Hollandaise Sauce

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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.

Hollandaise sauce in a small grey bowl.

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.

  1. Melt the butter in a microwave for about 1 minute until hot.
  2. Combine the egg yolks, lemon juice, dijon, salt and cayenne pepper into a high powered blender and blend for 5 seconds.
  3. Slowly stream in the hot butter into the mixture as the blender is running.
  4. 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

Hollandaise sauce ingredients in a blender.

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!

Making hollandaise sauce in a blender.

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.

Hollandaise sauce dripping off a spoon.

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.

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 dripping off a spoon.

Hollandaise Sauce (Easy & No-Fail)

4.90 from 494 votes
Prep: 5 minutes
Total: 5 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Lisa Bryan

Description

Hollandaise sauce is a classic creamy sauce that's perfect for brunch and comes together with 5 simple ingredients. It's easy and foolproof in a blender! Watch the video above to see how I make it.

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

Calories: 249kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 207mg | Sodium: 369mg | Potassium: 15mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 904IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: sauce
Cuisine: American, French
Keyword: hollandaise sauce, how to make hollandaise sauce
Did you make this recipe?Mention @downshiftology or tag #downshiftology!

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About the author

Lisa Bryan

Lisa is a bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and YouTuber (with over 2.5 million subscribers) living in sunny Southern California. She started Downshiftology in 2014, and is passionate about making healthy food with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients.

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Recipe Rating




888 Comments

  1. I just made this recipe. It was too bitter with the amount of Dijon and lemon juice. I’m going to have to add cream to tame the sharpness of this hollandaise.

  2. Very easy to make. Really good, I’d recommend this highly.
    I used 4 egg yolks and extra lemon juice. But I’m sure it would’ve been perfect just as is.
    Was a big hit for our early Christmas Prime Rib dinner. Tasted so yummy over my asparagus!5 stars

  3. Turns out perfectly every. single. time.
    My family will no longer order Eggs Benedict at restaurants cuz our home version is better using this hollandaise.5 stars

  4. I made this yesterday. It tasted way to much like mustard. Was super easy to make though! I made mixed it in my food processor.

  5. I tried making classic hollandaise years ago & it was such an expensive failure I never bothered again… until now. Tasty, quick & easy, this recipe seems bullet proof & exactly what I have been looking for, thanks for that.
    PS: Great tip about the butter temperature!5 stars

  6. This sauce was wonderful and so easy. Eggs Benedict is my favorite recipe but I never learned to make it because the recipes are so hard and time consuming. Finally made this and my whole family if 8 picky eaters loved it. And it’s was so easy! Thank you so much!!5 stars

  7. Brilliant recipe, thank you! Impressed my family with 4 plates of eggs bennie, spinach and ham.
    I managed this with a stick blender and whole grain mustard cos I had no dijon. So I’ll superb. 5 stars! Thanks5 stars

  8. This was such a great recipe. The hollandaise was the best I’ve tried. Makes you realise eggs Benedict is actually very easy to make yourself. Thanks for sharing.

  9. Cooked this for my girlfriend on the morning I proposed to her and she said yes, that’s how good this recipe is!5 stars

    1. Hollandaise sauce is a lemony butter emulsification. If it didn’t properly thicken and emulsify, you may be tasting more of those flavors.

      1. So easy and fast. I didn’t use the blender, I just whisked by hand. Still so fast. If it turns cold and not smooth, just add a little bit of boiling water.5 stars

  10. I used to LOVE Hollandaise Sauce until made this recipe. Now I realize all others were imposters! I might have licked my plate. 5 stars

  11. This was my first attempt making Hollandaise. This recipe was super easy to execute and came out great! I didn’t have unsalted butter, so my sauce came out a little on the ‘too salty’ side, but I added 2 extra yolks and it was fine. Thank you for sharing your expertise! God bless!5 stars

  12. Followed the instructions perfectly measuring out everything. And it tasted too salty and had such a strong Dijon taste to it. How is everyone else saying this tastes like hollandaise? I used my immersion blender and it looked beautiful. Didn’t taste like what I expected. Im going to try again but with half of what the recipe is asking for in regards to salt and dijon

  13. This is such a yummy hollandaise! Just wondering if there is a way to store it? I’ve made a third of the batch before which was pretty perfect for two to three servings but when I make the larger batches I don’t know how I should store it or heat it in any way to use it again. Any tips? 5 stars

