How To Make Restaurant Quality Hollandaise Sauce Without A Blender

Learn how to make restaurant quality hollandaise sauce with this easy-to-follow guide. I'm sharing my tips and techniques for a smooth and buttery sauce. So, add this mother sauce to your cooking repertoire.
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How to make restaurant quality hollandaise sauce, this is a question asked by many home cooks. Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion sauce, a classic French mother sauce made from melted butter, egg yolks, and a vinegar white wine reduction.

Its pungent, buttery flavor is perfect for sautéed asparagus and is the sauce for eggs benedict. While many recipes for hollandaise sauce require a blender, it’s possible to make a delicious hollandaise sauce without one.

There are also Hollandaise sauce derivatives. One of them is the iconic Béarnaise sauce, which is similar to Hollandaise the only difference being the flavors in the reduction.

Well, today I’m going to show you how to make a restaurant-quality hollandaise sauce that will knock your socks off! Without a blender.

Restaurant Quality Hollandaise Sauce

Making Restaurant Quality Hollandaise Sauce

Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of making this sauce. The key to a great hollandaise sauce is all in the technique. It can be a bit finicky however don’t worry, I’ll guide you through it step by step.

This is the classical way, how a chef would make it, restaurant quality hollandaise sauce. First the ingredients and equipment you’ll need.

Ingredients

  • 2 egg yolks – work on 1 yolk per 100g (3.52oz) of butter.
  • 200g (7.05oz) of salted butter – I use salted butter as it enhances the overall flavor.

Reduction Ingredients

  • ¼ cup white wine
  • ¼ cup white vinegar
  • 1-2 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 6-8 peppercorns
  • 1 small bay leaf (optional)

How to season food is an art that combines creativity, intuition, and a deep understanding of flavors. That transforms ordinary ingredients into extraordinary culinary masterpieces.

Hollandaise Sauce Ingredients
Hollandaise Sauce Ingredients

Equipment You’ll Need

  • 1 heatproof bowl – this is to make the sabayon in a Bain Marie and whisk in the melted butter to emulsify the hollandaise sauce.
  • 1 wire whisk – balloon whisk is best.
  • 1 jug – for pouring the melted butter.
  • 1 saucepan – this is for making the vinegar reduction and creating a Bain Marie.
  • 1 tea towel – to keep the heatproof bowl from moving when whisking in the butter.

Follow these steps, and you’ll have restaurant quality hollandaise sauce better than those made in a blender.

  • Making The Reduction — In a saucepan add the thyme, peppercorns, white wine, and vinegar. Bring to a boil and reduce to about a tablespoon or so.

How to season food is an art that combines creativity, intuition, and a deep understanding of flavors. That transforms ordinary ingredients into extraordinary culinary masterpieces.

Chefs Pro Tip — Now, I know what you’re thinking “Can’t I just use vinegar and wine without reducing it?” Technically, you could, however, your hollandaise sauce will taste highly acidic and have a strong alcoholic wine aftertaste.

  • Separate the egg yolks — All you need to do is crack the eggs and carefully separate the yolks from the white. You can do this by transferring the yolk back and forth between your fingers. Letting the white runoff into a container. If you get a little of the white in the bowl don’t worry it will be fine.

Chefs Pro Tip — Don’t throw away those egg whites! They’re perfect for making delicious, fluffy omelets or even meringue or pavlova. Waste not, want not!

Melt the butter in the microwave and pour it into a jug. Or if you’re like me and prefer to do it the old-fashioned way.

  • Melt The Butter — In a saucepan over low heat and gently melt it until it’s completely liquid and foamy on top. You’ll see the white liquid at the bottom this is the whey. Once melted remove it from the heat, then pour it into a jug.

When the reduction has reduced strain the liquid into the bowl with the yolks. You don’t want any of the peppercorns or herbs they can be discarded.

Hollandaise Starting The Sabayon
Hollandaise Starting The Sabayon

Set up a Bain Marie (saucepan of simmering water) and sit the bowl in the saucepan. Make sure to base of the bowl isn’t touching the water.

  • Vigorously Whisk — The yolks until they start to thicken. If the egg yolks get too hot remove them away from the heat. When the mixture holds its shape when you run the whisk through it, it’s done, this is a sabayon.

Remove the sabayon away from the heat. Set up a tea towel on your bench and place the bowl on top.

Sitting the bowl on top of a towel will stop it from moving when you’re whisking in the melted butter.

Hollandaise Sabayon Done
Hollandaise Sabayon Done

Now slowly start whisking in the melted butter, if you add the butter too fast the hollandaise will split, and you’ll need to start again. Once all the butter has been incorporated check the seasoning.

Chefs Pro Tip — If the sauce becomes too thick, add a teaspoon or more of the warm white whey leftover from the melted butter. This has a lot of flavor in it and is better than using warm water.

