How to Make Hollandaise Sauce

Making your own Hollandaise Sauce from scratch is an easy and rewarding way to instantly elevate the taste of breakfast favorites like poached eggs and Eggs Benedict to less obvious choices such as roasted potatoes and even grilled meats! It takes just 10 minutes and 4 simple ingredients!

Best Ever Hollandaise Sauce

You can make this easy Hollandaise Sauce with 4 key ingredients in just 20 minutes! While some shy away from making their own hollandaise sauce out of fear of scrambling the egg yolks, this gentle double-boiler method makes it a fail-proof process – perfect for those who’ve never made hollandaise sauce before!

Easily add a greater depth of flavor to this already rich and creamy sauce by including cayenne pepper powder and ground nutmeg. Quick and simple to make, it can be enjoyed with a variety of dishes like classic eggs Benedict, fish, grilled chicken, roasted asparagus, and breakfast potatoes!

Making your own hollandaise sauce gives you full control over the ingredients used, just like homemade mayonnaise and Tahini sauce!

What is Hollandaise Sauce?

Hollandaise sauce is a classic French sauce and one of the five mother sauces in French cuisine. It is known for its rich, buttery flavor and smooth, creamy texture.

Classic hollandaise sauce is a rich-tasting condiment made from egg yolks, melted butter and lemon juice. It’s seasoned with salt and occasionally other spices. It’s most commonly known as the sauce used in eggs Benedict but is also often drizzled over steamed or roasted vegetables.

Common challenges cooks sometimes experience include:

• Maintaining the correct temperature: too hot, and the eggs will scramble; too cold, and the sauce will not thicken properly.
• The sauce “breaking”: This may happen if the butter is incorporated too quickly or when the emulsion becomes unstable, resulting in a separation of the butter and egg.

Key Ingredients

Find the printable recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.

• Egg yolks: Use fresh eggs for this homemade hollandaise sauce. Pasteurized raw eggs can be used if you are concerned about getting sick from undercooked eggs.
• Butter: I’ve used salted butter for this hollandaise sauce, but you could use unsalted butter to reduce the salt content if you prefer. 
• Lemon: Use fresh lemon juice for the best flavor. Bottled lemon juice can be used in a pinch. 
• Salt: Only add to the sauce once made and adjust as needed.  

Optional spices: You can add cayenne pepper powder or a pinch of ground nutmeg as a way to add extra layers of flavor and warmth to this hollandaise sauce.

How to Make Hollandaise Sauce

1. Prepare a Double Boiler: Boil an inch of water in a saucepan with a bowl on top to create a double boiler. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the boiling water or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs!

2. Whisk the Eggs: Reduce the heat to low. Add the eggs to the bowl and whisk them until they turn pale yellow.

3. Add the Butter Slowly: Slowly pour in the melted butter while you continue to whip the eggs so that it emulsifies.

4. Add the Lemon Juice: Once the butter has been fully incorporated, whisk in the lemon juice and thicken the sauce by whisking for another 30 seconds or longer, depending on how you prefer the consistency.

5. Season and Serve: Season the hollandaise sauce with as much salt as needed after tasting it. You can also incorporate cayenne pepper and ground nutmeg at this stage for more flavor. Serve immediately or store for later use.

Yield: This recipe makes about 1 cup of hollandaise sauce, but you can make a double batch when serving a larger crowd or if you need to incorporate hollandaise sauce into other dishes.

How to Fix Broken Hollandaise Sauce

A “broken” sauce means that the emulsion of the yolks and the butter has separated, resulting in a sauce that is neither smooth nor creamy. Here are a few ways to fix a broken hollandaise sauce:

1. Whisking in hot water: Begin by removing the sauce from the heat, then whisk in a few teaspoons of hot water, one at a time, until the sauce comes back together.
2. Incorporate a Fresh Yolk: Whisk a fresh yolk in a separate bowl. Gradually add the broken sauce to the new yolk until all of the broken sauce has been added.
3. Use an Immersion Blender: Place the sauce in a tall, narrow container. Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce, moving the blender up and down until the sauce re-emulsifies.

How to Serve Hollandaise Sauce

Most people are familiar with hollandaise sauce being served over poached eggs with English muffins in Eggs Benedict, but did you know that it is also used in an array of other dishes?! Here are some of my favorites:

• Baked Salmon with Lemon Butter
• Roasted Asparagus
• Croissant Breakfast Sandwich
• Crustless Quiche
• Breakfast Casserole
• Salmon Crab Cakes
• Chicken Skewers
• Best Ever Fried Potatoes and Onions
• Crêpe Recipe

Hollandaise sauce can even be used in some recipes that call for mayonnaise, such as egg salad and potato salad. Keep in mind that hollandaise sauce won’t be a good substitute for mayo in all instances since the two continents have distinctive flavors which can alter the taste of the dish. 

Storage

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, give the sauce a good stir and reheat using a double boiler on the stovetop set over a steam bath. Direct heat is likely to burn the delicate sauce.

Can You Freeze Homemade Hollandaise Sauce?

It’s possible to freeze hollandaise sauce but I don’t recommend it since the texture will change and the sauce can break as a result of the freezing and thawing process.

More Sauce Recipes

• Nashville Hot Sauce
• Best Alfredo Sauce Recipe
• Tzatziki Sauce
• Homemade Pesto Sauce
• Mayonnaise Recipe
• Gyoza Dipping Sauce

If you try making this Homemade Hollandaise Sauce Recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to hear your thoughts.