Classic Béarnaise Sauce with Tarragon
Homemade béarnaise sauce: an emulsion of egg yolks and butter scented with shallots, vinegar, and tarragon, the French sauce that's perfect for meat and steak.
Looking for homemade béarnaise sauce, the creamy, fragrant one that goes with steak like nothing else? Then follow this recipe: it’s the classic French sauce made from egg yolks and butter, more within your reach than you’d think.
Béarnaise is one of the mother sauces of French cooking, a close cousin of hollandaise but with a character all its own. The difference is the reduction of shallots, white wine vinegar, wine, and tarragon: it’s what gives the sauce that tangy, aromatic scent that makes it unmistakable.
It has at least three real advantages: it turns a simple steak into a bistro dish, it uses just a few ingredients, and it comes together in a quarter of an hour with the right attention to temperature.
The most important tip is about heat: whisk the yolks over a water bath on barely simmering water, never boiling, and add the melted butter in a thin stream while whisking constantly. If the sauce gets too hot it splits, but you can rescue it by whisking a fresh yolk and adding the broken sauce in a thin stream.
Serve it right away, still lukewarm: béarnaise doesn’t take well to reheating and is best enjoyed freshly made, perhaps over a grilled rib-eye or some roasted vegetables.
Ready? Let’s make béarnaise sauce.
To make this recipe
A small selection of handy tools to keep within reach. Some links may be affiliate links.
Pastry whisk
Useful for whipping egg whites to stiff peaks and for gently folding the mixture without deflating it.
Steps
- Finely chop the shallots and put them in a small pot with the vinegar, white wine, a few peppercorns, and the tarragon stems: reduce over medium heat until about one tablespoon of liquid remains.
- Strain the reduction and let it cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, melt the butter over low heat and keep it liquid but not boiling.
- Whisk the egg yolks with the lukewarm reduction in a bowl set over a water bath, on barely simmering water, until they turn pale and thick enough to coat the whisk, around 65°C (150°F).
- Off the heat, whisk in the melted butter in a thin stream, whisking without stopping, until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Add the chopped tarragon, adjust the salt, and serve it right away, lukewarm.
Helpful tips
The reduction of shallots, vinegar, and tarragon is what sets béarnaise apart from hollandaise: don't skip it.
If it gets too hot or splits, rescue it by whisking a fresh yolk and adding the sauce in a thin stream.
Perfect with steak, sliced beef, grilled rib-eye, and even with roasted vegetables.
Serve it freshly made: it doesn't take well to reheating.
Average nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 255 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 2.0 g
- Sugars
- 1.0 g
- Protein
- 3.0 g
- Fat
- 27.0 g
- Saturated fat
- 16.0 g
- Fiber
- 0.0 g
- Sodium
- 190 mg
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