Hollandaise Sauce
Hollandaise is the silkiest of the French mother sauces: warm egg yolks whisked into a foam, then fed a slow stream of hot melted butter until the whole thing turns glossy, thick, and spoon-coating, finished with lemon and a whisper of cayenne. Making it by hand over a gentle water bath gives you total control of the heat, so the yolks cook into a stable, airy base instead of scrambling — which is exactly why this method rarely breaks.
Melt 170 g (12 tbsp) unsalted butter in a small saucepan until hot and fully liquid, then keep it warm off the heat. Whisk 3 large egg yolks with 1 tbsp cold water in a heatproof bowl, set the bowl over a saucepan holding 2.5 cm of barely simmering water (the bowl must not touch the water), and whisk constantly for about 3 minutes until the yolks are pale, doubled in volume, and thick enough to hold a ribbon. Move the bowl to a towel on the counter and whisk in the warm butter — a few drops at a time at first, then a thin steady stream — until the sauce is thick and glossy. Season with 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt, and a pinch of cayenne, thin with warm water if needed, and serve warm within the hour.
- Keep the water at a bare simmer and lift the bowl off the pan every 20-30 seconds if the yolks are thickening too fast — scrambled yolks are the number one failure.
- Add the first spoonful of butter drop by drop, exactly like making mayonnaise; once the emulsion catches, you can pour faster.
- If the sauce breaks or gets too thick, whisk in warm water 1 teaspoon at a time — it fixes most problems on the spot.
Equipment
- Small saucepan (for melting butter)
- Medium saucepan (for the water bath)
- Heatproof stainless steel or glass bowl
- Balloon whisk
- Spouted measuring cup or ladle
- Kitchen towel
- Instant-read thermometer (optional)
Składniki
Hollandaise
- 170 g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- large egg yolks, use pasteurized eggs if serving anyone immune-compromised
- 15 ml cold water, plus more warm water for thinning
- 15 ml fresh lemon juice, start with less, adjust to taste
- 1.5 g fine sea salt
- cayenne pepper, or a dash of hot sauce or white pepper
Przygotowanie
- KROK01
Cube the butter and melt it in a small saucepan over low heat until it is fully liquid and hot to the touch, about 60-70°C (140-160°F). Skim off the white foam on top if you want an extra-clean sauce, then move the pan off the heat but keep it near the stove so it stays warm.
- KROK02
Pour about 2.5 cm (1 inch) of water into a medium saucepan and bring it to the barest simmer — small bubbles, no rolling boil. Choose a heatproof bowl that sits in the rim of the pan without its base touching the water; steam, not water, should do the cooking.
- KROK03
Off the heat, whisk the egg yolks and cold water in the bowl for about 30 seconds until frothy. Set the bowl over the simmering water and whisk constantly, scraping the sides and bottom, until the yolks turn pale, double in volume, and fall in a thick ribbon when you lift the whisk, about 3 minutes. If they thicken quickly or you see any curds forming at the edge, lift the bowl off the pan for a few seconds and keep whisking. An instant-read thermometer should read about 65°C (150°F).
- KROK04
Set the bowl on a folded towel on the counter so it stays put. Whisking non-stop, add the warm butter a few drops at a time until the mixture visibly thickens and looks creamy, then continue in a thin, steady stream. Leave the milky liquid at the bottom of the butter pan behind for a thicker sauce, or whisk some in for a looser one.
- KROK05
Whisk in the lemon juice, salt, and cayenne, then taste — it should be rich, tangy, and just barely spicy. If the sauce is thicker than softly whipped cream, whisk in warm water 1 teaspoon at a time until it flows slowly off a spoon and coats it in an even layer.
- KROK06
Serve immediately, or hold the bowl in a warm spot near the stove (or in a thermos rinsed with hot water) for up to 1 hour. Give it a brief whisk just before spooning it over eggs, vegetables, or fish. Never put it over direct heat — hollandaise wants warm, not hot.
Make ahead
You can hold finished hollandaise for up to 1 hour in a warm (not hot) spot, such as the bowl set near the pilot area of the stove or inside a wide-mouth thermos preheated with hot water. To get ahead further, prep the components: separate the yolks, juice the lemon, and cube the butter up to a day in advance, then the sauce itself takes barely 10 minutes right before serving.
Storage
Hollandaise is best eaten the day it is made. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, where the sauce will firm up like soft butter; rewarm it very gently in a bowl set over barely warm water, whisking in a teaspoon of hot water to bring the emulsion back. Do not microwave it at full power and do not freeze it — both tend to split the sauce beyond easy repair.
Variations
Béarnaise
Swap the lemon juice for a reduction: simmer 60 ml (1/4 cup) white wine vinegar with 1 minced shallot, a few crushed peppercorns, and a sprig of tarragon until 1 tablespoon remains, then strain it into the finished sauce and fold in 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh tarragon. Classic with steak.
Sauce Maltaise
Replace the lemon juice with 2 tablespoons of blood orange juice plus 1/2 teaspoon of finely grated zest, whisked in at the end. The gentle bitterness and color make it the traditional partner for steamed asparagus.
Dairy-free swap
Use 170 g of melted, warm plant-based butter (a stick-style vegan butter emulsifies best) in place of dairy butter and follow the method unchanged. The sauce still contains egg, but it drops the dairy allergen and tastes remarkably close, especially once the lemon and cayenne go in.
Serve with
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition values are estimates based on the metric measurements. Adjust as needed.
Najczęstsze pytania
Why did my hollandaise break, and can I save it?
A broken sauce — greasy, separated, or curdled-looking — almost always comes from adding butter too fast at the start or from too much heat. To rescue it, whisk 1 teaspoon of warm water in a clean bowl and slowly whisk the broken sauce into it, a spoonful at a time, until the emulsion re-forms. If the yolks actually scrambled into firm bits, strain the sauce and whisk the liquid into a fresh ribboned yolk; there is no undoing fully cooked curds.
Is this hollandaise sauce recipe safe to eat with lightly cooked yolks?
In this hollandaise sauce recipe the yolks are whisked over the water bath to about 65°C (150°F), and holding them there for the few minutes of ribboning brings them into the safe zone for most healthy adults. If you are serving young children, pregnant guests, or anyone immune-compromised, use pasteurized shell eggs or carton pasteurized yolks — the technique works identically.
Can I make hollandaise in a blender instead?
Yes. Blend the yolks, water, lemon juice, and salt for 10 seconds, then stream in butter heated to a full 82-88°C (180-190°F) with the blender running; the hot butter cooks the yolks as it emulsifies. It is faster but gives you less control and a slightly denser sauce, and the butter must be genuinely hot or the yolks stay raw. The bowl-and-whisk method here is more forgiving to hold and adjust.
How thick should hollandaise be?
Aim for the texture of softly whipped cream or a loose mayonnaise: it should flow slowly off a spoon and drape over an egg rather than sit in a stiff blob or run off like melted butter. Thickness is easy to steer — whisk in warm water a teaspoon at a time to loosen it, or whisk over the water bath for another 20-30 seconds to tighten it.
Can I double this hollandaise sauce recipe for a brunch crowd?
Doubling works well with the same method — 6 yolks, 340 g (24 tbsp) butter, and 2 tablespoons each of water and lemon juice — but use a wider bowl so the yolks heat evenly, and expect the ribbon stage to take closer to 5 minutes. For a crowd, hold the finished sauce in a preheated thermos and it will stay perfect through a long brunch service.
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