Classic Béarnaise Sauce Recipe - Sauce Fanatic (2024)

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Béarnaise sauceis the perfect way to complement a steak but this recipe can be used in a variety of ways – serve it over steak, vegetables, eggs, or fish!

Jazz up your meal with this tasty béarnaise sauce or our roasted garlic aioli sauce. You’ll never reach for bottled sauce again!

Classic Béarnaise Sauce Recipe - Sauce Fanatic (1)

Table of Contents

  • 1 Béarnaise Sauce Sauce
  • 2 Béarnaise Sauce Ingredients:
  • 3 How to Make Béarnaise Sauce:
  • 4 Tips for Making Béarnaise Sauce:
  • 5 Béarnaise Sauce

Béarnaise Sauce Sauce

Béarnaise sauce is the child of hollandaise sauce and is flavored with tarragon, shallot, garlic, and vinegar. Traditionally, chervil is added but this can be difficult to find so our recipe omits it completely.

If you can find chervil at your market or you wish to order it online, feel free to incorporate it into the recipe.

The best thing about this sauce is it comes together quickly. You can whip it up in just under 10 minutes!

It has a creamier texture than hollandaise sauce and is best served with grilled meat and fish. We love it on asparagus as well!

Once you’ve made béarnaise sauce, you should give beurre blanc sauce a try. It’s similar but made without eggs.

Classic Béarnaise Sauce Recipe - Sauce Fanatic (2)

Béarnaise Sauce Ingredients:

To make this béarnaise sauce recipe, you will need:

  • White Wine Vinegar: Add acidty to the sauce
  • Shallot: They are milder than onion
  • Garlic: Always garlic
  • Tarragon: We use dried tarragon
  • Salt & pepper:Season to taste
  • Egg yolks: They will thicken as they cook making a lusciously creamy sauce
  • Butter: Use unsalted butter that is softened
Classic Béarnaise Sauce Recipe - Sauce Fanatic (3)

How to Make Béarnaise Sauce:

To make this easy béarnaise sauce, simply…

  1. Place all the ingredients, minus the egg yolk and butter in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil and cook until it has reduced to half.
  2. Cook the yolks with butter. Place the egg yolks in a medium heat-proof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water. Whisk in the vinegar reduction and 1 tablespoon of butter. Keep cooking and whisking until the sauce begins to thicken.
  3. Gradually add remaining butter. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of butter at a time and cook for a couple more minutes, until the sauce is thick.
  4. Serve Immediately or let stand an hou: Take it off the heat and serve it with beef, fish, or vegetables.
Classic Béarnaise Sauce Recipe - Sauce Fanatic (4)

Tips for Making Béarnaise Sauce:

Here are some things to remember when making this béarnaise sauce recipe.

  • Don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the simmering water in the pot.
  • Keep whisking when the egg yolks go over the simmering water. Don’t stop whisking.
  • You can use an emulsion blender to make mixing easier!
Classic Béarnaise Sauce Recipe - Sauce Fanatic (5)

Most sauces on our site are naturally gluten-free unless it’s a gravy of some sort. Here are a few more to suit your gluten-free lifestyle.

  • Coconut Cream Sauce
  • Horseradish Sauce
  • Garlic Butter Sauce
  • Creamy Basil Pesto
  • Yum Yum Sauce
  • Peruvian Green Sauce

Béarnaise Sauce

4.34 from 15 votes

Béarnaise sauce is the perfect way to complement a steak but this recipe can be used in a variety of ways – serve it over vegetables, eggs, or fish!

Sauce Fanatic

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 7 minutes minutes

Total Time 12 minutes minutes

Serving Size 12

Ingredients

  • cup white wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped shallot
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
  • ¼ teaspoon dried tarragon crushed
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • teaspoon white pepper
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • ¾ cups unsalted butter cut into thirds, softened

Instructions

  • In a small saucepan, stir the vinegar, shallot, garlic, tarragon, salt, and pepper together. Bring to a boil and let cook for 2 minutes, until reduced by about half.

  • Place egg yolks in a medium-size heatproof bowl. Whisk in the vinegar mixture and 1 piece of the butter.

  • Place the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Cook, stirring rapidly with a whisk until the butter melts and the sauce begins to thicken.

  • Add the remaining butter, one piece at a time, stirring constantlyuntilmelted.

  • Continue to cook for 2 minutes until the sauce is thick and the temperature reaches 160°F.

  • Immediately remove the sauce from the heat and serve over beef, pork, chicken, or vegetables.

Make ahead tip

  • The sauce can be made an hour in advance. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Notes

White pepper: Black pepper will also work.

Makes about 1.5 cups.

