Classic Bearnaise Sauce Recipe

In case you weren't aware, Bearnaise sauce is a classic recipe that has been around for ages. According to Our Everyday Life, this French sauce recipe came to be in the 19th century in one of the most famous cities in the world, Paris, though the name itself honors the Bearn province in southwestern France. Consisting of butter, white wine vinegar, herbs, and egg yolks, Bearnaise sauce is very popular in France, and it's kind of like the U.S. equivalent of Hollandaise sauce. You can serve it on a variety of things, but most people like to add it to steak.

Recipe developer Catherine Brookes of Blue Sky Eating came up with this quick and easy recipe that pairs well with pretty much any protein. "Bearnaise sauce is one of my favorite pairing with steak and making your own batch at home isn't as difficult as you might think," Brookes raves. "It tastes amazing when made fresh." This sauce is thick, creamy, and buttery, and now you can make a slice of French cuisine right in your own kitchen.

Every recipe starts with a trip to the store. While you're there, get white wine vinegar, fresh tarragon, shallot, lemon juice, egg yolks, butter, salt, and white pepper. Once you have those things, you can make this classic Bearnaise sauce.

For this step, you will need a saucepan and the butter. Place the saucepan on your stove and toss in the butter. Crank the heat up to medium and continue cooking the butter until it melts.

Once melted, use a spoon to skim off any white solids that have formed on top of the butter. Then, set it aside to cool.

In a different saucepan, go ahead and add the vinegar, 1 tablespoon of tarragon, lemon juice, and the chopped shallots. Turn the heat up to medium-high and be sure to stir the mixture frequently. Continue cooking until the liquid is reduced by half.

Then, strain the liquid through a sieve. Be sure to keep the infused vinegar and toss any solids that the sieve catches. 

Grab a heatproof glass bowl and place it on top of a saucepan filled with about half an inch of water. This is your bain-marie. Please note that the bowl should not be able to touch the water, but it should sit right above it. Continue heating the water until it begins to simmer.

Toss in the infused vinegar and egg yolks into a glass bowl. Be sure to whisk the mixture constantly as it heats. Continue whisking until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Once the mixture is thick enough, you can remove the pan from heat and slowly drizzle in the butter. Again, you want to be sure to constantly whisk until all the ingredients are combined and the sauce is creamy. The flavor in this sauce is amazing. "It's rich, creamy and herby with flavor from the shallots and tarragon," Brookes notes. 

Add the tarragon, salt, and white pepper to the sauce and whisk one more time to combine.

Then, transfer the contents of the sauce to a bowl and serve as you wish. This classic Bearnaise sauce goes well on a lot of things, and Brookes provides several serving suggestions. "It goes great with steak, chicken or seafood," she says. 

And, if you happen to have leftovers, "you can store it covered in the fridge for up to 3 days," says Brookes.