Description
This Béarnaise Sauce recipe offers a fast, easy, and foolproof method to create a classic French sauce known for its rich, buttery texture and fragrant hint of tarragon. Perfect for drizzling over steaks or vegetables, it combines infused white wine vinegar, clarified butter, egg yolks, and fresh herbs for a silky, flavorful finish.
Ingredients
Scale
Infused Vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp white wine (dry, not too fruity, sweet or woody)
- 1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp black pepper (coarsely crushed)
- 1 small eschallot (peeled and finely sliced)
- 2 sprigs tarragon
Béarnaise Sauce
- 3 egg yolks (at room temperature)
- 1/4 tsp kosher or cooking salt
- 225g (16 tbsp or 2 US sticks) unsalted butter (cut into 1cm / 1″ cubes)
- 1/2 tbsp tarragon leaves (finely chopped)
- 1/2 tbsp chervil (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Infused Vinegar: Place the white wine, white wine vinegar, black pepper, sliced eschallot, and tarragon sprigs in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Allow the mixture to simmer gently for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and let it stand for 5 minutes to infuse the flavors.
- Strain the Vinegar: Strain the infused vinegar mixture through a fine sieve, pressing the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. You should yield about 1 tablespoon of infused vinegar. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes before use.
- Prepare Clarified Butter: Place the cubes of unsalted butter into a microwave-safe jug and melt on high for 1 to 1.5 minutes, watching carefully to prevent boiling over. Let stand for 30 seconds to allow the milk solids to settle at the bottom and clarified butter to rise to the top.
- Separate Clarified Butter: Pour off about 175g (3/4 cup) of the clear, golden clarified butter into a separate container, leaving the milky solids behind. Use this hot clarified butter for the sauce. Alternatively, melted ghee can be used.
- Combine Egg Yolks and Vinegar: In a tall, narrow container suitable for a stick blender, place the egg yolks, infused vinegar, and salt. Briefly blitz to combine all ingredients thoroughly.
- Emulsify with Clarified Butter: With the stick blender running on high, slowly drizzle the hot clarified butter into the yolk mixture over about one minute, ensuring continual blending. After all the butter is incorporated, continue blending for an additional 10 seconds, moving the blender up and down to achieve a smooth emulsion.
- Adjust Sauce Consistency: The sauce should be thick but flowing. To adjust the consistency, add 1 tablespoon of water and blitz to combine. Add more water in 1 teaspoon increments as needed until the sauce is loose enough to coat a steak thickly but still hold its shape.
- Add Fresh Herbs: Stir in the finely chopped tarragon and chervil leaves until evenly distributed through the sauce.
- Serve or Store: Use the Béarnaise sauce immediately or keep it warm in a thermos for up to 1 hour. It can be served warm or at room temperature. For longer storage, refrigerate and gently reheat before serving.
Notes
- Use a dry white wine that is neither too fruity, sweet, nor woody for the infused vinegar to maintain a balanced flavor.
- White wine vinegar can sometimes be substituted with other mild vinegars but may affect the characteristic tang of Béarnaise.
- Small eschallots provide a delicate onion flavor essential for the sauce’s depth.
- Egg yolks should be at room temperature to ensure smooth emulsification and prevent curdling.
- Clarified butter is key to the sauce’s silky texture; melting butter and separating milk solids is an efficient method, but ghee can be used as an alternative.
- Fresh tarragon and chervil herbs are critical for the classic aromatic flavor profile of Béarnaise sauce.
- Keep the butter hot when adding to the egg yolks to ensure proper emulsification and prevent the sauce from breaking.
- Béarnaise sauce is best used within an hour after preparation but can be gently reheated if stored.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Blending
- Cuisine: French
Keywords: Béarnaise sauce, classic French sauce, tarragon sauce, steak sauce, clarified butter sauce, easy Béarnaise recipe, creamy herb sauce
