Breastfeeding Friendly Fennel Béarnaise Sauce
Rich, velvety, and fragrant with fresh tarragon and sweet fennel, this béarnaise is the kind of sauce that makes a simple piece of grilled fish or steamed vegetables feel genuinely special. One of the trickiest parts of enjoying a classic béarnaise while nursing is the traditional use of raw or barely-cooked egg yolks — but this recipe solves that completely. The egg yolks are whisked over a double boiler until they reach 160°F, a step that's clearly called out in the instructions, so you get that silky, emulsified texture without any food-safety compromise. Pasteurized egg yolks add another layer of reassurance, making this a sauce you can spoon generously without a second thought. White grape juice stands in for the usual white wine, keeping the bright, tangy backbone of the reduction while skipping alcohol entirely. The butter goes in slowly, one tablespoon at a time, building a sauce that's luxuriously thick and glossy. It comes together with pantry-friendly technique and no shortcuts that would undermine either the flavor or the safety of the final result.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the reduction
- 3 tbsp white grape juice
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp fresh tarragon stems, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp fennel bulb, finely chopped
For the sauce
- 3 pasteurized egg yolks
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-tbsp pieces
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves, finely chopped
Instructions
- 1
Combine the white grape juice, water, chopped tarragon stems, and fennel in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the liquid reduces to about 2 tablespoons, 5–7 minutes. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl, pressing the solids to extract all the liquid; discard the solids.
- 2
Add the pasteurized egg yolks to the strained reduction in the heatproof bowl and whisk until the mixture is smooth and slightly thickened.
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