Entrecote Sauce

Dinner | French

Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 20 min Servings: 6

Entrecôte sauce is a classic French butter-based sauce made to complement steak. It's typically a smooth emulsion of butter, mustard, shallots, fresh herbs (like tarragon and parsley), anchovies, and capers, often blended with an egg yolk to help it emulsify. It’s rich, herby, slightly tangy, and packed with umami, made to be poured over steak and chips.

This is my version of a paired back entrecote sauce recipe. I use to make this in a french restaurant in Melbourne and it has about 50 different ingredients that went into it. This is the version I like to make a home with a lot less ingredients and it's easier to make.

Technique

This version is built on a shallot butter that’s cooled and then emulsified into an egg yolk and mustard base, using the same technique as mayonnaise: with the blender running, the fat is poured in slowly so the lecithin in the yolk can coat each fat droplet and hold the emulsion together.

Flavour

The flavour comes from the anchovies and capers bring salt and briny depth; tarragon, parsley, and sage are the herb backbone; Worcestershire and Dijon add sharpness; lemon juice provides acidity. The recipe makes around 500ml, enough for 6 portions.

Ingredient Notes

Anchovies: I know not everyone likes anchovies but you won't taste them in the finished sauce. You can reduce the quantity or leave them out but they do add depth and umami. If you're leaving them out, just add extra salt to the sauce.

Nutmeg: I like to use a whole nutmeg and grate it over the shallots, however, you can just use ground nutmeg.

Mustard: It's typical to use Dijon mustard but I also use hot English mustard if that's what's in the fridge.

Tarragon: The defining herb in this sauce. French tarragon has a distinctive anise-like flavour that’s central to the character of classic French butter sauces. Use fresh rather than dried where possible. Dried tarragon loses most of its volatile oils during processing and the flavour is much flatter and less aromatic than fresh.

Unsalted butter: The sauce uses 250g of butter, most of which is melted with the shallots and then cooled before emulsification. Unsalted butter gives you control over the final seasoning. The anchovies, capers, and Worcestershire sauce all bring salt to the sauce, so using salted butter risks over-seasoning.

Equipment

Chopping board
Chef’s knife
Medium saucepan
Fine grater or microplane (for nutmeg)
Tall jug or narrow container (for stick blending)
Stick blender (immersion blender)
Measuring spoons
Serving jug

Ingredients

250g (8.8 oz) unsalted butter
3 shallots
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
5 anchovies
10 small capers
1 small handful tarragon
1 handful flat leaf parsley
6 sage leaves
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tbsp room temperature water, to thin out
Sea salt, to season

Directions

Cook the shallots
Place 75g of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat and melt gently. Finely slice the shallots and add to the pan. Season with some salt and the nutmeg, then sauté for 3-4 minutes until the shallots are translucent.
Turn off the heat and leave for 5 minutes, then add the remaining butter and let it melt slowly. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Blend the sauce base
Place the egg yolk in a tall jug with the mustard, anchovies and capers. Add the tarragon, parsley and sage leaves, then the lemon juice and worcestershire.
Using a stick blender on low speed, blend until the base of the sauce has blended smoothly. With the blender running, slowly pour in the cooled butter mixture, similar to making a mayonnaise. Add a little room temperature water if needed to thin it down.
Season and serve
Give it a final taste and adjust salt if needed. Serve straight away over steak, or keep warm until ready to use.