Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce Recipe (2024)

  • Western European
  • French

This elegant sauce for steaks and fish can be made in five minutes.

By

J. Kenji López-Alt

Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce Recipe (1)

J. Kenji López-Alt

Culinary Consultant

Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.

Learn about Serious Eats'Editorial Process

Updated September 15, 2022

In This Recipe

  • What Is Béarnaise?

  • The Key to Making a Foolproof Béarnaise

Why It Works

  • Blending hot butter into the vinegar and egg yolk mixture instead of whisking it over a double boiler makes for a foolproof and stable emulsion every time.
  • Using a tall container that barely fits the head of a hand blender creates a strong vortex that leads to a strong, stable emulsion.

For my money, the very best classic steak sauce you can make at home, a sauce that will wow your guests with its flavor and elegance, and—most importantly—a sauce that can be made start to finish in under half an hour, is béarnaise.

Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce Recipe (2)

Classic French steak sauces likeespagnoleor its derivatives,bordelaiseor Robert, for instance, require intensely rich, gelatin-packeddemi-glace. Those sauces are multi-day affairs that nobody but the most ambitious home cooks will even attempt.Compound buttersflavored with herbs and aromatics are a great option for a home-cooked steak, as is a simplepan sauce, but they're lacking in class and panache. That's where béarnaise comes in. It's as classy as sauces come, it requires nothing that you can't find at your average supermarket, and it's quick to make.

What Is Béarnaise?

Béarnaise is a fat-in-water emulsion—in this case, butter emulsified into a reduction of white wine and vinegar flavored with shallots, tarragon, and chervil, all bound and thickened with egg yolks.It's technically a derivative of hollandaise sauce, one of the five French mother sauces. And just like with hollandaise, the ways to mess it up are plentiful. Traditionally, you'd make béarnaise over a double boiler, slowly drizzling in clarified butter while whisking egg yolks until a thick emulsion is formed. Add the fat too fast and you break your emulsion. Heat it up too much and it turns into scrambled eggs. Don't heat it enough and you'll have a thin, wet sauce instead of a rich, meat-coating sauce.

The Key to Making a Foolproof Béarnaise

Fortunately, we can use the exact same technique we use to make foolproof hollandaise and mayonnaise to make a foolproof béarnaise. The key is to completely forgo the double boiler, instead heating up the butter and using its residual heat to cook the egg yolks. By placing the yolks and the wine reduction in the bottom of a tall container that just barely fits the head of a hand blender, we can create a strong vortex that then pulls hot butter down towards the blades of the hand blender, creating a strong, stable emulsion. Check out our foolproof hollandaise video to learn more about the science behind this technique.

Stir in some chopped tarragon and chervil (I sometimes also add a few tablespoons of minced chives), and you're ready to serve. Steak never had it so good.

April 2015

Recipe Details

Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce Recipe

Cook30 mins

Active15 mins

Total30 mins

Serves14 servings

Makes1 3/4 cups

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup dry white wine

  • 1/4 cup white wine vinegar

  • 3 sprigs chervil, leaves finely minced, stems reserved separately (optional; if not using add an extra sprig of tarragon)

  • 3 sprigs tarragon, leaves finely minced, stems reserved separately

  • 1 small shallot, roughly chopped

  • 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

  • 2 egg yolks

  • Kosher salt

  • 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter

Directions

  1. Combine wine, vinegar, herb stems, shallots, and black peppercorns in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and lower heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until reduced to about 1 1/2 tablespoons of liquid, about 15 minutes. Carefully strain liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.

    Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce Recipe (3)

  2. Combine wine reduction, egg yolk, and a pinch of salt in the bottom of a cup that barely fits the head of an immersion blender. Melt butter in a small saucepan over high heat, swirling constantly, until foaming subsides. Transfer butter to a 1-cup liquid measuring cup.

    Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce Recipe (4)

  3. Place head of immersion blender into the bottom of the cup with the wine reduction and turn it on. With the blender constantly running, slowly pour hot butter into cup. It should emulsify with the egg yolk and wine reduction. Continue pouring until all butter is added. Sauce should be thick and creamy (see notes). Season to taste with salt. Whisk in chopped tarragon and chervil, if using. Serve immediately, or transfer to a small lidded pot and keep in a warm place for up to 1 hour before serving. Béarnaise cannot be cooled and reheated.

    Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce Recipe (5)

Special Equipment

Immersion blender, tall container that fits blender head, small saucepan, fine mesh strainer, small lidded pot (optional)

Notes

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.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
109Calories
11g Fat
1g Carbs
1g Protein

×

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 14
Amount per serving
Calories109
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11g14%
Saturated Fat 6g32%
Cholesterol 66mg22%
Sodium 58mg3%
Total Carbohydrate 1g0%
Dietary Fiber 0g1%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 0mg2%
Calcium 15mg1%
Iron 0mg2%
Potassium 40mg1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the main ingredients in bearnaise 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 is the difference between bearnaise 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.

How to make bearnaise sauce thicker? ›

Notes. 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.

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

Béarnaise instead relies on punchy white wine vinegar, sometimes in concert with fresh lemon. The second major difference is that béarnaise sauce is flavored with sautéed shallots, black pepper, and licorice-like tarragon, occasionally among other fresh herbs.

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.)

Why is my bearnaise sauce runny? ›

If the sauce won't thicken and is too thin. Either you have added too much reduction to your eggs or you have added the melted butter too fast. Remove all but 1 tbsp of the sauce from the bowl. Add tsp of the lemon juice or vinegar reduction and whisk in over heat.

What do you eat bearnaise sauce with? ›

Cod pairs wonderfully with the classic Béarnaise sauce. Most people associate this sauce with steak, but I feel it works better with the tender delicacy of poached white fish. Clarify 300g of cubed butter by melting it over a low heat.

What is the thickening agent used for a hollandaise bearnaise sauce? ›

Egg yolks: Egg yolks can be used to thicken sauces, especially in custards and creamy sauces like hollandaise. Gelatin: Gelatin can be used to thicken sauces, especially cold sauces like aspic or certain desserts. Pectin: Pectin is a natural thickening agent often used in jams and jellies.

How to stop bearnaise sauce splitting? ›

The bearnaise should be served warm, not hot - if it gets too hot, it will separate. If you're brave, you can heat it very carefully when it's done - but be careful it doesn't get too hot! The hob should be on no higher than level 2 - and you'll need to whisk continuously.

How do you stabilize bearnaise sauce? ›

If your bearnaise becomes broken or separated, add in a teaspoon or two of the red wine vinegar or dry white wine and whisk vigorously. If the sauce is not thick enough after adding liquid, add one teaspoon of butter at a time until sauce is at the desired thickness.

Why is bernaise not thickening? ›

– If the sauce won`t thicken, mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/2 tablespoon of the sauce in a clean bowl over heat. Beat until they come together, then add the rest of the thin sauce 1/2 tablespoon at a time. – If the sauce starts to separate, add an ice cube or a tablespoon of cold water and whisk briskly.

Can you use dried tarragon instead of fresh for bearnaise sauce? ›

It's also an herb which can be used in the same dish both dry and fresh as BOTH uses take on their own unique flavor properties and truly complement each other in the recipe. Such as is the case with sauce Bearnaise.

Has Maille stopped making bearnaise sauce? ›

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

Does eggs Benedict have hollandaise or béarnaise? ›

In appearance, hollandaise is pale yellow, smooth, and creamy. It's commonly served as a finishing sauce for eggs Benedict, poached fish, and asparagus.

What is the distinct flavor of bearnaise sauce? ›

Béarnaise sauce is believed to have originated in France, specifically in the Béarn region. It is said to be a derivative of the classic French sauce, Hollandaise. The key difference between the two lies in the addition of tarragon and shallots, which give Béarnaise its distinctive flavor.

What's the difference between béarnaise and mayonnaise? ›

If you're feeling a bit fancy, there are two mayonnaise alternatives to add to your saucy arsenal: béarnaise and hollandaise. While mayo is egg yolks plus oil (usually olive oil, sometimes sunflower), béarnaise and hollandaise feature egg yolks plus clarified butter.

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).

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