Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Béarnaise Sauce – world’s finest steak sauce Recipe
Béarnaise Sauce, thought of by many to be one of many most interesting steak sauces on this planet, and a basic spin on Hollandaise sauce, one of many 5 French “mom sauces.” It’s notoriously tough to make by hand. This recipe makes use of a foolproof stick blender technique that yields precisely the identical leads to 2 minutes flat – and has the tick of approval from our resident French Chef JB!
Béarnaise Sauce is a surprising French sauce often served with steak at nice eating eating places and high-end steakhouses.
Historically it’s made by hand. Yolks are mixed with a herb-infused vinegar discount over a double boiler, then melted butter is rigorously and slowly drizzled in whereas whisking. Too quick and the sauce will cut up. Too sizzling and the eggs will scramble. Too cool and it received’t thicken correctly. Tough!
Bicep stamina apart (we’re speaking 10 minutes of vigorous whisking right here), it may be fairly difficult, even for essentially the most succesful cooks.
The excellent news? There’s a simple and foolproof technique to make Béarnaise sauce utilizing a stick blender. Whereas traditionalists will flip their nostril up on the considered using a Twentieth-century equipment, the truth is that the tip result’s precisely the identical as hand-whisked – however in a fraction of the time, and with a fraction of the danger!
In truth, it takes lower than 2 minutes. So you would even make Béarnaise sauce whereas your steak is resting after cooking!
To make Béarnaise Sauce, you want: white wine vinegar, white wine, butter (which we make clear – extra on this under), egg yolks, tarragon, chervil and eschalots/shallots (the small candy onions typically known as French eschalots.)
Clarified Butter
One of the simplest ways to make Béarnaise Sauce is to make use of clarified butter as a substitute of simply melted butter. And simply what’s clarified butter?
Clarified butter is solely butter minus the dairy solids and water content material which accounts for about 15% of odd butter. Clarified butter is definitely the identical factor as ghee which is the primary fats utilized in Indian cooking, although completely different strategies are used to make them.
Utilizing clarified butter offers you a purer, extra intense, and barely nuttier butter flavour in your Béarnaise.
Choices for getting your fingers on clarified butter:
a) Purchase it (clarified butter or Ghee) – Clarified butter is extra extensively obtainable in Europe than Australia or US. However Ghee is sort of frequent today in Australia – Indian or oil aisle at giant grocery shops (Coles, Woolies), Harris Farms, giant Asian shops and Indian grocery shops;
b) Make it the correct method – 10 minutes simmering unsalted butter, then straining. It retains within the pantry for months. Recipe right here; or
c) Make it the fast n’ straightforward method – The strategy I take advantage of on this recipe, depicted under. Soften the butter and let the white milk solids settle on the backside. The gold liquid remaining is clarified butter (about 90% of the entire). Measure out ¾ cup and use. Simple!
Right here in Australia, it’s less expensive to make relatively than purchase ghee or clarified butter.
What’s the distinction between Correct vs Fast technique for clarified butter? The short technique isn’t as thorough at getting milk solids out so it’s not shelf-stable, that means you can not retailer it in your pantry at room temperature.
Different elements
-
White wine vinegar – Much less sharp than commonplace white vinegar;
-
White wine – Any dry white wine is ok right here. Simply keep away from actually candy ones, fruity or woody ones;
-
Tarragon and chervil – The 2 herb flavourings in Béarnaise Sauce that offers it a distinctly French and fashionable flavour;
-
Eschalot / shallot – Small onion-like root greens however with a sweeter, extra delicate flavour than regular giant onions. Can’t discover them? Simply sub with a small quantity of finely sliced regular onions; and
-
Egg yolks – What emulsifies the butter and different liquids to create a thick, shiny sauce.
Leftover egg whites – Right here’s my record of what I do with them and all my egg white recipes might be discovered on this recipe assortment.
Half 1: Infused vinegar
-
Infuse vinegar: Simmer the vinegar, white wine, herbs and shallot in a (very!) small pan over medium low warmth for two minutes. Take away from range then let it stand for five minutes to infuse the vinegar with flavour;
-
Pressure, urgent out as a lot liquid as you possibly can, then cool. You must have round 1 – 1½ tbsp of vinegar. When you have an excessive amount of, cut back it a bit additional on the range; this received’t take lengthy. When you have too little, simply high it up with water.
