What Is Suet? Beef vs Vegetable Suet Explained
What is suet? Suet is the raw, hard fat from around the kidneys and loins of cattle, lamb or mutton. It's a traditional British cooking fat used in dumplings, suet pastry, steamed puddings, Christmas pudding and mincemeat. The suet sold in supermarkets is shredded and mixed with flour, and a vegetable suet made from vegetable oils is also available.
At a glance
- Kidney fatsuet comes from around the kidneys and loins
- 45–50°Cthe melting point of suet, according to Wikipedia
- 1893the year Atora launched ready-shredded suet
- 10.7gcarbs per 100g in Atora's flour-coated beef suet
On this page
It turns up in Christmas pudding, mincemeat, dumplings and jam roly-poly, but what is suet, exactly? This guide explains where suet comes from, why the packet kind is coated in flour, how vegetable suet differs, and how suet compares with lard, tallow and dripping. We've also set out the carbs in suet and suet dishes, using UK food data and pack labels, plus a few ideas if you're cutting carbs. If you're baking for Christmas, our guide to what a mince pie is explains where suet fits into mincemeat.
What is suet?
Wikipedia defines suet as the raw, hard fat of beef, lamb or mutton found around the loins and kidneys. BBC Food calls it a speciality of England, prized for giving food a distinctive lightness and a rich but unobtrusive flavour. It was widely used until the mid-20th century and is less popular now.
Suet is firmer than most cooking fats. Wikipedia gives its melting point as between 45 and 50°C, and says it sets again between 37 and 40°C.
The word comes from Anglo-Norman siuet, from Old French sieu and ultimately from the Latin sebum, meaning tallow, grease or hard animal fat, according to Wikipedia.
Shredded suet: why it's coated in flour
Fresh suet is rarely sold in its natural form. BBC Food says that in supermarkets it's mixed with flour and sold in cream-coloured blocks, and it advises grating suet coarsely before use. Wikipedia explains that the flour keeps packaged suet stable at room temperature, so take care if an old recipe calls for fresh suet, as the proportions of fat and flour can change.
The best-known brand is Atora. Wikipedia says the first pre-shredded suet became available in 1893, the idea of Gabriel Hugon, a Frenchman living in Manchester, who saw his wife struggling to cut blocks of suet. He named it Atora after toro, the Spanish word for bull.
Atora's product page lists the ingredients of its original shredded beef suet as beef fat (85%) and wheat flour, with added calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin.
If a recipe was written for fresh suet, packet suet isn't a straight swap by weight, because part of every packet is flour. Wikipedia notes that most modern recipes are written for packaged suet.
What is vegetable suet?
Vegetable suet is made from vegetable oil rather than animal fat, so it suits people who don't eat meat. Atora's Shredded Suet Vegetable lists vegetable oils (85%), from palm and sunflower, plus wheat flour, and the pack says it's suitable for vegetarians.
BBC Food mentions a vegetarian suet made from palm oil and rice flour, and says it gives slightly different results from beef suet. As brands differ, check the ingredient list on the pack you buy.
| Beef suet | Vegetable suet | |
|---|---|---|
| Fat used | Beef fat (85%) | Palm and sunflower oils (85%) |
| Coating | Wheat flour | Wheat flour |
| Vegetarian | No | Yes |
| Fat per 100g | 85.2g | 85.1g |
| Carbs per 100g | 10.7g | 10.6g |
Atora Original Beef Suet and Atora Shredded Suet Vegetable, from the Atora product pages. Recipes can change, so check the pack.
What is suet used for?
Suet is mainly a baking and pudding fat. Wikipedia says pastry made with suet is soft, in contrast to the crispness of shortcrust, which suits certain sweet and savoury dishes. BBC Food and Wikipedia list these classic uses:
- Dumplings. Suet, flour and water rolled into balls and added to a stew for about the last 20 minutes of cooking.
- Suet pastry. Used to line a basin for steak and kidney pudding, which Wikipedia says is steamed for about four hours.
- Sweet puddings. Spotted dick, jam roly-poly, Sussex pond pudding and clootie dumpling. Wikipedia says the first printed recipe for a rolled suet pudding with jam appeared in Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery for Private Families in 1845.
- Christmas pudding and mincemeat. Both traditionally use suet. Read more in our guide to what figgy pudding is.
- Haggis. BBC Food includes it among the dishes made with suet.
- Tallow. Wikipedia says the main use of suet is in making tallow, by melting it and simmering it, then straining and cooling it.
Suet is also popular as bird food. Wikipedia says suet cakes for wild birds may also be made with other solid fats, such as lard, and often include oats, seed, raisins and unsalted nuts.
Suet vs lard, tallow and dripping
These four fats are easy to mix up. Here's how they differ, based on Wikipedia and BBC Food.
| Fat | What it is |
|---|---|
| Suet | Raw, hard fat from around the kidneys and loins of cattle, lamb or mutton |
| Tallow | Suet that has been rendered (melted, simmered and strained) |
| Dripping | The British name for rendered beef fat |
| Lard | White pork fat that has been rendered and clarified |
Suet, tallow and dripping from Wikipedia's Suet and Tallow entries; lard from BBC Food.
So suet is the raw fat, and tallow and dripping are what you get once it's been melted down. Lard comes from pigs instead. BBC Food says lard is still used for slow cooking and deep-frying and is said to make the best crisp, flaky pastry.
How to store suet
Storage depends on which kind you buy. BBC Food says fresh suet should be kept in the fridge and used within a few days of purchase, and Wikipedia compares it with raw meat in this respect.
Packet suet keeps for longer. Atora's pack instructions say to store it somewhere cool and dry, ideally in the fridge, to keep it away from direct sunlight so it doesn't melt, and, once opened, to keep it refrigerated and throw it away after 4 weeks. Always follow the instructions and best before date on your pack.
