Béarnaise Sauce Recipe (2025)

Made it once and then again the next day made a double batch. Great in all the ways mentioned below, also over salmon or swordfish. Froze the extra from the double batch in a plastic ice cube tray; they defrosted on my countertop as I made dinner and whisked back into shape perfectly with a little lemon juice or water if a thinner sauce is desired.

great, fast way to finish this any meat or fish dish. I found that dry tarragon freshly ground into almost a powder, was as pungent as fresh, which makes it so much easier to impulsively add this finishing sauce to dinner.

Kate, I am an American who has been living outside the US for many years. I still use lots of American recipes, so need to convert butter measurements often. Here's a scale I found on a website years ago: 1 T of butter = 14g; ; half a stick (4T or 2 oz) = 57g; 1 stick (8T or 4 oz) = 113.5g. Hope this helps.

This sauce came together amazingly in a blender, no double boiler required! Follow instructions but instead of a metal bowl, put yolks and reduction in a blender. Turn the blender on and slowly pour the butter in a very thin stream, piping hot from the microwave or a saucepan. The sauce should come together by the time all of the butter is incorporated.

Made this on Sat night and served over freshly picked asparagus (lightly steamed but still crunchy). My daughter and her fiancé were over for dinner and we all swooned over the flavors. It was easy to make and upped the asparagus to divine. Plenty left over to spoon over eggs the next morning. I've never made this before so I wasn't sure how long to whisk the egg mixture before adding the butter. But they transform. Not only increasing in volume but thickening and changing color. You'll KNOW.

Sam, it would be hugely helpful if you could add metric and Imperial weights to your recipes. I'm assuming 12 Tbs of butter is 180 gms. I think quite a few of your readers are outside the USA and most of us have learned to cook by weighing things. I find it more exact.
Thanks so much for all these great recipes.

Red wine vinegar is great too (or a mixture of red wine vinegar and dry white wine). Use chervil in addition to tarragon, and strain the reduction. It's advisable to start the emulsion with a tablespoon of the reduction, and add more at the end of operations (otherwise the sauce may be a bit too pungent). And no need to bother clarifying or even melting the butter. You can add bits of butter straight from the fridge and whisk them in. Add freshly chopped chervil and tarragon before serving.

I have not made this recipe but have made Bearnaise sauce for years from another source. I found that putting hot water in a thermos and then draining and drying just before pouring in the sauce helps keep it warm for a little while. This is a warm/tepid sauce, not a hot sauce.

I made this tonight to go on a lovely little filet of beef for just me alone and it was marvelous. Couldn't believe I even did it! Thank you Sam, your instructions were easy and, yes a bit more salt, and I too like it a bit thicker. Will do repeat performances!

From answer.com: "How many grams are in a tablespoon? It depends on what you're measuring. ...
Grams are a unit of mass (or weight) and a tablespoon is a unit of volume. Therefore it depends entirely on what you are measuring -- it depends on the density of the substance. A tablespoon of lead will be much heavier than a tablespoon of feathers. ... Similarly, a tablespoon of butter weighs a different number of grams than a tablespoon of salt."

This is the fourth time I have attempted bearnaise, but the first time using this recipe, and I nailed it! Thank you, Sam Sifton!!!

Keep béarnaise and hollandaise warm in a bain marie.

This was almost perfect and had excellent flavor. It was a little runny so I ended up adding an additional egg yolk. Next time I would like to remove the shallots after cooking because the steakhouse I worked at did not keep them in there either. Otherwise delicious.

So so so good. The whole family raved about it. I used Savannah's advice-- thanks!!

I found this to be way too vinegary in flavor. It was a fail for me.

This sauce is quite easy. Made with sauteed sea scallops over boiled smashed rutabaga with rainbow chard on the side. Sooo good.

At the original Quatorze on 14th St in NYC I was taught to add some tomato paste and a bit of tomato puree to the tarragon reduction which, when mixed with the egg yolks while making the Hollandaise will give you a Sauce Choron; we served this with grilled salmon. We also used a combination of dried and fresh tarragon for the reduction finishing with some more freshly chopped tarragon. I also use tarragon vinegar if available.

Absolutely wonderful. Will make again and again. Perfect.

way too much white wine vinegar ...

Pretty much perfect as written. I melted the butter in a small copper pot, and basically, as I poured the butter in, I was only pouring the clarified butter into the sauce. Stopped adding butter when it was mostly solids. Left the sauce in the bain-marie on the warming spot on the oven and gave it a whisk every few minutes as finished the rest of the meal. Ended up adding about two tablespoons of warm water to loosen it up at service.

Tasted very vinegary. Next time I would reduce the amount of white wine vinegar. Maybe replace it with white wine

I add just a small dash of Cayenne Pepper.

Only thing about this recipe that doesn’t seem right is the instruction to reduce vinegar/tarragon mixture down to a “ few tablespoons”. Well, we already start with 4 tablespoons of liquid. Shouldn’t it be reduced to about 1 tablespoon?

I was partly annoyed because the sauce kept on separating, Other than that, a very good sauce recipe.

Came out great! I used my little old double boiler--does anyone have these anymore? I recommend.

Really, how are all these positive responses on here? If you are not adding at least a 1/2 a cup of dry white wine ( I prefer vermouth) to this recipe what are you reducing ......JOKE!

This sauce is LIT! Well done Sammy boy!