Half 2: Fast clarified butter
Right here’s easy methods to make clarified butter, the fast method, to be used instantly on this recipe:
-
Soften butter: Place cubes of butter in a heatproof jug and microwave till melted (do it in 20 sec bursts or the butter can explode in every single place!) ;
-
Separate milk solids: Depart the melted butter for 30 seconds or so, and also you’ll discover that white sediment settles on the backside of the jug. The highest 90% or so left is a stunning clear gold ,which is clarified butter. The white stuff are the milk solids which we don’t need to use as a result of it (technically!) clouds our Béarnaise Sauce. We simply need to use the liquid gold;
-
Measure out ¾ cup of the Clarified Butter to make use of for Béarnaise Sauce. Discard the milky white solids.
Half 3: Making Béarnaise Sauce – in 2 minutes flat!
-
Separate yolks, depart to de-chill – Do that first whereas the eggs are fridge-cold as a result of they’re simpler to separate. The whites of heat eggs are runnier and the yolks are softer, which makes them a bit more durable to separate neatly.
After you have the yolks in a bowl, depart them to de-chill for round quarter-hour so it incorporates higher with the butter.
-
Blitz yolks – Place egg yolks, infused vinegar and salt in a tall vessel that matches the stick blender then blitz to mix;
-
Drizzle in butter – With the stick blender going, begin drizzling the recent clarified butter in slowly. It ought to take round 1 minute so as to add all of it. It’s vital so as to add it slowly so the sauce correctly emulsifies (binds and thickens) relatively than splitting, which is what would occur when you dumped the butter in a single go;
-
Hold blitzing – As soon as all of the butter is added, give it a very good blitz for an additional 10 seconds, shifting up and down, to make it easy;
-
Regulate thickness with water – You’ll discover that the sauce is sort of thick at this stage, like mayonnaise. So when you had been to dollop it onto one thing, it will keep in a mound relatively than spreading, which isn’t what we wish for our sauce. So we have to skinny it a bit utilizing water.
Begin with 1 tablespoon of water, give it a fast blitz to include, then slowly add a bit extra at a time. Watch out right here – you possibly can all the time skinny out a sauce, however you possibly can’t undo a skinny sauce!
-
Desired thickness – Béarnaise Sauce must be pretty thick however skinny sufficient so it nonetheless oozes slowly throughout the floor of steaks. It’s ideally thicker than Hollandaise Sauce however thinner than mayonnaise;
-
Add recent herbs – Stir within the recent tarragon and chervil on the finish;
-
Completed! And there you might have it! Good Béarnaise, in 2 minutes flat. 🙌🏻
One factor that used to forestall me from making issues like Hollandaise and Béarnaise Sauce at dinner events was the inevitable stress of constructing these sauces simply earlier than serving. Although they are often made forward, refrigerated after which reheated, it’s fairly dangerous and simply vulnerable to splitting. And Béarnaise extra so than Hollandaise, I’ve discovered.
Eating places by no means, ever make Béarnaise Sauce forward, I preserve getting instructed!
So anyway, there’s two straightforward options:
-
Prep every little thing forward and make whereas protein is resting – I did this final weekend with salmon and it actually was a no brainer. Simply have the butter reduce and in a jug able to soften, the vinegar already infused, herbs chopped, jug and stick blender out and able to use. Then it actually was a 2 minutes job to blitz all of it up whereas the salmon was resting; or
-
Hold completed sauce heat in a thermos – Admittedly I haven’t executed this for a gathering, however I did it when taking the images. It was nearly as good as new 1 hour later as if it had been freshly made!
Béarnaise is a really conventional sauce for steak, one that you just nearly all the time see at higher-end steakhouses and basic French bistros. And it’s distinctive with steak, for certain.
However attempt it with salmon. It’s Unbelievable – with a capital I!! The luxurious mouthfeel and the recent tarragon flavour is a useless set good match with the wealthy oily flavour of salmon.
