebit Sauce
Cook the flour in the butter, forming a paste, before the milk is added. It will be very lightly toasted in appearance and aromatic.
Add the milk first, whisking it into the flour paste gradually. As it thickens, after 1 - 2 minutes, whisk in the beer / ale, followed by the remaining ingredients, except the egg yolk.
The egg yolk makes the sauce velvety, and is whisked in very quickly, off the heat.
🍽️ Ways to Use Welsh Rarebit
Welsh rarebit is a sauce that can be used a number of ways. The classic is to pour it over toast and broil it. As a child, my mom drizzled it over toast topped with slices of bacon and tomato, which this crostini is based on (without the bacon...).
But another way to use this rarebit sauce is in a casserole, such as this Welsh rarebit pie with cauliflower. In this recipe, I made it with a rye crust, but you can always use a regular pie crust.
For a very non-traditional way to use this sauce, pour it over toast, broil and then top with apple chutney. Apples and cheddar together totally rock.
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Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit (Copycat)
Equipment
- Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot A large deep skillet works well too.
Ingredients
Welsh Rarebit Cheese Sauce
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 ½ tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ½ cup dark ale I use Negro Modelo
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard or Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, or Annie's Vegan Worcestershire Sauce to keep it vegetarian
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 6 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar coarsely grated (about 1 ½ cups)
- 1 squirt Sriracha sauce to taste (or other hot sauce, or a dash of cayenne pepper)
- 1 large egg yolk
Crostini
- 1 bag of pre-toasted baguette slices
- 6 roma tomatoes
- finely chopped parsley optional
- paprika optional
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pot, such as a Le Creuset, over medium-low heat. A large, deep skillet also works very well. Whisk in the flour and cook until thickened and lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk, and allow it to thicken for 1 - 2 minutes. Whisk in the ale, followed by the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, cheese, and hot sauce.
- Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, while whisking until a luscious, smooth sauce develops, about 2 - 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and immediately whisk in yolk. Work quickly to get a velvety sauce.
- Slice the Roma tomatoes into ½" thick slices and arrange on the baguette toasts. Spoon a little Welsh Rarebit sauce over them. Finish with a dusting of parsley and paprika.
Liz
Aw, your sweet memories make this pure comfort food! This is more elegant and tempting than any Welsh Rarebit I've ever seen! Lovely!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thank you so much, Liz!
Amy
I was so glad to find this...thank you so much!! I have been missing my Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit for months & I assumed it was a covid supply chain issue. SO sad that they discontinued this fabulous dish!
I was wondering if you could give me an estimate of how many cups of sauce the recipe makes? That would help me more than the number of crostini slices, as I plan to make a large batch & freeze individual portions for dinners. Thanks so much!
Ellen
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I recently tried to find Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit, and learned that they discontinued production if it! I had the craving for it and wasn't willing to accept that I'd had my last bit of it. Found your recipe and just made it and with how easy it is, I should have been making my own years and years ago. SOOOO GOOOD!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Yay!!! I'm so glad you were able to make it yourself and liked it! It's CRAZY that they discontinued it - it has always been such a big favorite of mine.
Ansh
Oh I have never had a welsh rarebit. Gasp! I must fix this mistake pronto because this looks amazing. Memories makes food so much more special!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I completely agree. It's probably a comfort food for me still because of the memories of how it made me feel. Loved 🙂
Jessica
Thanks. What type of Ale do you use? Also, approximately how many servings?
Ellen
I did not grow up eating this but my daughters did after I found the recipe. My version has beer, Worcestershire and a little cayenne pepper and no egg yolk. We just put it over toasted English muffins or whatever other good bread we have but I think I would like it with the tomato!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
A lot of versions don't have the egg yolk, I know, and it's not at all necessary. It adds a richness to the texture. And yes, it's good over any kind of bread I think!
Jenni
Wow, Susan! If my mom made rarebit for me every time I had a bad day or fell, I'd have been trying to dream up ways to scrape my knees! We used to have this occasionally for dinner--rarebit over toast, sans tomatoes, but those tomatoes make it feel more like a deconstructed "tomato soup and grilled cheese!" Yum!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
You're right! It is a bit like a tomato soup with cheese!! Thanks so much!
Tacy
Oh my goodness! Never had even tasted Welsh Rarebit before, but now I'm in love with it! Total comfort food! Thank you for sharing it!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
That makes me so happy!! Thanks for letting me know!!
Constance S Gillespie
I add sour cream and liptons onion soup mix to the rarebit, addicting.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
That sounds like a fantastic addition! Making this with different variations is what I like about this dish.
