Fan-Tested Hairy Bikers Recipes
These Hairy Bikers Italian meatballs in tomato sauce come from the Hairy Dieters and land at just 282 calories per serving. The recipe makes 24 small balls in a chunky red wine tomato sauce, and it feeds 4 without tasting like diet food. Grated carrot in the mince is the detail that separates this from …
Hairy Bikers spaghetti and meatballs from Everyday Winners uses pork mince with pine nuts and lemon zest, which gives each ball a crunch and freshness most recipes miss. The meatballs bake while the tomato sauce simmers, so everything comes together in about an hour and serves 4 at around 680 calories. Most spaghetti and meatball …
This Hairy Bikers pease pudding from Meat Feasts uses the traditional muslin method where blitzed split peas get wrapped and simmered in stock for over an hour. It serves 6 at around 250 calories with butter, nutmeg, and a beaten egg folded through before the cloth goes on. The headnote says “split peas and bacon …
Gammon steaks take six minutes in a frying pan and the parsley sauce barely takes longer, so this is one of the quickest dinners in Meat Feasts. The recipe serves 4 at around 550 calories with 200g steaks, and the headnote says to “forget your pineapple rings” because the sauce is all you need. The …
Cola tenderises gammon in a way that water never will, because the sugar breaks the fibres down over a slow cook until the meat nearly falls apart. This Hairy Bikers gammon in coke uses that trick with the boil-then-glaze technique from British Classics, and it serves 8 at around 430 calories. No gammon in coke …
This Hairy Bikers gammon ham recipe from British Classics simmers a 2.5kg joint for two and a half hours before glazing it with bourbon and cherry conserve. It serves 8 at around 420 calories per slice, and the whole thing takes about three and a half hours. The headnote says this was “a Christmas essential …
This Hairy Bikers black forest trifle from British Classics layers homemade chocolate custard over Kirsch-soaked brownies, black cherries, and amaretti biscuits. It serves 8 at around 1,060 calories and takes about two hours including the chill, with no baking at all. The headnote says “chocolate custard, cake and booze, what’s not to like?” and the …
This Hairy Bikers black forest gateau from the Big Book of Baking was baked in the actual Black Forest at sunset during their trip across Germany. It serves 12 at around 640 calories per slice, with a food processor sponge and four layers of morello cherry jam, Kirsch, and whipped cream. The headnote says it …
This Hairy Bikers spinach and ricotta lasagne from One Pot Wonders is an assembly job that takes under an hour at around 900 calories per serving. Frozen spinach, precooked sheets, and jarred passata do most of the work, so there is almost no cooking before the dish goes in the oven. The headnote calls it …
This Hairy Bikers leek lasagne from the Hairy Dieters swaps every pasta sheet for blanched leek leaves at 354 calories per serving. The ragù still has red wine, mushrooms, and a cornflour white sauce though, so nothing about it tastes like diet food. The headnote says this “fools your eyes as well as your belly” …