Hollandaise Sauce
975 Comments
Updated Feb 13, 2023
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Hollandaise sauce is a classic creamy sauce that’s perfect for breakfast or brunch! This recipe is easy and no-fail. It takes just 5 minutes in a blender. Drizzle it on top of poached eggs, eggs Benedict, vegetables or several other recipes for a delicious finishing touch.
If you’ve had eggs Benedict before, you’ve probably encountered this rich and buttery sauce. It’s got the creamiest consistency and its flavors meld beautifully with ingredients such as eggs, asparagus, or salmon.
While this sauce may seem a bit on the fancy side, it’s actually very easy to make! But like many other emulsions, the fear that it will separate or not come together can be a bit nerve wracking. So today, I’ll walk you through the step by step on how to make perfect homemade hollandaise sauce.
How To Make Hollandaise Sauce
To make this recipe, simply heat up some butter (and it needs to be hot!) and stream it into the blended egg yolk mixture to create a velvety smooth sauce.
- Melt the butter in a microwave for about 1 minute until hot.
- Combine the egg yolks, lemon juice, dijon, salt and cayenne pepper into a high powered blender and blend for 5 seconds.
- Slowly stream in the hot butter into the mixture as the blender is running.
- Pour the sauce into a small bowl and drizzle over your meal!
Hollandaise Sauce Ingredients
All you’ll need for this sauce are six ingredients. And you probably have them in your fridge and pantry already.
- Egg Yolks – 3 eggs
- Lemon Juice – 1 tablespoon
- Dijon – 1 teaspoon
- Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
- Cayenne Pepper – just a pinch
- Butter- 1/2 cup of melted butter
How To Fix Broken Hollandaise Sauce
The key to getting the consistency right all comes down to the hot melted butter. This recipe emulsifies butter into an egg yolk and lemon juice mixture. So you want to make sure you’re streaming in butter that’s hot enough (just melted won’t do).
But in the case that your sauce does break and becomes a speckled mess, don’t fret. Below are two methods to try that will help bring your sauce back to life.
- Blend 1-2 tablespoons of boiling hot water: As you’re blending, slowly add in the hot water and blend until the consistency is right.
- Add an extra egg yolk: While the blender is on, add an extra egg yolk with a teaspoon of hot water into the blender and blend until it becomes perfectly creamy.
Can You Use an Immersion Blender?
Yes, absolutely! If you have an immersion blender, add all of the ingredients except the hot butter. Turn the blender on (with it firmly planted on the bottom of the cup or jar) and slowly drizzle in the butter. It will start to emulsify and once you’ve poured in all the butter you’re done!
How To Store And Reheat Hollandaise Sauce
While this sauce is best served fresh, you do have the option of reheating it. But keep in mind that there could be a chance where your eggs will cook up a bit. So here are two options for reheating – just be cautious!
- Microwave: Place the hollandaise sauce in a glass bowl, and microwave it in 15 second increments. Repeat this process until your sauce is fully warmed up.
- Stove Top: Pour the hollandaise sauce into a pan over low heat. Add in a smidge of melted butter and water to re-emulsify and give it a smooth texture. Once it’s warmed up, pour the sauce back into a serving bowl.
More Classic Sauce Recipes
If you thought this recipe was simple, you won’t believe how easy it is make these other sauces. So skip the store-bought jars and opt to make fresh, homemade versions.
- Béarnaise Sauce
- Marinara Sauce
- Basil Pesto Sauce
- Balsamic Reduction
- Tahini Sauce
- Vegan Alfredo Sauce
Whip any of these up and you can get creative with recipes such as my sweet potato gnocchi with pesto or parsnip noodle chicken alfredo!
Hollandaise Sauce (Easy & No-Fail)
Description
Video
Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice , or more as desired for flavor
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter or ghee, or more for a thinner consistency, melted and hot
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a microwave (make sure it's covered as it will splatter) for about 1 minute, until it's hot. Alternatively, you could heat it on the stove.
- Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, dijon, salt and cayenne pepper into a high powered blender and blend for 5 seconds until combined.
- With the blender running on medium high, slowly stream in the hot butter into the mixture until it's emulsified.
- Pour the hollandaise sauce into a small bowl and serve while warm.
Lisa's Tips
- I mention this above, but just to reiterate... your butter needs to be hot, not just melted. The recipe will not emulsify with luke warm butter.
- If you'd like more sauce, just add another yolk and up to another 1/2 cup of melted butter.
Nutrition
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This recipe is perfect. I will certainly be making this a million times. I made this for asparagus I prepared last weekend for my mother-in-law. I love it. And, it saves well. I saved it in a glass Pyrex and warmed it up in a hot water bath. Five Stars!
Yay, so happy you both loved this hollandaise sauce, Ava! Enjoy!
Truly fail proof! Thank you for helping me finally make hollandaise!
Happy to hear you finally nailed down hollandaise sauce, Sunny!