Louise
Hi Susan:)
I'm popping over from Janes; Heritage Cook. What a delicious blog you have.
I smiled to myself when I saw Welsh Rarebit Crostini on the Progressive Eats list Jane shared. I recently did a post about Welsh Rabbit and its history and was so curious to see how it worked on a crostini. It sure worked GREAT!
Thank you so much for sharing, Susan. What a wonderful event!!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thank you so much!!
Laura @MotherWouldKnow
Susan, Sad to say, I never had welsh rarebit growing up. (What a deprived childhood!) I must admit that when I did find out about it, I shied away from trying the dish, thinking that it really did have to do with a rabbit. Now that I know differently and you added tomato, I'm dreaming of it as a grown-up grilled cheese but better.PS - What happened to the bacon. I love that part of your mom's version:)
The Wimpy Vegetarian
The bacon makes it over the top, I must admit!! And I occasionally still have it that way 🙂
Megan
I love Welsh Rarebit! It's surprising that it isn't more popular here. Hello, cheese! I love the addition of hot sauce here.
Betty Ann Quirino
What an amazing recipe. The cheese got me there. Thanks and fun doing Progressive Eats
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme
The word "rarebit" does bring up all kinds of comforting, yummy memories, albeit the Stouffer's kind 🙂 Love the way you've taken this old favorite and made it into a lovely, up-to-date appetizer. A great recipe for our Progressive Eats comfort food theme for January!
BARB | Creative Culinary
Well if that isn't a real trip down memory lane. ..I remember Stouffer's!
No way did my mom do that for me but it made an occasional Sunday treat we loved. Yours looks a million times better!
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen
I'm not sure how I have survived without this comfort food delight for my entire life! Time to remedy that!
Daniel V. Hostetle
Love this recipe. Thank you very much for sharing this information. I will have a try to make it. I just a little worry about my weight after eating too much delicious food.
Sarah
I have ever heard about Welsh Rarebit but this is the first time I have seen it. It looks so good. Thanks for sharing the useful tip. I'll try it. I am looking forward to tasting it by myself. It's great!
Jamie
This looks so good! Unfortunately Worcestershire has fish in it. Any vegetarian options?
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I didn't realize that until I just looked it up! I'm so sorry! Here's one option https://www.annies.com/products/condiments-sauces/organic-vegan-worcestershire-sauce or you could make your own with this recipe https://www.marthastewart.com/258132/homemade-vegan-worcestershire-sauce.That umami flavor it imparts is really unique and shouldn't be altogether eliminated, so hopefully one of these options helps!
Jamie
Yes, it's a sneaky one that many people don't realize includes fish. I came across a new seasoning at Trader Joe's which is a mushroom powder that on the label says it imparts an umami flavor (If I remember correctly)...might be just the thing! I'll try it out!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Oh! That might work very well!! I'm adding mushroom powder to all kinds of things right now. I like that idea!
Louise
I came here because I saw it was meant to be a vegetarian recipe, so I'm glad someone else already mentioned this to you. An apternative I use for Worcestershire Sauce that doesn't contain fish is Henderson's Relish, which is vegan.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Yes, I need to change the post to include this. I've used Annie's Worcestershire sauce which is vegan, and it's really good too. I'm glad you left this message to remind me!
Rosemary Tropman
Thank you so much! I was so sad to see that Stouffers discontinued its Welsh rarebit. This recipe is so easy to make and is actually so much better!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thank you so much for leaving this comment! I was sad to see them discontinue it too - it had always been a favorite of mine. I'm so happy it worked so well for you!!
TTee
Do you have a recommended ale/ beer that you use to make this? Just learned Stouffer's "retired" Welsh Rarebit in September 2021 and it is no longer available
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Correct - there is no more Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit, a big mistake in my mind. I use Negro Modelo when I make it, but any amber ale will work very well. Pale ales won't give the flavor quite enough depth, IMHO, and lager will overwhelm. Hope that helps!
Alicia McDonald
SO excited to find this. It is a special treat of my Dad's and he cannot fathom that it is really discontinued.
Questions - do you think it could be frozen so I could make him a bunch of single portions in advance?
THANK you!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I haven't done it, but looking at the recipe, I see no reason why that wouldn't work. I hope he likes it! And I completely agree - I cannot understand why Stouffer's discontinued it!!
Chris B
This is the real deal! Growing up in the Pittsburgh areas, Stouffer’s was an icon, and we used the Welsh Rarebit for cooked broccoli during holidays and Turkey Devonshire’s the rest of the year. Similar to a Kentucky Hot Brown but with red tomatoes. I also worked at a Stouffer’s restaurant when in High School, but the WR came in frozen, so no recipe available to heist!
