EASY Bearnaise Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the ingredients in a bearnaise sauce? ›

Béarnaise sauce is a piquant child of hollandaise, one of the so-called mother sauces of French cuisine. It is simply an emulsification — egg yolks and butter cut through with vinegar flavored with tarragon and shallots, with a bite of black pepper.

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.

Béarnaise sauce is a delicious and creamy classic French sauce that is often made from a reduction of vinegar and wine mixed with shallots, tarragon, and (sometimes) chervil and thickened with egg yolks and butter. It's typically served with meat, fish, eggs, or vegetables.

Béarnaise sauce is best served immediately, but will keep for three days in an airtight container in the fridge. Use it straight from the fridge like butter for toast, or reheat over a double boiler.

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.

Heat can cook the egg yolk and break the emulsion as could mixing the ingredients in the wrong order. We can call this “breaking” curdling. Straining and whisking in a little warm egg yolk might re-emulsify. Whisking or blending alone may help for sauces that have been sitting for awhile.

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.

Béarnaise Sauce is best used immediately. If you must, you can refrigerate it for up to 2 days and reconstitute it. It will become solid in the fridge. Break it up into pieces and reheat it, whisking constantly and vigorously over low heat and sliding the saucepan off the burner if it seems to be melting too quickly.

– 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.

Entrée Complements SHRIMP Six additional large shrimp dusted with blackening seasoning and broiled. LOBSTER TAIL Cold water lobster tail, lightly seasoned with Cajun spices, sea salt and butter. OSCAR STYLE Jumbo lump crab cake, asparagus and homemade béarnaise sauce.

What is a fun fact about bearnaise sauce? ›

The Origins of Béarnaise

Béarnaise sauce is believed to have originated in the Bearn region of France, hence its name. It was created in the 19th century and is often attributed to Chef Jean-Louis Françoise-Collinet, who supposedly invented it accidentally while trying to make a different sauce.

(ˌbeɪəˈneɪz ) noun. (sometimes without capital) a rich sauce made from egg yolks, lemon juice or wine vinegar, butter, shallots, herbs, and seasoning.

Bearnaise, unfortunately, doesn't freeze well; it breaks up in a non-recoverable form. Bearnaise essence, on the other hand, seems to have a near-infinite life in the refrigerator. Dehydration would probably be your biggest concern. There's enough acid in the essence to kill off most pathogens.

Can you freeze béarnaise sauce? Yes, but we do not recommend it as it will be difficult to reheat it without it splitting. If you do try to freeze it, it should keep for up to 1 month in the freezer.

Irresistibly creamy, buttery, and rich, béarnaise combines an herby, slightly acidic reduction of white wine, vinegar, shallots, fresh tarragon, and lemon juice with hollandaise to make a luscious sauce for spooning over grilled steak, chicken, fish, or vegetables.

Flavored with tarragon, shallots, and white wine vinegar, bearnaise sauce somehow adds both creamy decadence and a pleasant acidity to cut through the fat of the beef and butter.

Béarnaise sauce is like a cooked mayonnaise, with Tarragon added to it. That's about as simple as I can put it. It CAN be a bit prickly to make, but it's got ENORMOUS flavor, is rich with healthy fats and is extremely low carb.

The five French mother sauces are béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomato. Developed in the 19th century by French chef Auguste Escoffier, mother sauces serve as a starting point for a variety of delicious sauces used to complement countless dishes, including veggies, fish, meat, casseroles, and pastas.