Hollandaise Whisking In The Butter
Restaurant Quality Hollandaise Sauce Whisking In The Butter

Ingredients Substitutes And Alternatives

  • Lemon Juice — If you don’t have vinegar or white wine on hand, you can use lemon juice instead. Lemon juice provides a similar acidic flavor to vinegar and can work well in hollandaise sauce.
  • Olive Oil — Butter isn’t your thing you can use extra virgin olive oil. Gently heat to 50-55°C (122-131°F) and treat the same as the butter.
  1. How Long Can You Keep Hollandaise Sauce?

    It would be best to keep hollandaise sauce for a couple of hours. This is because hollandaise sauce is made with egg yolks that have been heated. The sauce needs to be stored at room temperature. Keeping it for 2 hours could pose a food safety risk as the sauce sits in the danger zone 6-60°C (42.5-140°F).

  2. Can You Reheat Hollandaise Sauce?

    Short answer: no, you can’t reheat hollandaise sauce. Being a chef, this is something I would never do. You will have a high chance of it splitting if it gets too hot. Or the eggs curdling and making the sauce lumpy and eggy tasting. Not to mention the food safety aspect.

    Regardless of what you’ve been told, reheating hollandaise sauce is fraught with danger. Anyway, why would you want to? Only make enough for one meal. This restaurant quality hollandaise sauce is so good I would be surprised if you had any leftovers.

Cooking Is A Science And A Skill

Cooking is a science and a skill that requires a deep understanding of both the technical and creative aspects. Cooking is also a matter of precise measurements and ratios.

For example, baking is particularly sensitive to accurate measurements and temperatures. A slight deviation in the amount of an ingredient or cooking degrees can result in a completely different outcome. So, to help you here is a handy little unit converter tool for cooking without guesswork.

Restaurant Quality Hollandaise Sauce

Restaurant Quality Hollandaise Sauce

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PREP TIME: | 5 minutes
COOK TIME: | 10 minutes
TOTAL TIME: | 15 minutes
SERVINGS: | 4 serves
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DISH SUMMARY

Learn how to make restaurant quality hollandaise sauce with this easy-to-follow guide. I'm sharing my tips and techniques for a smooth and buttery sauce. So, add this mother sauce to your cooking repertoire.

Ingredients

  • 2 Hens eggs yolks only
  • 200 g Butter salted
  • 2 sprigs Thyme fresh
  • 6-8 Peppercorns
  • ¼ cup Wine white chardonnay or sauvignon blanc
  • ¼ cup Vinegar white, champagne, or apple cider
  • 1 small Bay leaf optional

Instructions

  • First, you'll need to make the reduction. In a saucepan add the thyme, peppercorns, white wine, and vinegar. Bring to a boil and reduce to about a tablespoon or so.
    While the liquid is reducing separate the egg yolks, (keep the egg whites they make for great omelets). Also, melt the butter.
    When the reduction has reduced strain the liquid into the bowl with the yolks. Set up a Bain Marie (saucepan of simmering water) and sit the bowl in the saucepan. Make sure to base of the bowl isn't touching the water.
    Vigorously whisk the yolks until they start to thicken. If the egg yolks get too hot remove them away from the heat. This is a sabayon, if the mixture holds its shape when you run the whisk through it's done.
    Hollandaise Starting The Sabayon
  • Remove the sabayon away from the heat. Set up a tea towel on your bench and place the bowl on top.
    Hollandaise Sabayon Done
  • Now slowly start whisking in the melted butter, if you add the butter too fast the hollandaise will split, and you'll need to start again. Once all the butter has been incorporated check the seasoning.
    Hollandaise Whisking In The Butter

Chef Tips

  • Make sure the water in the Bain Marie doesn’t boil or touch the bottom of the mixing bowl. If it gets too hot, the egg yolks will scramble and curdle. Resulting in a lumpy sauce that has a strong egg aftertaste.
  • Keep whisking the egg yolks constantly and vigorously to prevent them from cooking and curdling.
  • Add the butter slowly and gradually to the sabayon to create an emulsion. If you add the butter too fast the sauce will split and break.
  • If the sauce becomes too thick, add a teaspoon or more of the warm white whey leftover from the melted butter. This has a lot of flavor and is better than using warm water.
Ingredients Substitutes And Alternatives
  • Lemon Juice If you don’t have vinegar or white wine on hand, you can use lemon juice instead. Lemon juice provides a similar acidic flavor to vinegar and can work well in hollandaise sauce.
  • Olive Oil Butter isn’t your thing you can use extra virgin olive oil. Gently heat to 50-55°C (122-131°F) and treat the same as the butter.
  •  

Nutrition

Serving>1 serve | Calories>404kcal | Carbohydrates>1g | Protein>2g | Fat>43g | Saturated Fat>27g | Polyunsaturated Fat>2g | Monounsaturated Fat>12g | Trans Fat>2g | Cholesterol>205mg | Sodium>327mg | Potassium>43mg | Fiber>0.2g | Sugar>0.2g | Vitamin A>1419IU | Vitamin C>1mg | Calcium>30mg | Iron>1mg
COURSE:
Condiment
|
Sauce
CUISINE:
French
KEYWORD:
Hollandaise Sauce
|
No Blender
|
Restaurant Quality

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