Carbs in suet and suet dishes
Suet itself is almost all fat. The carbs in packet suet come from its flour coating, and suet dishes get most of theirs from the flour, breadcrumbs, sugar or dried fruit they're made with. These figures are per 100g:
| Food (source) | Fat | Carbs |
|---|---|---|
| Suet, raw (USDA, via Wikipedia) | 94g | 0g |
| Atora beef suet (label) | 85.2g | 10.7g |
| Atora vegetable suet (label) | 85.1g | 10.6g |
| Suet, shredded (CoFID 17-011) | 86.7g | 12.1g |
| Dripping, beef (CoFID 17-487) | 99.0g | Trace |
| Lard (CoFID 17-010) | 99.0g | 0g |
| Dumplings, homemade (CoFID 11-962) | 11.7g | 25.4g |
| Suet pudding, homemade (CoFID 11-1124) | 17.6g | 46.4g |
Per 100g. Sources: CoFID 2021, Atora product pages and Wikipedia's Suet entry (USDA FoodData Central).
To see where the carbs come from, take the dumpling recipe in Atora's product description on Asda's website: 100g self-raising flour and 60g suet, shaped into 8 dumplings. Using CoFID's figure for self-raising flour (79.6g carbs per 100g, code 11-888) and Atora's label, the flour brings about 80g of carbs and the suet about 6g. That works out at roughly 11g of carbs per dumpling, by our calculation, before you add the stew.
Swaps if you're cutting carbs
In most suet recipes the flour provides most of the carbs, so the swap that matters most is usually the flour, not the fat. Wikipedia says modern suet pudding recipes may use butter or vegetable shortening in place of suet. Our guide to whether butter is keto sets out its carbs.
- Mincemeat. Our keto mincemeat recipe uses butter instead of suet and is sweetened with our brown erythritol and stevia blend.
- Pastry. Our keto pastry guide swaps wheat flour for ground almonds, rubs in cold butter and binds the dough with egg, psyllium husk powder and xanthan gum.
- Christmas pudding. Our keto Christmas pudding uses melted butter as its fat, with ground almonds, oat fibre and psyllium husk in place of flour and breadcrumbs.
These are the Groovy Keto products those recipes use:
Product details are as shown on each product page. Free delivery on orders over £30. Last order date for Christmas delivery: 18 December 2026.
Atora's beef and vegetable suets both contain wheat flour, which the packs list as an allergen in bold. Beef suet isn't suitable for vegetarians. Our keto mincemeat contains nuts and milk (butter), plus brandy unless you use the tea version. Our keto Christmas pudding contains nuts, eggs, milk and brandy. Always check the full recipe or the pack.
Frequently asked questions
What is suet made of?
Fresh suet is the raw, hard fat from around the kidneys and loins of cattle, lamb or mutton. Shop-bought shredded suet is mostly that fat mixed with flour: Atora's original beef suet lists beef fat (85%) and wheat flour. Vegetable suet swaps the beef fat for vegetable oils, such as palm and sunflower.
Is suet vegetarian?
Traditional suet isn't, because it's animal fat from cattle or sheep. Wikipedia says modern mincemeat recipes often replace the suet with vegetable shortening or other oils. Vegetable suet is another option: Atora's Shredded Suet Vegetable is made with palm and sunflower oils and wheat flour, and the pack says it's suitable for vegetarians. Always check the label.
Is suet the same as lard?
No. Suet is the raw, hard fat from around the kidneys of cattle or sheep, while BBC Food describes lard as white pork fat that has been rendered and clarified. When suet itself is melted down and strained, it becomes tallow, and Wikipedia says rendered beef fat is called dripping in Britain.
What can I use instead of suet?
Vegetable suet is the closest swap and is used in the same way. Wikipedia says modern suet pudding recipes may use butter or vegetable shortening instead, and some spotted dick recipes use butter. Our keto mincemeat uses butter rather than suet. Results differ a little, because each fat melts and behaves in its own way.
Is suet keto?
Fresh suet is almost all fat: the USDA figures shown on Wikipedia list 94g fat and 0g carbohydrate per 100g. Packet suet is different because of its flour coating, and Atora's beef suet lists 10.7g carbohydrate per 100g. In most suet dishes the wheat flour, not the suet, provides most of the carbs.
Sources
- Wikipedia. Suet (definition, melting point, etymology, uses, tallow, packaged and vegetable suet, storage, bird feed, nutrition per 100g from USDA FoodData Central). Checked 4 November 2026.
- Wikipedia. Atora (1893, Gabriel Hugon, the name) and Tallow (rendered suet, dripping). Checked 4 November 2026.
- Wikipedia. Suet pudding, Spotted dick and Jam roly-poly (dishes, Eliza Acton 1845, butter and shortening swaps). Checked 4 November 2026.
- BBC Food. Suet (description, buyer's guide, storage, uses) and Lard (definition, uses). Checked 4 November 2026.
- Wikipedia. Mincemeat (suet in mincemeat and modern replacements). Checked 4 November 2026.
- Atora (Premier Foods). Atora Original Beef Suet and Atora Shredded Suet Vegetable (ingredients, allergens, storage, nutrition per 100g). Checked 4 November 2026.
- Asda. Atora The Original Shredded Beef Suet 200g (dumpling recipe in the product description). Checked 4 November 2026.
- Public Health England / Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Composition of foods integrated dataset (CoFID) 2021 (codes 17-011, 17-487, 17-010, 11-962, 11-1124 and 11-888). Checked 4 November 2026.
- Groovy Keto product pages: Psyllium Husk Powder, Xanthan Gum and Brown Erythritol & Stevia Blend (ingredients and pack sizes). Checked 4 November 2026.
