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Our twist on Julia Child’s classic béarnaise sauce is utterly delicious and wonderfully foolproof. Pair this low-carb blender sauce with steak, eggs, and veggies for a creamy texture and rich, buttery flavor.
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Why This Sauce is So Good
- Similar to hollandaise sauce, béarnaise is a creamy emulsion sauce that goes beautifully on eggs, steak, chicken, pork, and veggies.
- The speedy béarnaise sauce featured here is quick and easy to make thanks to one of my favorite kitchen appliances – the blender!
- This approach is foolproof, but we know things happen. Thankfully, béarnaise is also really easy to salvage.
- With a base of butter, eggs, red wine vinegar, and dry white wine, béarnaise is naturally low-carb and great for a keto lifestyle.
What You Need to Know Before You Start
- Béarnaise sauce is best served immediately, but the leftover sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat it in a double boiler or use the chilled sauce as a sort of butter!
- If the sauce is too thin for your liking, add butter one teaspoon at a time until the Béarnaise sauce reaches the desired thickness.
- Too much heat can cook the egg yolk and cause the sauce to “break” – or curdle, basically. Adding the ingredients in the wrong order or too quickly can cause a separation, too. So, follow the instructions and you’ll have a tasty, successful sauce!
- If the Béarnaise sauce splits or breaks, don’t panic! There are two ways to save your sauce, depending on when you notice the break.
- If it’s just starting to split, just add in a teaspoon or two of the red wine vinegar or dry white wine, and whisk vigorously. This should help lower the temperature of your sauce, smoothing it out again. Don’t use too much liquid, though, or your sauce will be too thin.
- If you don’t catch the break early, the fix is slightly more involved. Place an egg yolk (yolk only, no egg whites!) in a bowl, and whisk it with a small amount of red wine vinegar or dry white wine. Very, very, very slowly, pour small amounts of your broken béarnaise into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. The sauce should smooth out as you go. Serve the sauce immediately after this recovery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both sauces are rich emulsions made with egg yolks and butter, but they have distinct flavors. Hollandaise uses lemon juice for acidity and has a bright, citrusy taste. Béarnaise uses white wine vinegar and is flavored with shallots, tarragon, and pepper, giving it a more herbal, savory profile. Think of béarnaise as hollandaise’s fancier French cousin! Ooh la la!
Fresh tarragon is really the star of this sauce, and dried just doesn’t deliver the same bright, anise-like flavor. If you absolutely can’t find fresh tarragon, you could try fresh chervil or a combination of fresh parsley and a tiny pinch of fennel seeds, but trust me—it’s worth hunting down the fresh stuff for this one.
Béarnaise is definitely best served fresh and warm, but I get it—sometimes you need to prep ahead. You can refrigerate leftover sauce in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To reheat, use a double boiler and whisk gently over low heat, or microwave in 10-second bursts, stirring between each. Just be careful not to overheat it or you’ll scramble the eggs!
Don’t panic—this happens to everyone! Sauce breaks when it gets too hot (cooking the eggs) or when you add the butter too quickly. The good news? It’s totally fixable. Check out the recipe notes for help on how to save your sauce, whether it’s just starting to split or completely broken.
Absolutely! While traditional recipes call for clarified butter (or ghee), regular melted butter works beautifully in this recipe. The milk solids won’t negatively impact the taste or texture, and it saves you a step. Just melt your butter and you’re good to go.
So much! While béarnaise is the classic steakhouse sauce, it’s incredibly versatile. Try it with salmon, roast chicken, pork chops, eggs Benedict, roasted asparagus, grilled vegetables, or even baked potatoes. Honestly, once you make it, you’ll want to put it on everything.
For sure, you can double the recipe! Just make sure your blender or saucepan is large enough to accommodate the larger volume. The technique stays exactly the same—you’ll just have more of that delicious sauce to go around.
he sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon but still pourable—think somewhere between heavy cream and mayonnaise. If it’s too thin, you can add an extra teaspoon of cold butter. If it’s too thick, whisk in a tiny bit of warm water or the reserved vinegar reduction.
Heck, yes! Made with butter, eggs, vinegar, and wine, béarnaise is naturally low-carb and perfect for a keto lifestyle. Just make sure you’re using a dry white wine with minimal residual sugar.
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Béarnaise Sauce
Equipment
- Large saucepan
- whisk
- Strainer
- standard blender
- Microwave safe bowl
- Microwave
Ingredients
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon shallots minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon minced, divided
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper more or less to taste
- 2-3 large pinches salt more or less to taste
- 3 large egg yolks
- 14 tablespoons cold butter 1 ¾ sticks, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces, divided
Instructions
- Heat large saucepan over medium heat. When pan is warm, add red wine vinegar, white wine, shallots, 1 tablespoon tarragon, pepper, and salt. Stir to incorporate and bring mixture to boil.
- Let mixture boil until reduced to approximately ¼ cup total, including shallots and herbs. Approximately 2 tablespoons of liquid should remain.
- When mixture is reduced, pour mixture through strainer and into blender. Discard strained aromatics. Let mixture sit in blender, uncovered, until completely cool.
- While mixture cools, return saucepan to stove and reduce heat to very low. Add egg yolks and whisk until combined and thickened, then add 1 tablespoon cold butter and whisk to incorporate. Mixture should remain thick.
- Add additional 1 tablespoon cold butter and remaining 2 tablespoons tarragon to saucepan. Whisk until incorporated, then transfer mixture to blender. Secure lid on blender and remove center cap. Let egg yolk mixture cool slightly.
- While egg yolk mixture cools, melt remaining 12 tablespoons (¾ cup) butter in microwave. Microwave butter in 15 to 30 seconds increments, stirring between each, until butter is just melted, not bubbling or boiling.
- Once egg yolk mixture has cooled, cover hole in blender lid with dish towel to prevent splattering, and blend to combine mixtures.
- Drop by drop, pour melted butter into blender. Continue blending and adding butter until melted butter is incorporated and mixture has thickened. Transfer sauce to serving dish or drizzle over food and serve immediately.
- If it’s just starting to split, add in one to two teaspoons of red wine vinegar or dry white wine, and whisk vigorously. This should help lower the temperature of your sauce, smoothing it out again. Don’t use too much liquid, or your sauce will be too thin.
- If you don’t catch the break early, the fix is slightly more involved. Place an egg yolk (yolk only, no egg whites) in a bowl, and whisk with a small amount of red wine vinegar or dry white wine. Very, very, very slowly, add spoonfuls of your broken béarnaise into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. The sauce should smooth out as you go. Serve the sauce immediately after this recovery.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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