I need to let you know that Salmon with Béarnaise Sauce is without doubt one of the finest issues I’ve eaten this yr, however that’s probably not a grand assertion given it’s solely early February! 😂
However actually, it’s that good. I’d select salmon over steak any day! – Johnsat x
Full your plate
Recipes featured on this submit:
-
Steak – Cooked the cheffy method, basted with garlic butter;
-
Crispy Pores and skin Salmon – Else simply pan sear skinless salmon, or any white fish will likely be nice with Béarnaise too, for that matter. Salt, pepper, 3 minutes both sides;
-
Creamy Mashed Potato and Creamy Cauliflower Mash (low carb possibility); and
-
Inexperienced Bean Salad – Minus the tomato and onion.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp white wine , dry, not too fruity, sweet or woody (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar (Note 2)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper , coarsely crushed
- 1 eschallot (small), peeled and finely sliced (Note 3)
- 2 sprigs tarragon (Note 6)
- 3 egg yolks , at room temperature (Note 4)
- 1/4 tsp salt , kosher/cooking salt
- 225g / 16 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1cm / 1" cubes – 2 US sticks (Note 5)
- 1/2 tbsp tarragon leaves , finely chopped (Note 6)
- 1/2 tbsp chervil , finely chopped (Note 6)
Instructions
- Place Infused Vinegar ingredients in a small saucepan over medium low heat.
- Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from stove and let it stand for 5 minutes to infuse.
- Strain, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. You should have around 1 tbsp of liquid. Cool 5 minutes before use.
- Place butter in a jug and microwave until melted (1 – 1½ minutes on high, but watch it carefully so it doesn't explode!).
- Stand for 30 seconds until the milky whites settle at the bottom (this is the milk solids) and clarified butter (golden part) sits above it.
- Pour off 175g / 3/4 cup of the clarified butter, discard the milky whites remaining. Use in this recipe while hot.
- Alternative: Just melt 175g / 3/4 cup ghee, which is the same thing as clarified butter.
- Place egg yolks, infused vinegar and salt in a tall, narrow container that the blender stick fits in all the way to the base. Blitz briefly to combine.
- With the stick blender going on high, slowly drizzle the butter in over about a minute. Important: The butter must still be hot! If it has cooled, reheat until hot.
- After all the butter is in, blitz for a further 10 seconds, moving the stick up and down.
- Thickness: Add 1 tablespoon water, then blitz to incorporate. Add more water as needed, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the Bearnaise Sauce is a thick sauce but loose enough to ooze across a steak, coating it thickly.
- Fresh herbs: Stir in tarragon and chervil.
- Using: Use immediately, or keep warm until required. I use a thermos – a good one will keep it warm for at least 1 hour. Use warm or at room temperature. See note for storing and reheating.
Notes
1. Wine – Use a dry white wine that’s not too sweet, fruity or woody.
2. Vinegar – Champagne vinegar also works great. Cider vinegar works fine too.
3. Eschalot/shallot – The small onion-like vegetables, also called French eschalots. Sub with 1 tbsp very finely sliced normal onion.
4. Egg yolks – Easiest to separate when fridge cold, but then leave them for 15 minutes to take the chill out of them. Do not use while fridge cold, it may not incorporate properly with the butter.
Leftover egg whites – Here’s my list of what I do with them and all my egg white recipes can be found in this recipe collection.
5. Butter – We need 175g / ¾ cup clarified butter for this recipe. With the quick clarified butter method used in this recipe, you will lose around 30 – 50g of butter, which is why we start with more.
Ghee – instead of making clarified butter, just use 175g / ¾ cup ghee instead. Melt until hot and use per recipe.
6. Tarragon is the signature herb of Béarnaise, so you really can’t substitute this! Chervil can be substituted with parsley.
7. Make ahead – Can be done but it’s difficult to reheat after refrigeration (it goes hard like butter). Bizarrely it’s more prone to splitting than Hollandaise which I’ve revived many times. It’s best to make fresh, as follows:
Prep everything ahead then make it fresh while your cooked protein is resting (it really does take 2 – 3 minutes flat); or
Make up to an hour or so ahead and keep warm in thermos.
8. Source: Based on my Hollandaise recipe. Immersion blender method in Hollandaise adapted from Serious Eats but quantities are my own (their recipe is way too thin).
9. Nutrition per serving, Béarnaise Sauce only. It’s worth every calorie!
Did You Make This Recipe?
How you went with my recipes? Tag me on Instagram at @PenciDesign.
