Black Pudding Recipe

This Black Pudding Recipe is made from ingredients that are easy to source anywhere in the world. In no time you can make your own. This is an all beef Black Pudding using beef fat and veal liver as the primary ingredients. It is paler in color, can be air fried as well as pan fried, and can be served in many dishes in addition to a ‘fry up!’

Black Pudding Recipes are available everywhere on the internet, but unfortunately the ingredients are difficult to find. So I formulated this recipe made with easily accessible ingredients. My goal with this recipe was to make a Black Pudding Clonakilty style. Clonakilty is the brand of a very popular Black Pudding in Ireland, named after the scenic town of Clonakilty, in West Cork, Ireland. There’s a lovely story about how it came to exist. Just like any sought after dish, the ingredients must be disclosed but not the secret spice mix.

What is Black Pudding?

Does this recipe for Black Pudding have anything to do with ‘Black Pudding 5e?’ Nope, this is not related to the Black Pudding monster in the popular Dungeon and Dragon games!

Black Pudding is a sausage made from animal products, flavorings and a binder.

Typically, dried blood, usually cow’s blood is the main animal product needed for Black Pudding. Some recipes also use fresh blood. Dried and fresh blood are extremely difficult to purchase in the U.S. and other parts of the world. An occasional butcher might be happy to procure some for you.

The other animal product needed is fat. Fat provides flavor and moisture. Preferred choices include back fat, or beef suet.

Flavorings are usually herbs and spices. The most commonly used are mace, coriander, cumin, ginger, allspice, and sage, to name a few, along with salt and pepper.

To hold the sausage together, a binder is added. Binders also absorb the fat and retain the moisture the fat provides. Do not skip adding a binder, the fat will run out and the Black Pudding will be dry as a result. Popular binders include pearl barley, oats, groats, breadcrumbs and rusk.

Due to the presence of blood, Black Pudding is oftentimes referred to as blood pudding, black blood pudding, liver pudding (which is technically what this recipe is), and liver pudding sausage.

The casing is only used to hold the sausage together during its production, it is not for consumption. The casing (skin) can be removed before frying Black Pudding, or before eating – as some people like to keep it on during frying as it helps maintain the shape and form of the sausage slice during cooking.

What is the difference between Black and White Pudding?

Good question – Black Pudding contains animal blood, whereas white pudding does not. White pudding usually includes pork fat along with a binder and spices. Some white pudding recipes include pig’s liver.

Where does Black Pudding Come From?

Black Pudding seems to have originated around Ireland, Scotland and the rest of the U.K. centuries ago, during a time when ALL of a slaughtered animal would have been used. That included the animal’s blood.

Every region has a slightly different version and history of Black Pudding. The two primary regions for Black Pudding production are Ireland and Scotland.

Black Pudding, Irish style was traditionally made with beef blood, oats, and suet. Even in a small country like Ireland, this Irish Pudding would differ in texture and flavor from butcher to butcher.

Scottish Black Pudding would be similar to the Irish version, but it might also contain sheep’s lungs ground up into the mixture. Black Pudding containing sheep’s lungs is banned from being imported into the U.S. and other countries.

Blood sausage variations are visible in other European countries such as Spain (called Morcilla made with pig’s blood, rice, fat, and spices), France (called Boudin Noir made with pork blood, breadcrumbs, spices and in some recipes apples and fried tomatoes are added), and Germany (Blutwurst, contains beef blood, pork meat and possibly other parts of the cow or pig, mixed with spices and oatmeal. It can be served as a cold cut or pan fried.)

Is Black Pudding Good For You?

Black Pudding was hailed as a ‘superfood’ along with kale, broccoli and spinach by Muscle Foods back in 2016. This claims lacked scientific testing and was used merely as a marketing campaign for Black Pudding. That doesn’t mean that Black Pudding does not offer nutritional goodness.

The question most often asked about its nutritional value is – is Black Pudding good for iron? Due to the presence of blood, yes it is an iron rich food. It also contains zinc, vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E and K. It may also include Folate, Riboflavin, Niacin, Choline and even Betaine. These vitamins improve your overall health and energy.

On the downside, Black Pudding is high in saturated fat. I am not a nutritionist, but there seems to be more evidence pointing us in the direction that animal fat, in moderation, is required for our bodies.

Only a general idea of nutritional value can be given as Black Pudding producers and individual butcher shops all use their own unique recipes.

Scroll below to the recipe card to see the nutritional value for this particular Black Pudding Recipe.

Depending on the binder used, Black Pudding might be gluten free. This Black Pudding Recipe is gluten free, using steel cut oats as the binder.

Is Black Pudding keto? Yes, it is keto. Black Pudding is high in fat and low in carbs.

What Is This Black Pudding Made Of?

As mentioned above, Black Pudding is a sausage made from animal products, flavorings and a binder.

Typically Black Pudding is made of blood, either dried or fresh. As mentioned previously, this can be difficult to source. I chose to make this Irish Pudding with liver instead, liver being a close substitute to blood. Veal liver was my preference as I am not a fan of liver. It is also milder in flavor and creamier in texture. The veal liver affected the color of the final result, making it paler in comparison to a typical Black Pudding. For a darker looking Pudding with a more robust flavor, use ox or beef liver.

For the fat content, I used the fat cap I trimmed off from the side of a beef brisket. It was hard saturated fat.

My goal with this Recipe was to reproduce a Clonakilty Black Pudding. They use all beef products (hence the use of veal liver and beef brisket fat in this recipe.) I also include steel cut oats and onions as they do. Their spice blend is a secret but from what I taste, I suspect they are using mace and allspice to flavor their Black Pudding, so those two spices are included along with seasoning.

