BHA & BHT Free Béarnaise Sauce
Few sauces feel as luxurious as a properly made béarnaise — silky, buttery, and fragrant with fresh tarragon in a way that makes everything it touches taste like a special occasion. The beauty of making it from scratch is that every single ingredient is something you can see and name: white wine, vinegar, shallots, butter, egg yolks, and herbs. No mystery preservatives, no stabilizers, no BHA or BHT hiding in a packet of powdered sauce mix. That matters more than people realize, since many store-bought or restaurant versions rely on processed shortcuts that sneak in additives you'd never choose yourself. The technique here is classic and methodical — a wine-and-vinegar reduction built with shallots and tarragon, then folded into a double-boiler emulsion of clarified butter and egg yolks. Clarifying the butter yourself is a key step, and it also happens to produce a cleaner, more stable sauce with a gorgeous golden color. The finishing hit of freshly chopped tarragon and optional chervil keeps the flavor bright and herbaceous rather than flat. Spoon it over a seared steak, grilled fish, or roasted vegetables and you'll understand immediately why this sauce has never gone out of style.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the reduction
- 3 tbsp dry white wine
- 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 medium shallots, finely minced
- 1 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves, roughly chopped (for reduction)
- ¼ tsp black pepper, coarsely cracked
For the sauce
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 3 pasteurized egg yolks
- 1 tbsp cold water
- ¼ tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves, finely chopped (for finishing)
- 1 tsp fresh chervil, finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the white wine, white wine vinegar, minced shallots, roughly chopped tarragon, and cracked black pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the liquid is reduced to about 2 tbsp, 5–7 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl, pressing on the solids to extract all the liquid; discard the solids. Let the reduction cool for 2–3 minutes until no longer steaming.
- 2
Melt the butter in the small saucepan over medium-low heat, then increase the heat slightly and cook until the foam subsides and the milk solids settle to the bottom, about 5 minutes. Skim off any foam from the surface. Carefully pour the clear golden butter into a liquid measuring cup or small pitcher, leaving the white milk solids behind in the pan; discard the solids. Keep the clarified butter warm.
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