Classic Hollandaise Sauce

By Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey

Updated May 30, 2024

Classic Hollandaise Sauce
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Total Time
10 minutes
Rating
4(405)
Comments
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Hollandaise sauce, that staple of brunch, is a classic accompaniment to eggs benedict and steamed asparagus. It is a “mother sauce,” one of the five classic French sauces that provide the base for so many others. Master it and you’ve added a versatile weapon and technique to your culinary arsenal. As with bearnaise sauce and beurre blanc, keep an eye on your heat, and serve the sauce warm, not hot.

Featured in: FOOD; EGGS SARDOU

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Ingredients

Yield:About ¾ cup
  • ½pound butter
  • 2egg yolks
  • 1tablespoon water
  • Salt to taste, if desired
  • ⅛teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1tablespoon freshly squeezed
  • lemon juice to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put the butter inside a heatproof bowl or glass measuring cup and set it in a basin of simmering water. Let it heat until the butter is melted.

  2. Step 2

    Carefully spoon off the white residue on top of the clear yellow liquid in the center. Carefully pour off and reserve the yellow liquid. Discard the milky bottom portion.

  3. Step 3

    Combine the egg yolks and water, beating rapidly with a wire whisk. Place the saucepan in a larger basin of simmering water, beating constantly. Gradually add the clear yellow liquid, beating constantly while heating the mixture in the simmering water. Do not overheat. Beat and heat until the sauce has the consistency of a thin mayonnaise.

  4. Step 4

    Add the salt, cayenne pepper and lemon juice and blend thoroughly.

Ratings

4 out of 5
405 user ratings
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Comments

Donovan

Easiest method of making Hollandaise sauce is by microwave. Simply cut 1/4th lb of butter into 4 equal pieces and place in a 2 cup glass or plastic measuring cup or similar dish and add 3 egg yolks. Stir to blend the yolks and microwave for 1 minute stirring with a fork every 15 seconds or until the sauce is blended and thick. Add 2 T lemon juice and other seasonings to taste and you've got perfect Hollandaise.

Tholzel

The easy method we use:Heat a blender jar with hot water. Add one egg yoke per serving to the blender along with a solid squeeze of lemon juice and a dash of salt. Melt butter in a pan and remove the white from the top (if desired). Turn on the blender and slowly pour in the very hot butter while it is stirring. Voila-- instant Hollandaise!

meg

CAUTION: if the lemon juice you add in the last step is at all cold (or even room temp!) the entire sauce will break.

Theodore

It is so satisfying and gorgeous to use a whisk.

Eleanor

This took a very long time and never really thickened. Making it in the blender is the foolproof way, but I was making a very small amount.

Diana

I have made this recipe before, and love it. 2 points: (i) "Place the saucepan in a larger basin...." (refers to a bain marie, a small-ish double boiler). Bain maries make melting chocolate and sauces with eggs very easy. (ii) always make sure you do not get any water in the upper bowl of the bain marie, and make sure the simmering water of the pan is not in direct contact with the bottom of the upper bowl. This is critical to ensure the eggs or custards do not curdle, overcook, or "seize".

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