This easy hollandaise sauce recipe is easy to make with just five simple ingredients. It’s rich, creamy, and tastes delicious on everything!

Hollandaise is one of the five “mother sauces” used in classic French cooking. 

These French sauces are used as the base for creating more complex “secondary sauces”. Although they come from French cuisine, many other cuisines make use of them as well.

Another one of the staple mother sauces is bechamel sauce, which can be used to make white gravy, alfredo, as well as the base for casseroles and scalloped potatoes.

Or, make a creamy cheese sauce that’s delicious as a dip or mixed into macaroni and cheese. 

For something a little different, try my Sauce Verde. It’s a rich green sauce, similar in texture to pesto, but made with herbs, spices, and savory ingredients.

Hollandaise Sauce Ingredients

• Butter – Unsalted is best, but if salted butter is all you have on hand then leave out the extra salt. Cut it into small cubes so it melts quickly and evenly on the stove.
  
• Egg yolks – This is the key ingredient that makes this sauce rich and creamy. Find suggestions at the bottom of the post for using your leftover egg whites!
  
• Lemon juice – The acid from the lemons binds the proteins in the egg yolks, which causes the sauce to thicken. If you don’t have any lemons on hand, vinegar or white wine will work in a pinch.
  
• Tabasco sauce – I like to add a little kick to all of my dishes, but feel free to leave this out or replace it with your favorite brand of hot sauce instead.
  
• Salt – This simple ingredient is essential to any dish because it enhances all of the flavors.

How to make hollandaise sauce (and a video!)

This easy hollandaise sauce recipe is a snap to make. Just follow the instructions carefully, and be sure to watch the recipe video in the recipe card below, too.

The key to success with this recipe is to go slowly when adding the melted butter to the mixture.

Doing so will not only result in the correct texture, but it also makes a glossy finish as well!

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Melt butter in a pan on the stove.
   Although a microwave is capable of melting butter, it doesn’t heat it evenly.
   
   Use a small saucepan and remove it from heat just before the butter is fully liquid, as it will continue to melt from the residual heat.
   
2. Blend remaining ingredients: A blender or immersion blender will do better at mixing everything than a food processor.
   
   Blend long enough to incorporate plenty of air and change the color to a pale yellow.
   
3. Add in melted butter.
   While continuing to blend, pour in the butter a drop or two at a time.
   
   Towards the end, you’ll notice the sauce thicken, increase in volume, and take on a glossy sheen. Continue until all of the clear yellow butter has been added.

Recipe notes

• Use a blender. Traditionally, hollandaise is made on the stove with a double boiler. Using a blender instead makes the entire process easier and much less finicky.
  
• Skim off the top of the butter. This frothy, white part can affect the texture and flavor of the sauce. Use a slotted spoon to remove as much you can before mixing into the other hollandaise sauce ingredients.
  
• Is your sauce too thick? Adding cold water a drop at a time at the end of blending can help thin it out. This is also the best way to correct a sauce that is broken without having to start all over again.
  
• Always season to taste. Once your hollandaise is done, give it a taste and add a pinch of salt if needed. You could also add a little bit of white pepper if you’d like.
  
• Need to make it in advance? Store the finished sauce in a sealed jar a few hours before you need it. Then, place the jar in hot water and stir until warmed through.

Serving suggestions

The most obvious use is for eggs Benedict, but there are plenty of other ways to use this tangy, creamy sauce.

Drizzle it over roasted asparagus, poached salmon, or steamed vegetables. Or, add a spoonful to homemade breakfast sandwiches. It even tastes great on chicken and potatoes! Adventurous, try my Calamari Chile Relleno!

What can I do with leftover egg whites?

Once you separate out the yolks for this easy hollandaise sauce recipe, you can store the egg whites in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Use them up by making any of the following dishes:

• Egg white omelet
• Meringue topping or meringue cookies
• Tex Mex Egg and Cheese Cauliflower Casserole
• Pavlova
• Spiced nuts

This recipe first appeared on Kevin Is Cooking July 2013. New photos and recipe video were added in December 2020.