Hollandaise Sauce

By Sam Sifton

Hollandaise Sauce
Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Gozde Eker.
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
4(1,031)
Comments
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For the longest time I made a classic French hollandaise sauce with two or three egg yolks, until I tasted what happens when you use seven, in keeping with the teachings of the chefs David McMillan and Fred Morin, of the restaurant Joe Beef in Montreal. Their advice carries over to the use of a blender instead of a double boiler to make the sauce. It’s a terrific sauce for asparagus, for broccoli, for steaks, for scallops, for eggs Benedict or for my homage to a Joe Beef dish: scallops with hollandaise sauce and shredded duck.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 7egg yolks, at room temperature
  • 1cup unsalted butter
  • Pinch cayenne, or to taste
  • Lemon juice, to taste
  • Salt, to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

242 calories; 26 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 96 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put yolks into a small container into which you can fit an immersion blender, or into the jar of a blender.

  2. Step 2

    Melt the butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat, then allow it to cool for a few minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Process the yolks for a couple of seconds, then continue to run the blender as you add the melted butter in a slow and careful stream, until you have a thin, emulsified sauce. Add the cayenne, lemon juice and salt to taste, blend again to combine and keep at room temperature until ready to use.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
1,031 user ratings
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Comments

cw

Serving 2 or 3: 4 eggs 1/2 cup butter 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Kirby Benedict

Recipe from these folks' scallop/duck dish.... includes the lemon juice 7 egg yolks, at room temperature 1 cup unsalted butter Pinch cayenne, or to taste 1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste Salt, to taste

georgia peach

Ingredients list doesn’t include lemon juice. How much?

Stacey

Followed the proportions and directions exactly but this did not work for me. Tasted like butter and was too liquid, not saucy. I transferred the failure to a bain marie over medium heat, added more yolks and whisked until the sauce was saved.

Stewart

As others have said, cutting it down to one stick of butter and four yolks gives you plenty for a Scottish Benedict for two plus enough to a save for some roasted vegetables or a nice broiled salmon filet a couple nights later.

Peter M

My go-to hollandaise sauce recipe and technique. I used juice of a whole lemon. It was definitely a “lemon forward” hollandaise, but nicely so, I thought. I used an immersion blender and blended the yolks and lemon juice for almost a minute until they were a more pale yellow. I understand that gives the sauce a bit more body. This made plenty for 8 eggs Benedict and also a healthy drizzle on everyone’s home fries!

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