Béarnaise Sauce

Name: Béarnaise Sauce (Easy & No-Fail)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: ¼ cup dry white wine; ¼ cup white wine vinegar; 1 small shallot (peeled and thinly sliced); 1 tablespoon tarragon leaves; 3 egg yolks; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; ¼ teaspoon kosher salt; ½ cup unsalted butter or ghee (melted and hot (add more for a thinner consistency)); 2 teaspoons finely chopped tarragon leaves

by Lisa Bryan

100 Comments

Updated Oct 23, 2024

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A drizzle of béarnaise sauce instantly elevates any dish — especially steak! It’s an elegant, buttery emulsion with hints of fresh tarragon and my foolproof version is made in just 15 minutes.

Bearnaise sauce in a bowl with a spoon — Photo: Gayle McLeod

As I was testing my favorite filet mignon recipe (which you all should make at some point), I was reminded of the béarnaise sauce I always love to order at top-notch steakhouses.

If you’re not familiar, béarnaise sauce is a variation of hollandaise sauce and is considered one of the five French mother sauces. Hollandaise sauce is simpler and flavored with lemon, Dijon mustard, and a little cayenne pepper. Béarnaise sauce on the other hand is a bit more elegant and infused with white wine, shallots, and tarragon.

Classic sauces like béarnaise sauce are notorious for splitting if not whisked properly (it’s an emulsion after all). But my version is completely foolproof and no-fail, thanks to the same super easy method used on my hollandaise sauce – the blender!

Ingredients for bearnaise sauce on a table

Béarnaise Sauce Ingredients

This recipe is essentially my hollandaise sauce, but with the addition of an infused vinegar and chopped tarragon. Here is what you will need:

Infused Vinegar: This is what gives the sauce a punch of flavor! And all you need is dry white wine, white wine vinegar, a shallot, and some tarragon.
Béarnaise Sauce: To make the rest of the sauce you’ll need egg yolks, lemon juice, unsalted butter, a bit more tarragon, and salt.

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Béarnaise Sauce

Make the infused vinegar. Bring a small saucepan of wine, vinegar, shallot, and tarragon to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to a simmer, until the liquid has reduced to about 1½ tablespoons (about 5 to 7 minutes).

Cooking infused vinegar for bearnaise sauce

Strain it through a fine-mesh sieve, using the back of a spoon to extract as much flavor as possible into the liquid. Then let it cool for 5 minutes, as you prep the rest of the sauce.

Infused vinegar in a bowl for bearnaise sauce

Melt the butter in a microwave (make sure sure the cup or bowl is covered as it will splatter) for about 1 minute, until it’s very hot.

Melted butter in a cup for bearnaise sauce

In a high-powered blender, blend the egg yolks, infused vinegar, lemon juice, and salt for about 5 seconds until it’s well combined.

Blending up egg base for bearnaise sauce

Stream in the butter. With the blender running on medium-high, slowly stream the hot butter through the top opening until it’s emulsified.

Streaming butter in blender for bearnaise sauce

Add fresh herbs. Pour the béarnaise sauce into a small bowl, stir in the finely chopped tarragon, and serve while warm.

Bearnaise sauce in a white bowl with spoon

Ways to Use Béarnaise Sauce

Drizzle on top of meat or fish. I love to drizzle this on steak, baked chicken, and baked salmon. But you can use it for any cooked meat or fish that needs a saucy touch!
Sauce up your cooked veggies. You’d be surprised how good this tastes over roasted vegetables, such as roasted broccoli (similar to this roasted broccoli with hollandaise sauce) or these garlic herb roasted potatoes.
Amplify your Sunday brunch. Make your eggs Benedict even better with this béarnaise sauce!

Storage Tips

If you can, serve this sauce while it’s still fresh and warm. Otherwise, you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Just be careful when reheating as you can easily cook the eggs! Here are some options for reheating:

Microwave: Place the béarnaise sauce in a glass bowl and microwave it in 10-second increments until it’s warmed up.
Stove Top: Pour the béarnaise sauce into a pan over low heat. Stir in a bit of melted butter and water to re-emulsify it. Once it’s warmed up, pour the sauce back into a bowl for serving.

More Versatile Sauce Recipes

I can’t wait for you to try this béarnaise sauce with your next meal. If you make it, let me know how it turned out in the comment box below!

Béarnaise Sauce (Easy & No-Fail)

4.93 from 40 votes

Prep: 10

Cook: 5

Total: 15

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Lisa Bryan

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Description

A drizzle of this easy béarnaise sauce instantly elevates any dish — especially steak! Watch the video below to see how this sauce comes together.

Video

Ingredients

Infused Vinegar

▢ ¼ cup dry white wine
▢ ¼ cup white wine vinegar
▢ 1 small shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
▢ 1 tablespoon tarragon leaves

Bearnaise Sauce

▢ 3 egg yolks
▢ 1 teaspoon lemon juice
▢ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
▢ ½ cup unsalted butter or ghee, melted and hot (add more for a thinner consistency)
▢ 2 teaspoons finely chopped tarragon leaves

Instructions

Make the infused vinegar. Add the wine, vinegar, shallot, and tarragon to a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, until the liquid has reduced to about 1½ tablespoons (about 5 to 7 minutes).
Strain it through a fine-mesh sieve, using the back of a spoon to extract as much flavor as possible into the liquid. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
Melt the butter in a microwave (make sure sure the cup or bowl is covered as it will splatter) for about 1 minute, until it's hot. Alternatively, you could heat it on the stove.
In a high-powered blender, add the egg yolks, infused vinegar, lemon juice, and salt. Blend for 5 seconds until combined.
Stream in the butter. With the blender running on medium-high, slowly stream the hot butter through the top lid cap opening and into the mixture until it's emulsified.
Add fresh herbs. Pour the bearnaise sauce into a small bowl, stir in the finely chopped tarragon, and serve while warm.

Nutrition

Course: sauce

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Bearnaise Sauce, Bearnaise Sauce Recipe

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About the author

Lisa Bryan

Lisa is a bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and YouTuber (with over 2.5 million subscribers) living in sunny Southern California. She started Downshiftology in 2014, and is passionate about making healthy food with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients.