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Halal-conscious recipe

Halal Scotch eggs

Soft-boiled eggs wrapped in herby Halal beef or chicken sausagemeat instead of pork, crumbed and fried, with Halal beef bacon or none in place of streaky bacon.

  • Cuisine British
  • Meal Snack
  • Difficulty Advanced
  • Yield 9 Scotch eggs
  • Time 5h 50m
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
A Scotch egg cut in half on a mustard sauce
Photograph from our ingredient library: a Scotch egg, not the finished dish.

Photo: SodanieChea · CC BY 2.0

Why Halal checks matter here

Scotch eggs are made with pork sausagemeat, BBC Good Food's version also wraps each egg in smoked streaky bacon, and the Worcestershire sauce needs a look at the bottle.

A Scotch egg is a boiled egg wrapped in seasoned sausagemeat, crumbed and fried. The sausagemeat is normally pork: BBC Good Food's recipe uses Cumberland or Lincolnshire sausages and also wraps each egg in a rasher of smoked streaky bacon before the meat goes on.

This version uses Halal beef or chicken sausages, skinned, so only the meat inside matters (see sausage), and leaves the bacon out or uses Halal beef bacon. The parsley, mustard and mace keep the classic flavour. Read the label on your Worcestershire sauce, since bottles differ by country.

Five minutes of boiling keeps the yolks soft, and the four hours in the fridge firm the coating so it holds in the oil. Keep the oil steady: too hot and the crumb browns before the meat is cooked through.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Sausages The original uses Cumberland or Lincolnshire sausages, which are pork. Use Halal-certified beef or chicken sausages. See Sausage.
  • Smoked streaky bacon It is pork, wrapped round every egg in the original. Leave it out, or use Halal beef bacon. See Bacon.
  • Worcestershire sauce Bottles differ by country, and the label can't say where the natural flavourings come from. Read your bottle, or buy one with a Halal mark. See Worcestershire sauce.

Safe substitutes

  • Pork sausages → Halal-certified beef or chicken sausages
  • Smoked streaky bacon → Nothing, or Halal beef bacon

Allergens

egg, gluten (flour, breadcrumbs, sausages), mustard, fish (Worcestershire sauce)

Ingredients

Eggs and sausagemeat

  • 12 large eggs (9 to boil, 1 for the meat, 2 for coating)
  • 800 g (1 lb 12 oz) Halal beef or chicken sausages, skinned, in place of pork sausages
  • 5 tbsp curly parsley, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce you have checked
  • 2 tsp English mustard powder
  • 2 tsp ground mace
  • 12 rashers optional Halal beef bacon, in place of the smoked streaky bacon

Coating and frying

  • 85 g (⅔ cup) plain flour
  • 140–200 g (5–7 oz) dried breadcrumbs
  • about 1 litre (about 1¾ pints) sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying

Method

  1. Boil the eggs. Put 9 eggs in a large pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, cook for 5 minutes, then lift them into a big bowl of cold water.
  2. Mix the sausagemeat. Mix the Halal sausagemeat with the parsley, Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder, mace and plenty of seasoning, then break in 1 egg and mix well. Beat the last 2 eggs and sieve onto a plate; put the seasoned flour and the breadcrumbs on two more plates.
  3. Peel and wrap. Peel the cooled eggs, holding them over the bowl of water so the shell rinses off. If using Halal beef bacon, blanch it briefly in boiling water and wrap a rasher around the middle of each egg; the original uses smoked streaky bacon here.
  4. Coat. Roll each egg in flour. Pat a good chunk of sausagemeat thinly over one hand, sit the egg on it and mould the meat round it evenly, patching any gaps. Dip in beaten egg, roll in breadcrumbs and set on a lined tray. Cover and chill for 4 hours or overnight.
  5. Fry. Heat oil about 4 cm deep in a large, deep pan until a cube of bread browns in about a minute. Fry 2 or 3 eggs at a time for about 5 minutes, turning gently, until evenly browned and the meat is cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper. Eat warm or cold within 24 hours.

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Scotch eggs' (9 eggs boiled 5 minutes and cooled; 800 g Cumberland or Lincolnshire sausagemeat mixed with parsley, Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder, mace and an egg; each egg wrapped in a blanched rasher of smoked streaky bacon, floured, coated in sausagemeat, egg and breadcrumbs, chilled 4 hours, then fried about 5 minutes in sunflower or vegetable oil). We replaced the sausages with Halal beef or chicken sausagemeat and the bacon with Halal beef bacon or none. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Scotch eggs — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    Makes 9: 12 large eggs, 800 g Cumberland or Lincolnshire sausages, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder, mace, 12 rashers smoked streaky bacon, 85 g flour, 140–200 g breadcrumbs, about 1 litre oil; chilled 4 hours, fried about 5 minutes each. We replaced the sausages and bacon.

  2. Sausage analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    Meat, casing and additive checks for sausages.

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