We finally ran out of my stock of Stouffer’s when I heard they were discontinuing it. Was in panic mode. This recipe saved the day. I used Adams Reserve NY Extra Sharp Cheddar and Frank’s Original instead of sriracha sauce. So very pleased. Thank you so much!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I grew up in the Pittsburgh PA area too, and grew up on Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit. I'm so so happy you liked this copy cat recipe!!
Chris B
This is the real deal! Growing up in the Pittsburgh areas, Stouffer’s was an icon, and we used the Welsh Rarebit for cooked broccoli during holidays and Turkey Devonshire’s the rest of the year. Similar to a Kentucky Hot Brown but with red tomatoes. I also worked at a Stouffer’s restaurant when in High School, but the WR came in frozen, so no recipe available to heist!
We finally ran out of my stock of Stouffer’s when I heard they were discontinuing it. Was in panic mode. This recipe saved the day. I used Adams Reserve NY Extra Sharp Cheddar and Frank’s Original instead of sriracha sauce, and Bell’s Best Brown Ale So very pleased. Thank you so much!
David Barber
Haven't tried the recipe yet (will soon) but this is how I've used the Stouffer's product. Ground beef patty grilled in the iron skillet or gas grill, on a toasted ½ Kaiser roll, thick tomato slice on top, and pour the rarebit over all of that. Eat with a knife and fork for the ultimate cheese burger. The Stouffer's package made enough for my wife and myself to enjoy this meal.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
My husband would LOVE this idea! And so do I. I'll do mine with an Impossible burger, but it should still work great. Thanks for the idea!
Former Stouffer's Server
I have the actual recipe used in Stouffer restaurants for years and years. My Dad worked for the company for decades and was kind enough to provide me with some Stouffer recipes. Since rarebit was served as an appetizer, there is no alcohol. I don't think I can attach it here, but Susan, if you'd like me to send it to you, I'd be happy to do so. Stouffer's twitter account messaged me a recipe that they got from foodnetwork.com. Completely not Stouffer's. If anyone is interested in the recipe, message me at @U_Monkey_U on twitter.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I would love you to send it to me! I'm not at all surprised they didn't use alcohol, LOL. Please send it to [email protected]. Thank you sooooo much!!!!
Robert
I made this for the first time last night. It tasted great, but it was a too thin. More like cheese soup. I even added some extra flour at the end to thicken it up, bit it was still too thin. Any suggestions?
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I've wanted to give this some thought before replying. The thickeners, as you guessed, includes the flour. The egg yolk also acts as a thickener. I'm assuming you used whole milk, but you can try half-and-half. That will definitely make a thicker roux.
The amount of the butter should always be the same as, or pretty close to the amount of milk to create a good roux. Also, if you add additional flour, first make a slurry with the butter. For example, if you add 1 tablespoon of flour, stir it into 1 tablespoon melted butter in a separate small skillet. Cook it for a few minutes to cook the flour, and gradually whisk in 1 cup of the welsh rarebit sauce (in your case, soup). Once it thickens, then stir it back into the sauce.
Other thickeners are corn starch and arrowroot (sold as a spice). But definitely make a slurry with it first, as a little can go a long way and you might end of going from soup to a block of cheese. I hope this helps. I'm sorry this happened!
Robert
By the way, one additional comment...at the top, in the equipment section, it says large skillet. In the instructions section it says heavy saucepan. I wasn't sure which to use or if at some point I was supposed to transfer from a sauce pan to a skillet.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Sorry, that's my bad. I'll correct that to remove any confusion. Thanks for letting me know!
Janice
I had figured they had stopped making the Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit when I couldn't find it in the stores at all, anymore. I tried Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup as a sub; nope! Now I can try again, with this recipe. Our family use was to make Pigs in Blankets, generously topped with the Welsh Rarebit; no need to broil with the Stouffer's sauce. (2 cans Pillsbury-type tubed biscuits, totaling 20, each wrapped around a canned Vienna Sausage, like Libby's or Hormel, or a half-wiener, baked on a cookie sheet in the oven for the length of time it takes biscuits to cook.) In my great cooking wisdom, I always added English dry mustard and Worcestershire sauce to the rarebit! Simple but satisfying main dish for four (non-veg) adults, along with a big green salad.
Susan Pridmore
I grew up on Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit and loved it. I recently got an email from a woman whose family used to work for the Stouffer family and sent me the original recipe. I'm going to be updating this recipe with that or create a second one in this post - one that's mine and one that's the original Stouffer family recipe. I hope very much that you enjoy this recipe, and stay tuned for the real Stouffer's recipe.