Do not put mustard in it! Yuk
Love how you simplified the hollandaise sauce!!! I had been using the traditional (?) way (stirring over double boiler) but this method works perfectly and tastes so great. I also made the poached eggs from your website too.
Happy to hear both the sauce and eggs turned out perfectly!
Amazingly simple and delicious. Thank you
Happy to hear you’re loving this hollandaise sauce!
This worked amazingly! I’ve never been able to make hollandaise sauce before. Thank you!
Happy to hear your hollandaise sauce turned out perfectly, Rachel!
Yummy and oh so easy! Thank you.
I’m glad you enjoyed this hollandaise sauce, Meagahn!
Made this last night, 09/22/2024, exactly as the recipe directions said and the sauce was so easy to make and delicious. It’s now etched in my recipe memory bank.
Amazing! Glad your hollandaise sauce was a success, Tim.
Made eggs Benedict. Perfect! Didn’t add Dijon because a family hates the flavor but it was rich and creamy. I would even go more lemon but that’s just our preference. I used Danish creamery butter which I think makes it better. I also added the leftover egg whites to the poached eggs- a comment mentioned that, and it was genius!
I’m glad you enjoyed this hollandaise sauce with a few small tweaks, Kris!
I haven’t had consistent results with Hollandaise sauce, but with your instructions this worked perfectly with no hiccups.
Amazing! I’m glad your hollandaise sauce turned out perfectly, Robyn!
I made this a few months ago and it was fabulous. I’m currently pregnant and would like to enjoy it again, but am a little hesitant about the eggs. Could I gentle heat the finished sauce in a sauce pan while stirring to cook the eggs a bit more? Or would that cause it to become too thick?
Place in a bowl and put the bowl in the pan of water to create a bain-marie. Cook over low heat, stirring gently, until the mixture reaches 160°F. If it becomes thicker than you desire add in a teaspoon of water, whisking constantly till desire texture is reached.
I always struggled with making this sauce but this recipe was easy and turned out great and delicious. Thank you
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Nicole!
No video!!!
Hi Miguel – Make sure to turn you ad blocker off to see the video.
It needs a little less lemon juice. Also I added about a Tbsp of hot water to thin a bit. Additionally, if using salted butter omit salt.
I made this exactly as described and it was perfect. I’ve been making hollandaise for years with a double boiler and constant stirring and this was just as good if not better.
Excellent recipe.
We had eggs Benedict with scratch made english muffins.
Thank you for this.
Thanks so much, Phill! Enjoy those eggs Benedict. :)
I’ve never made hollandaise before – I was intimidated. I’m just a lowly home cook from Tennessee. But this recipe made it approachable. I don’t like cayenne, so I used tajin instead. My blender is on the fritz, so I set my kitchen aid blender to medium and blended everything longer until the sauce looked good. Poured this over my and Benedicts and my husband ate it like a starving animal! He made many “yummy” noises. 😁
Happy to hear your first hollandaise recipe was a success!
Fabulous recipe! I’ve been missing my Eggs Benedict since I became sensitive to dairy. But I made this with margarine and it turned out so beautifully! The immersion blender tip to press it firmly to the bottom of the bowl while you pour in the hot butter (margarine) was very helpful, too.
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Amazing! Super easy in the microwave, I grew up making it on the stove top as a line cook, and this is oh so much easier and it came out absolutely perfect!! I use the white mouth canning jar, and a hand blender.. absolute perfection!
Many many thanks!
Hi Mary – I’m glad you hollandaise turned out beautifully!
How long will this recipe last kept in the fridge
Hi Veronica – This will typically stay good for one day in the fridge.
Simple!! Woo hoo! AND it tastes amazing! Thank you
Hi Trish – Happy to hear you love this hollandaise sauce!
Great recipe! Was very fast and easy to make. Doubled it just so it would blend better in my vitamix. I would definitely make this again the next time I’m craving hollandaise.
Hi Emily – Happy to hear your hollandaise sauce turned out perfectly!
Made the Hollandaise sauce, came out well.
Hi Hans – Great to hear your hollandaise worked out!
This recipe didn’t work out for me. I tried 2x . I had to use a blender cup because there wasn’t enough liquid to reach the blades in my blender. This first time I thought okay I didn’t warm the butter hot enough, so I tried again with the butter almost boiling. Still didn’t emulsify and came out super watery and separated again. Although it didn’t work out for me and I won’t try again (6 eggs and 2 sticks of butter down the drain) the recipe was delicious tasting.
Hi Adrianna – it sounds like your blender cup might be the culprit here. Those often aren’t powerful enough to properly emulsify ingredients.
Cool sauce ⬆️⬆️⬆️
Delicious. Easy, and worth the time.
Thank you for this, I am the worst for sticking to recipes, this was fool proof, delicious, and reheat method worked!
This will be my go to!!
Hi Jackie – Wonderful! I’m glad your hollandaise sauce worked out great.
Made this the other day but added some crab meat to it. It was delicious. Poured it over my steak. With the cayenne pepper it added a nice kick to the tenderness of the steak.
Hi Tony – Sounds great! Thanks for sharing.