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Béarnaise sauce
This delicious, aromatic sauce—made with tarragon, chervil, and shallots, and featuring a hint of acidity—is perfect with grilled meats or fish. It’s known to be difficult to make, but here are all the tips and tricks you need.
373 K 4.1/5 (16 reviews)600665
Last modified on: October 5th 2026
2 
100 g 
1 bunch Chervil
1 bunch 
100 ml 
100 ml white (spirit) vinegar
1 pinch 
1 
Times for this recipe
Preparation
40 min.
Cooking
30 min.
All in all
1 hour 6 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - ⌛ 10 min.
Peel and chop finely 1 shallot.
Chop tarragon and chervil finely.
Reserve one teaspoon of chopped herbs for garnishing.
Chop tarragon and chervil finely.
Reserve one teaspoon of chopped herbs for garnishing.
Stage 2 - ⌛ 1 min.
Put shallot and herbs in a small pan, salt and pepper generously.
Stage 3 - ⌛ 15 min.
Pour in 100 ml white (spirit) vinegar and 100 ml dry white wine.
Reduce over low heat until you are left with about 1/5 of the original volume.
Reduce over low heat until you are left with about 1/5 of the original volume.
Stage 4 - ⌛ 3 min.
Stage 5
You should get only 2 to 4 tablespoons of this tasty liquid which is the base for your sauce.
This base could be made several days beforehand, and kept in a sealed jar in the fridge.
This base could be made several days beforehand, and kept in a sealed jar in the fridge.
Stage 6 - ⌛ 5 min.
On the day of preparation, melt 100 g butter, then skim off the foam that has formed and discard it.
The goal is to obtain butter that is as clear as possible, free of the usual white impurities—which are whey—and which you’ll let settle at the bottom.
Let it cool.
Note: The correct amount of butter is about 50 g per egg yolk.
The goal is to obtain butter that is as clear as possible, free of the usual white impurities—which are whey—and which you’ll let settle at the bottom.
Let it cool.
Note: The correct amount of butter is about 50 g per egg yolk.
Stage 7 - ⌛ 5 min.
Prepare a double boiler.
In the bowl of the double boiler, add 2 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons of sauce base per egg yolk, and 1 pinch flour.
In the bowl of the double boiler, add 2 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons of sauce base per egg yolk, and 1 pinch flour.
Stage 8 - ⌛ 10 min.
Put over low heat, and beat to form a sabayon.
Stage 9
Continue to beat until it thickens, and "holds" the whisk.
Stage 10
Then add the melted butter, a little at a time, while beating continously.
Stage 11 - ⌛ 15 min.
Your Béarnaise will develop its texture. Continue until all the butter is added, apart from the very last bit in the container with all the impurities (discard).
Stage 12 - ⌛ 2 min.
And finally add the spoonful of herbs.
Serve without too much delay. If your dish is not ready, leave the sauce to wait in the bain-marie, not too hot, with a lid.
Serve without too much delay. If your dish is not ready, leave the sauce to wait in the bain-marie, not too hot, with a lid.
Remarks
A bit of technique: Béarnaise sauce is one of a group of warm emulsified sauces (along with hollandaise sauce and mousseline sauce, for example), meaning it starts with a hot base—in this case, a very flavorful sabayon—into which butter is incorporated while whisking to achieve a creamy texture.
There are only two figures to remember for warm emulsified sauces like Béarnaise: 2–3 tablespoons of reduction and 50–80 grams of butter per egg yolk.
Chefs have a different way of doing this; generally, they do everything in the same saucepan, without a double boiler. It’s faster, but more difficult.
There are only two figures to remember for warm emulsified sauces like Béarnaise: 2–3 tablespoons of reduction and 50–80 grams of butter per egg yolk.
Chefs have a different way of doing this; generally, they do everything in the same saucepan, without a double boiler. It’s faster, but more difficult.
Keeping: A few minutes, not more.
Source: Nicolas.
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Nutritional information
| Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats | Calories | Energy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per 100 g | 2 g RDI=3 % | 1 g RDI=1 % | 25 g RDI=34 % | 241 kcal RDI=12 % | 1,009 kJ RDI=12 % |
| Per person | 1 g RDI=2 % | 1 g RDI=0 % | 16 g RDI=22 % | 154 kcal RDI=8 % | 648 kJ RDI=8 % |
| Whole recipe | 7 g RDI=12 % | 6 g RDI=3 % | 96 g RDI=132 % | 928 kcal RDI=46 % | 3,886 kJ RDI=46 % |
How much will it cost?
For 6 people
4.40 €
Per person
0.75 €
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Dry white wine
Like these other recipes:
Butter
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White (spirit) vinegar
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Egg yolk
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