Hollandaise sauce is a simple sauce to prepare with just 4 ingredients!
This recipe is incredibly easy to prepare with a blender style but it can also be made on the stovetop too! This quick recipe makes the classic sauce a cinch to prepare.
What is Hollandaise Sauce?
Hollandaise sauce is one of the five classic “mother” sauces in cooking. The other four are Bechamel, Veloute, Espagnole, and Tomato. But no need to go to cooking school to ace this sauce, it’s a lot easier than it seems!
For this recipe the best ingredients are fresh; eggs, real (unsalted) butter, fresh lemon juice, and dry mustard. While fresh ingredients are definitely the best the real secret to this recipe is the technique!
Hollandaise sauce is an “emulsion” which means two or more ordinarily opposite ingredients are broken down and blended together. The recipe below will walk you through the best tips to achieve the perfect blend for a creamy and delicious sauce!
How to Make Hollandaise Sauce
Blender Method
- Place all ingredients (per recipe below) in a blender and pulse a couple of times.
- With the blender on low, very slowly add melted butter.
- Pulse until it is frothy and season with salt and pepper.
Stovetop Method
This is the method I learned at our local culinary school and results in a delicious velvety sauce.
- Create a double boiler on the stove and be sure no water gets into the bowl.
- Whisk the egg yolks, lemon juice, and dry mustard in the bowl until slightly thickened.
- Remove from heat and slowly drizzle in the butter.
Season with salt and pepper before serving on eggs benedict, over vegetables like asparagus and broccoli, or drizzled over tender flaky salmon.
Tips for Success
- Prepare to make Hollandaise by letting the eggs come to room temperature.
- To separate yolks, break eggs in half, and transfer yolks back and forth between the two shells held over a bowl. Continue transferring the yolks until all the whites drip out. (Whites can be saved for egg muffins or quiche). Or just buy a handy egg separator!
- The butter should be melted but not too hot (or else it will cook the eggs).
- If Hollandaise sauce “breaks” simply continue to whisk it with a few drops of boiling water.
- Store Hollandaise sauce in the refrigerator and heat 10 seconds at a time until warm before using.
Serve Hollandaise Sauce Over…
- Homemade Eggs Benedict
- Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
- Classic Breakfast Sandwich
- Baked Salmon Fillets
- Roasted Parmesan Asparagus
Did you enjoy this homemade Hollandaise Sauce? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Easy Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks room temperature
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ cup butter melted
- salt & white pepper to taste
Instructions
Blender Method
- Place all ingredients except butter in the blender. With the blender on low speed, add butter as slowly as possible until thick and fluffy.
- Once butter is added and the mixture is thick, stop blending immediately. Season to taste.
Stove Top Method
- Create a double boiler by placing water in a saucepan and setting a large bowl over the water. Ensure the water is not touching the bowl.
- Bring water just to a simmer below the bowl. Add egg yolks, lemon juice, and dry mustard to the bowl and whisk until light yellow in color and slightly thickened.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and drizzle in butter as slowly as possible while whisking until the butter is incorporated and the mixture becomes thick and creamy. Season to taste.
Notes
- Melt the butter but do not add to the egg yolks until slightly cooled to prevent it from cooking the eggs.
- If the sauce "breaks" whisk in a few drops of boiling water to blend it back together.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Breakfast, Sauce
Cuisine French© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Honestly I always buy a certain pre-packeged Hollandaise sauce but this morning realized I did not have any so figured Holly would have something quick and easy on SWP. Thank you this was easy quick and tasty, probably won’t buy the packet stuff every again!
I am so happy to hear you loved this recipe Dawnna!
Hi Holly,
I signed up for you recipe emailer & I love it. However, I have one concern, I was reading your Hollandaise sauce recipe…
thanks for the recipes I have tried a few & they all turned out great.
Take care,
Don.
Hi Don,
I’m so happy to hear that you are loving the recipes here at Spend With Pennies. Thank you so very much for the feedback. We’ve reached out and done our best to take care of the issue that you mentioned. I’m so glad you told us!
PS – I removed that part of your comment, because, you’re 100% right, no one wants to see (or even read) that!
Perfect. It’s the best one I ever made.
So glad you loved it Janice!
HOW LONG CAN IT BE SAVED IN FRIDGE?
Hi Peggy, this sauce can last up to 2 days in the fridge.
I made this today with a double boiler. I used Ghee instead of butter. It turned out good. It was quite thick in the beginning so I added hot water and that defiantly helped smooth it out to a better consistency. I have never used ghee before so I wasn’t really sure of the taste. It’s defiantly different than butter in taste but I think it all turned out well. I could taste the lemon and ghee but they blended well together. The salt and pepper is a must as that improved the flavor. I will try this again with regular butter just to compare the taste. It was easy to make though. Thanks for the great instructions!
You’re welcome, thank you for sharing!
when do you cook the blender method?
No cooking required Sandy. We just made this today!
At what point do you add the mustard for the stove top method? Did I miss something?
The dry mustard can be added in with the egg yolks and lemon juice at the beginning.
I followed the recipe to the t and it smelled great and pergect. Tjan I afded the butter and it became one hot mess. I think a half cup is much too much. In my opinion. I’m super sad it didn’t turn out.
Sorry to hear it didn’t work for you, Sometimes if the butter is too hot or added too fast it can cause the sauce to separate.