Nutrition

Serving: 2tablespoons | Calories: 133kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 128mg | Sodium: 55mg | Potassium: 19mg | Fiber: 0.03g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 486IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 0.3mg

CourseCourse: Dinner

CuisineCuisine: American

Classic Béarnaise Sauce Recipe - Sauce Fanatic (2024)

FAQs

What ingredients are in Béarnaise sauce? ›

Ingredients
  • ¼cup white-wine vinegar.
  • 1small shallot, peeled and minced.
  • ½teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper.
  • 1tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped tarragon leaves.
  • 2egg yolks.
  • 12tablespoons unsalted butter, melted.
  • Kosher salt, to taste.
  • Splash of lemon juice, optional.

What are the key flavor components of a sauce Béarnaise? ›

Irresistibly creamy, buttery, and rich, Béarnaise combines an herby, slightly acidic reduction of white wine, vinegar, shallots, fresh tarragon, and lemon juice with hollandaise to make a luscious sauce for spooning over grilled steak, chicken, fish, or vegetables.

Has Maille stopped making Béarnaise sauce? ›

The Maille bearnaise sauce has been discontinued and this is a brilliant substitute.

What is the difference between Béarnaise sauce and hollandaise sauce? ›

It is regarded as a "child" of hollandaise sauce. The difference is only in the flavoring: béarnaise uses shallot, black pepper, and tarragon, while hollandaise uses white pepper or a pinch of cayenne. The sauce's name derives from the province of Béarn, France.

What is the defining herb in bearnaise sauce? ›

Its yellowy colour mixed with green flecks of fresh tarragon is a certain way to make a good meal better. Made with butter, egg yolks, béarnaise essence, and fresh tarragon leaves, it has all the delicious flavours you expect from this classic French sauce.

What does bearnaise sauce mix taste like? ›

The flavor of bearnaise sauce is hard to describe. It's a little tangy, a little savory, and a little bit sweet—plus it has that unique, unmistakable aroma. Some people say it tastes like a mix between hollandaise and mustard sauces, while others find it difficult to put a finger on the flavor.

What are the 3 basic ingredients in sauces? ›

Sauces are flavorful liquids used to enhance the taste and appearance of other foods. There are three basic kinds of ingredients in most sauces: a liquid, a thickening agent, and other flavoring and seasonings.

What are the 5 components of a sauce? ›

Sauces are the melding of ingredients, including stocks, wine, aromatics, herbs, and dairy, into a harmonious taste.

Which is the principal herb used to flavor a bearnaise sauce? ›

A classic bearnaise sauce is flavoured with a concentrated reduction of white wine vinegar, white wine, eschalots, tarragon, chervil and peppercorns. The eschalots and herbs are finely chopped to extract the maximum flavour during the short cooking time.

What is sauce béarnaise syndrome? ›

sauce béarnaise effect

a colloquial term referring to a conditioned taste aversion. If a person happens to become ill after tasting a new food, such as sauce béarnaise, they may subsequently dislike and avoid that food. Regardless of the actual cause of the illness, the sauce will be identified with it.

How do you stabilize bearnaise sauce? ›

If your béarnaise is thin and runny, transfer to a large bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water. Whisk constantly and vigorously until sauce is thickened.

What makes bearnaise sauce break? ›

A broken sauce is generally caused by the separation of sauces into two components: a watery liquid and an oily film on top. This happens when there's too much fat or liquid in the mixture. This can happen when there are not enough emulsifiers (which help keep your ingredients together).

Does eggs Benedict have hollandaise or bearnaise? ›

Hollandaise is pale yellow, smooth, and creamy. It's often used to to eggs Benedict, asparagus, and fish.

Who invented bearnaise sauce? ›

Béarnaise sauce was invented in the 1830s by Chef Jean-Louis Françoise-Collinet. The recipe is a variation of Hollandaise, one of the five mother sauces of French cuisine.

Which of the following is essential when making bearnaise sauce? ›

To make Béarnaise Sauce, you need: white wine vinegar, white wine, butter (which we clarify – more on this below), egg yolks, tarragon, chervil and eschalots/shallots (the small sweet onions sometimes called French eschalots.)

Can you buy premade bearnaise sauce? ›

Béarnaise Sauce, 6.35 oz at Whole Foods Market.

What are the ingredients in Benedicta bearnaise sauce? ›

INGREDIENTS: Rapeseed oil, water, alcohol vinegar, egg yolks, salt, tarragon (1.5%), shallots (1.5%), chervil, lemon juice from concentrate, cayenne pepper, sugar, natural flavor, modified starch, color: beta-carotene. May contain traces of mustard.

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