Your Grandma Knew: Why Beef Tallow Is Making a Comeback in the Kitchen

For a while, beef tallow was something most people associated with their grandparents’ kitchens.

Now? It’s showing up in cast-iron skillets, crispy potato recipes, restaurant kitchens, and all over social media.

Funny how some things come back around.

We don’t think of tallow as a trend. It’s a traditional cooking fat with a simple purpose, and another way we can make good use of the animals we raise.

So, if you’ve been seeing beef tallow everywhere lately and wondering what all the fuss is about, let’s talk about it.

First Things First: What Is Beef Tallow?

Beef tallow is simply rendered beef fat.

Rendering slowly heats the fat, allowing impurities and moisture to be removed and leaving behind a cooking fat that can be used in many of the same ways you’d use oil, butter, or shortening.

It isn’t a new invention or the latest TikTok discovery. Animal fats have been used in kitchens for generations.

What’s new is the number of people discovering them again.

Why Are People Cooking With Tallow Again?

Part of tallow’s appeal is its simplicity.

Walk through the cooking-oil aisle today, and there are plenty of choices - oils, sprays, blends, and specialty products. Depending on the product, cooking sprays may also contain ingredients beyond the cooking oil itself.

With traditional beef tallow, what you're reaching for is much more straightforward: rendered beef fat.

We like simple.

We also like knowing where our food comes from, how it was produced, and what we're putting in the skillet.

That philosophy is a pretty big part of FarmTable.

What Can You Cook With Beef Tallow?

This is usually the next question we get, and the answer is pretty simple:

A lot.

If you're new to tallow, you don't need to completely change the way you cook. Start by swapping it into something you already make.

Try it for:

• Crispy potatoes – Toss potatoes with melted tallow before roasting or add some to your skillet.
• Steak – Use a little tallow when searing your favorite FarmTable steak in cast iron.
• Roasted vegetables – Melt, toss, and roast.
• Burgers – Add a little to the skillet or griddle before cooking.
• Eggs – Use tallow in place of your usual cooking fat.
• Frying – Tallow works well for higher-heat cooking and frying.
• Cast-iron cooking – Keep some nearby whenever the cast-iron skillet comes out.

And if you want our recommendation for your first experiment?

Make the potatoes.

Crispy, golden potatoes cooked in beef tallow might be all the convincing you need.

Beef Tallow vs. Cooking Spray

This is where we think the conversation sometimes gets unnecessarily complicated.

We're not interested in labeling every cooking spray "bad" or claiming that one cooking fat is automatically the healthiest choice for every person.

We'd rather encourage you to turn the package around and read the ingredient label.

Cooking sprays vary. Some are primarily oil, while others can contain additional ingredients that help the product spray properly.

Beef tallow is different in its simplicity.

And that's really the point.

For us, choosing tallow isn't about chasing another food trend. It's about returning to an ingredient that has been used for generations and understanding exactly what we're cooking with.

It's worth noting that tallow is an animal fat and contains saturated fat. As with any cooking fat, it can be part of the bigger picture of how you choose to cook and eat.

It Also Fits Our "Nothing Goes to Waste" Philosophy

This might be the part that matters most to us.

When you raise an animal for food, there is value beyond the steaks, roasts, and ground beef everyone recognizes.

The fat has value, too.

Rendering beef fat into cooking tallow allows us to turn another part of the animal into something useful rather than letting it go to waste.

That matters when you raise your own animals.

We know the work that goes into caring for them. We know the time involved. We know where they came from.

Using more of the animal is simply part of respecting that process.

Tallow Doesn't Have to Be Complicated

You don't need a special recipe book.

You don't need to become an expert.

And you definitely don't need to throw everything in your pantry away because somebody on TikTok told you to.

Just start small.

The next time you're frying potatoes, roasting vegetables, or searing a steak, reach for a little beef tallow instead of your usual cooking fat.

Taste the difference for yourself.

Maybe Grandma really was onto something.

Ready to Give Beef Tallow a Try?

FarmTable Beef Tallow is an easy way to bring this traditional cooking fat into your own kitchen.

Use it for frying, roasting, searing, potatoes, and plenty of everyday meals.

Simple ingredient. Plenty of possibilities. Straight from our farm to your kitchen.

Shop FarmTable Beef Tallow or Beef Tallow Cubes and see what this old-school kitchen staple can do.