Beef tartare (often spelled “beef tar tar”) is a dish of raw beef that has been finely chopped or minced by hand, then seasoned and served uncooked. It typically arrives at the table with a raw egg yolk nestled on top, alongside capers, mustard, shallots, and cornichons (small pickled gherkins). It’s a classic French bistro dish that has been popular in European restaurants since the mid-20th century.
How Beef Tartare Is Made
The defining feature of tartare is that the meat is never cooked. A chef takes a high-quality cut of beef, usually tenderloin, and chops it by hand with a sharp knife into very small pieces. The result looks similar to ground beef, but hand-chopping gives the dish a more distinct, varied texture that most chefs consider superior to machine grinding. Tenderloin is the go-to choice because it’s naturally lean and tender, which means the raw meat isn’t greasy or chewy.
Once chopped, the beef is mixed with a combination of seasonings that can vary by restaurant but almost always includes Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, capers, finely diced shallots or onion, and a splash of something acidic like lemon juice or Tabasco. A raw egg yolk is placed on top and mixed in at the table, acting as a binder that gives the dish a rich, silky quality. It’s usually served with toasted bread or crispy frites on the side.
Where the Name Comes From
In French, “tartare” refers to the Tatar people of Central Asia, a region Europeans historically associated with exotic foods. One import linked to this name was a sharp sauce made with mayonnaise, mustard, and gherkins, perfected by the legendary French chef Auguste Escoffier. Over time, the word “tartare” shifted from describing the sauce to describing the preparation itself: raw meat or fish chopped into a fine hash. You’ll see the same term applied to salmon tartare and tuna tartare.
Interestingly, some early French menus listed the dish as “à l’Américaine” (American-style), based on a popular belief that Americans ate their meat raw. Steak tartare began showing up in French bistros in the late 1800s, became more common in the early 1900s, and hit its stride of true popularity in the 1950s. There’s a persistent claim that the original tartare was made with horse meat rather than beef, though this is likely a myth.
How It Differs From Carpaccio
Tartare and carpaccio are both raw beef dishes, but they look and feel completely different on the plate. Tartare is chopped into tiny pieces resembling minced meat and mixed with seasonings. Carpaccio, by contrast, is sliced paper-thin and laid flat, then drizzled with olive oil and typically topped with shaved Parmesan, arugula, and capers. Carpaccio highlights the clean flavor of a single slice, while tartare is more of a composed, seasoned dish with layered flavors from its various mix-ins.
Nutritional Profile of Raw Beef
Because beef tartare is uncooked, its nutritional profile differs slightly from a grilled steak. Cooking causes moisture loss, which concentrates protein and selenium in the finished product. So gram for gram, a cooked steak actually delivers a bit more protein than the same cut served raw. However, cooking reduces certain water-soluble vitamins and minerals. Raw beef retains more vitamin B12, for example. A study published in the journal Nutrients found that cooked tenderloin lost about 0.6 micrograms of B12 per 100 grams compared to its raw state, and small amounts of iron were also lost during cooking.
In practical terms, the nutritional differences are modest. Both raw and cooked beef are excellent sources of protein, B12, niacin, selenium, and zinc. You’re not gaining or losing a dramatic nutritional advantage by eating tartare versus a cooked steak.
Food Safety Risks
This is the part that matters most if you’re considering ordering or making beef tartare. Raw beef carries a real risk of foodborne illness. The USDA explicitly warns that beef tartare and similar raw ground beef dishes pose a health hazard. Raw ground beef has been linked to several large outbreaks of foodborne illness, and eating it can expose you to E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, and Campylobacter.
The risk is higher with ground or minced beef than with a whole cut like a steak. When beef is ground or chopped, bacteria that were on the surface get mixed throughout the meat. A whole steak seared on the outside kills surface bacteria while leaving the interior safely rare, but that same logic doesn’t apply to tartare, where every piece has been exposed.
That said, the risk level depends heavily on the quality and handling of the meat. Research on retail beef found that most beef samples had very low bacterial counts (below 10 colony-forming units per gram), significantly lower than chicken. Restaurants that serve tartare typically reduce risk by sourcing from trusted suppliers, using whole muscle cuts rather than pre-ground beef, keeping the meat at strict cold temperatures, and preparing it immediately before serving. Hand-chopping a fresh tenderloin in-house is a very different situation from using pre-packaged ground beef from a grocery store.
Who Should Avoid It
Pregnant women, young children, older adults, and anyone with a weakened immune system face higher risks from raw meat consumption. For these groups, the USDA recommends cooking all ground beef to an internal temperature of 160°F, which kills E. coli and other pathogens rapidly. Even for healthy adults, making tartare at home requires careful sourcing: buy the freshest possible whole cut from a reputable butcher, keep it refrigerated until the moment of preparation, and use clean tools throughout.
At a well-run restaurant with experienced chefs and high-quality sourcing, beef tartare is a dish millions of people eat without incident. The risk is never zero with any raw animal product, but understanding where that risk comes from helps you make an informed choice about whether to try it.