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Blender Bearnaise Sauce Recipe made easy. No more whisking!
Bearnaise sauce is a thick, creamy French sauce made of regular or clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks and vinegar reduction flavored with tarragon, shallot, white wine and peppercorn.
Bearnaise Sauce has a pleasantly sharp taste and this recipe goes a long way. It is a versatile sauce that can elevate the taste of steak, fish, chicken, seafood, vegetable and egg.
The first time I had Bearnaise sauce was at Lawry’s in Chicago. A beautiful restaurant with a pleasant, cozy ambience.
It was my birthday and luckily I dressed up for the occasion. Customers were properly dressed and I would feel awkward if I was wearing jeans.
Known for their Prime Rib, so I ordered that and a side of Bearnaise sauce. Their prime rib was succulent but adding this sauce made it was much tastier.
My mom is a huge Julia Child fan. I happened to be watching when she made her famous Bearnaise sauce. She made it looked so easy.
After that restaurant experienced, I got hooked and was in search for a recipe. This was in the early 80’s and at that time recipes were non existent on the internet.
I got the recipe at the local library and can’t wait to make it. Guess what, making it in a double boiler is not that easy. For someone who doesn’t cook often, it was a task to whisk and emulsify the egg yolk and butter. It was a disaster. I made it a few times to get the right consistency and texture.
Fast forward, with new technology in appliances, it is now much easier and quicker to make this sauce.Gone are the days of whisking for me but some people are more comfortable doing it on the stove.
Now, I can make this savory Bearnaise sauce in a blender. I have adapted Ina Garten’s recipe, another fabulous cook that my mom adores. Her recipe is very similar to Julia Child but using a blender. As always, I tweaked the recipe to my liking.
If you love this sauce and still intimidated to make it, watch my video and you will see that you can easily make it yourself, if you have a blender.
Forget about the horror stories you heard about making Bearnaise sauce. I never had any issue of butter separating from the mixture. Just try it and you'll be glad you did!
Ingredients used to make Bearnaise Sauce.
Vinegar reduction for Bearnaise Sauce reduced to 1 tablespoon liquid.
How to Make Bearnaise Sauce in a Blender
1. Mince shallot and tarragon. Someone might ask if they can skip the tarragon. Tarragon is the herb that gives this sauce its unique taste. So I would say, No. Chervil or French parsley is another herb used in making Bearnaise sauce but not easily available in the US.
2. Ina Garten’s recipe calls for ¼ cup white wine vinegar. I reduced this to ½ which is 2 tablespoons. White wine vinegar can be overpowering and I only like a subtle vinegar taste.
3. I upped the white wine from ¼ cup and added 2 more tablespoons.
4. I used regular unsalted butter not clarified butter. Melt butter, once the vinegar reduction has cooled off. Once melted, turn off heat and leave melted butter on the stove to retain it’s temperature. Combine egg yolk, cooled vinegar reduction and salt in blender.
5. My Blendtec blender has a sauce program for 30 seconds. I poured hot butter slowly in the opening on lid and it took me 60 seconds to fully blend all the ingredients.
6. Mix the remaining tarragon manually or while blending.
How to Warm Up Leftover Bearnaise Sauce?
Refrigerate any leftover sauce.
It will harden a bit so when it’s time to use it, cut into small pieces. Place a heatproof bowl in a pot with barely simmering water.
Slowly drop each piece, whisk to soften.
If butter separates from mixture add a few drops of cold water. If that doesn’t work, whip an egg yolk in a separate bowl then slowly add and whisk the sauce with the egg yolk until blended.
For food safety, put it back in simmering water to warm.
The easiest way to do it, if using a few tablespoons of leftover sauce, cut it into small thin pieces like cold butter. Bearnaise sauce when refrigerated has the consistency of butter. Place it on top of hot steak or fish and sauce will soften making it easy to spread.
You just save yourself the hassle of warming up a few tablespoons and you can enjoy your scrumptious food right away!
Blender Bearnaise Sauce Recipe & Video
Another versatile sauce that you might like to try, Basil Pesto Sauce.
Have you ever had Bearnaise sauce with a juicy Steak or a Rib Eye Roast, it is delicious.
Tender, moist and juicy rib eye roast with Bearnaise sauce.
Recipe
Blender Bearnaise Sauce Recipe
Bearnaise Sauce is a perfect savory sauce for steak, fish, seafood, eggs and vegetables.
Print Pin Rate
Course: Sauce
Cuisine: French
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 322kcal
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Champagne or white wine vinegar (original recipe is ¼ cup)
- ¼ cup and 2 tablespoons white wine (original recipe is only ¼ cup)
- 2 tablespoons shallots minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves chopped
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 extra-large egg yolks
- 2 sticks (½ pound) unsalted butter melted
Instructions
In a small sauce pan make the vinegar reduction, combine the Champagne vinegar, white wine, shallots, 1 tablespoon tarragon leaves, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes until liquid in mixture is reduced to a tablespoon. Transfer to a small bowl and cool. Once mixture is almost cool, start melting butter.
In the same sauce pan, melt butter under medium to low heat. When done, turn off heat and leave butter on the stove to retain its temperature.
Place the cooled mixture with the egg yolks and ½ teaspoon salt in the blender and blend for 60 seconds. While blender is running, slowly pour thin streams of hot butter through the opening in the blender lid. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of tarragon leaves and blend only for a second or just manually mix it before pouring sauce in bowl.
If the sauce is too thick, add a tablespoon of white wine to thin. Keep at room temperature until serving.
Video
Notes
- To make the sauce in advance, prepare an hour before serving and let it sit in the blender. Before serving, add 1 tablespoon of the hottest tap water and blend for a few seconds.
- Sauce has salt, use less salt on meat or fish when seasoning.
- Stove temperature can vary. When making vinegar reduction, yours might take less or more than 5 minutes to reduce the mixture.
- If you prefer a more vinegar taste, use ¼ cup Champagne or white wine vinegar and use only ¼ cup white wine. I have tweak the original recipe to my liking.
- Chervil or French parsley is another herb used in making Bearnaise sauce but not easily available in the US.
- Bearnaise sauce when refrigerated has the consistency of butter. If needing only a few tablespoons, slice it with a knife like butter and placed on top of hot food. It will soften and you can easily spread it. No need to warm it in simmering water, unless if you have time. But why go thru this hassle. Just a suggestion.
Nutrition
Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 179mg | Sodium: 206mg | Potassium: 143mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1221IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 1mg
Bearnaise sauce is a perfect sauce for steak, fish, chicken, vegetables & eggs.