Here’s a Closer Look What’s in this Irish Black Pudding?

Let’s have a look at the ingredients:

• Liver: I chose veal liver for its mild flavor, or use ox or beef livers. Ox and beef livers will give a darker (almost black) blood pudding. The flavor will be much more intense. Black pudding can also use deer liver or liver from other larger game animals. Using pork liver (and fat) are base ingredients for white pudding.
• Fat: this needs to be a hard, saturated animal fat. Suet works best. I used fat trimmed off a beef brisket.
• Onion: fresh, yellow, white or sweet. At a pinch use 4 tbsp of dried onion.
• Oats: steel cut Irish oats. Rolled oats (uncooked), rusk and breadcrumbs are alternative binders. Use the same quantity as the steel cut Irish oats.
• Spices and seasoning: mace, allspice, salt and pepper. These are some of the more traditional flavors added.
  • Mace is the outer layer that surrounds a nutmeg seed. I used dried mace. Mace has a similar flavor profile to nutmeg, but it is more delicate in flavor. It’s great for adding to this Black Pudding Recipe but if mace is difficult to come by, use whole nutmeg and grate off 1 level tbsp.
  • Allspice is not ‘all spice’ as in a spice mix but rather it is the dried unripe berry from the Pimenta Dioica plant.  Sometimes referred to as Jamaican pepper, it looks like large (larger than black peppercorns) brown peppercorns. It has a slightly bitter and fruity flavor.
  • Salt: I used course Celtic salt crystals. I choose this type of salt when I am grinding up herbs and spices in a spice grinder. The salt helps pulverize them. You can also use regular table salt.
  • Black Pepper: again I’m using whole peppercorns which will assist the salt in pulverizing the mace and allspice. Ground pepper will also work.

Prior To Making This Black Pudding Recipe

We need to have sausage casing, the Black Pudding needs to be encased. There’s no way around this, because it is simmered for a prolonged period in water. Forming a sausage and wrapping it several times in plastic film will not work, believe me I have tried!

Casing provides a waterproof environment for the sausage to gently cook in the water. I used fibrous casings I got from Amazon. One casing ended up being less than $1. You will be directed to the Amazon website by clicking on the image below. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Before committing to making up to 3lbs of Black Pudding, you need to ensure you have a pot wide enough to cook it in. You can also make shorter sausages to fit whatever pot size you have readily available.

Instructions How to Make Black Pudding

Preparing the Sausage Mixture

Stuffing and Cooking the Black Pudding Sausage

Cooking Black Pudding Blood Sausage

Stovetop with a Fry Pan

Slice off the number of pieces of Black Pudding you want. Remove the casing. Pre heat about a teaspoon of high temperature oil in a frying pan over a medium / high heat. When the oil is warm / hot, place the pieces carefully into the oiled pan. Cook on one side for about 3-4 minutes, then flip. Cook the other side for the same number of minutes, then serve and eat.

In the Air Fryer

How long should Black Pudding cook in the air fryer? First, slice the number of pieces you want / will fit in your air fryer. No need to preheat the fryer. Air fry at 400 degrees F. / 205 degrees C. for 6-8 minutes total. Depending on your air fryer you might have to flip the Black Pudding half way through the cooking time. I didn’t need to do this as the air circulates around the food. This makes it so easy, the air fryer is my preferred method when cooking Black Pudding.

So when is Black Pudding cooked? Once it has completed its time simmering in the water. Veal liver must reach a temperature of 160 degrees F. / 71 degrees C. in order to cook it. Fry Black Pudding before consumption. Frying develops the flavor and makes it more attractive and enjoyable. The Maillard Reaction occurs, giving the Black Pudding a distinct savory flavor.

Recipes with Black Pudding

The most common place Black Pudding will turn up is in an Ulster Fry. But Black Pudding has become an integral ingredient in other recipes over the past number of years. Slice already cooked Black Pudding, remove the casing and:

• add to cooked pasta: fry (or air fry) the Black Pudding with your choice of vegetables such as onions, peppers, and garlic. When the Black Pudding and vegetables have finished cooking, break up the Pudding and add it along with the vegetables to cooked pasta, toss together and serve.
• turn it into BBQ Black Pudding by grilling it and brushing it with your favorite BBQ sauce.
• make it a Black Pudding burger, sub the beef patty with Black Pudding or add Black Pudding as another layer of savoriness to your burger. Black Pudding also works well served in sliders!
• break up fried Black Pudding into small pieces, add to leftover mashed potatoes, an egg and some parsley, and turn these ingredients into delicious Black Pudding croquettes.
• form mini (or maxi) balls before frying. Once fried, these little meatballs are added to red sauce and pasta, or gravy and mashed potatoes or used as a pizza topping.
• fry Black Pudding, then break it into small pieces and add to a risotto recipe.
• use it as the sausage component when making sausage rolls.
• add crumbled Black Pudding pieces to stews, and scrambled eggs, and use it too, to garnish Champ.

Storing Black Pudding Sausage

Freezing Black Pudding is not only doable but expected due to the large amount typically made at one time. Store whole or partial pieces of the sausage in a ziploc bag with excess air pushed out. Freeze Black Pudding for up to 4 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and slice and fry Black Pudding pieces as desired.

Can I cook Black Pudding from frozen? Meat (Black Pudding comes into this category) can be cooked from frozen, although it will take longer to do so, according to the USDA,

A Tip From Me

When trimming away unwanted fat from uncooked prime rib roast or brisket or similar cut of beef, consider saving any pieces of hard saturated fat. Discard any silver skin. Store this fat in a freezer bag for up to 4 months. Use this fat for Black Pudding and sausages.

Got Questions?

I’ve got answers – hopefully!