  14. I have never made Hollandaise sauce despite witnessing my father making it so many times growing up and seeing the precision it took to succeed. So skeptically , I tried it yesterday for the very first time (added tarragon at the end for my salmon dish) and , o boy, it did not fail ! Wow !!! Thank you Lisa for this easy recipe ! It was really delicious and everyone loved it !! 5 stars

  15. No-fail, it is! And absolutely delicious. My first batch came out a little on the thick side, I wanted it a tad more easy to pour, so the second batch I added an extra tablespoon of melted butter and poured it slower into the blender and it was perfect. 5 stars

  16. Hello! Can’t wait to try this recipe! I don’t have a blender – would a food processor work? Thanks! 

      1. Hi, love this recipe, it’s my go to – just to note – I do this recipe all the time in my mini food processor and it works great!5 stars

    1. Great and simple recipe! I was a bit worried because I had to use plant butter but it came out perfect and we didn’t notice a difference at all.5 stars

  17. I can cook you a perfect prime rib poach an Instagramable egg bake you a baked Alaska but NEVER had a perfect hollandaise that didn’t take FOREVER what with tempering, mixing, etc…THEN I FOUND YOU! This was easy delectable and now my go to THANK YOU THANK YOU5 stars

  18. Been using this recipe for many years (25+)and it’s never failed  me ! Love it with asparagus, steaks, eggs Benedict. If using Ghee it’ll take longer to get it hot enough as it has a very high smoke factor!Enjoy👍5 stars

  19. I don’t normally take the time or make the effort to leave comments, but I had to this time.

    Usually to me when a recipe says “foolproof” it just means foolproof for most people….and I am not one of them. I usually always find a way to mess things up. But this recipe worked first time. Thank you! Just one thing I didn’t like, and that is why I only left 4 stars, the sauce was very very runny. Any advice on how to make it nice and thick?4 stars

    1. I’m so happy you enjoyed this hollandaise recipe, Rayne! I do appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. If your sauce was overly runny, it may not have fully emulsified. You can always try adding one more egg yolk to firm it up a bit. Enjoy!

    2. If my sauce comes out a little bit runny, I pop it in the microwave for a few seconds and that thickens it right up perfectly. Hope this helps.

  20. Holy yum!! Thanks for the recipe! Now I don’t have to go to a restaurant for eggs bene 😁 Easy peasy and came out perfect!!5 stars

  21. OMG. Found this recipe on Pinterest. Joy oh joy! Grabbed my imersible and melted my butter dang near at the same time. It is, literally, the easiest hollandaise sauce EVER! Thank you! I’ll be making it again and again!5 stars

    1. You can for just one day. Although, there’s a few things you’ll need to keep in mind when reheating, which you can find written in the post :)

  22. Wow, no fail wasn’t a joke. Made exactly as stated and it turned out great the first try! Really good quick sauce. Used for crab benny!5 stars

  23. Hollandaise doesn’t have Dijon mustard in it. Once you add Dijon to Hollandaise, it is called sauce Dijon or sauce moutard. It’s delicious, but it’s not Hollandaise. I like your tips for reheating the sauce.

    1. Thank you for saying something when no one else in the comments has! I couldn’t figure out why my hollandaise tasted like straight Dijon! Was disappointed when I was expecting Hollandaise flavor.

  24. Easy recipe, delicious result. Thank you! I’ve tried and failed many times, ended up with scrambled eggs. This worked beautifully.5 stars

  25. Foolproof! I used an immersion blender and it came out perfectly! I feel I lose too much Hollandaise sauce to the inside of the blender, and I hate to waste any of it. Also, to keep it warm while I poach the eggs I place the blender jar in a bowl of warm (not hot) water. My only change to the recipe was to double the lemon juice, because right now I have lots of Meyer lemons and they are not as tart. This recipe is a keeper!!5 stars

  26. Not the recipe’s fault…BUT Don’t add the 1/4 t salt if you are using salted butter. I wish I had not been in such a hurry. I grabbed a stick of salted butter without checking the recipe and wasted my time and my food ingredients. I barely rescued my sauce by adding another egg yoke. It can now be served over a salt observing baked potato.  Good reminder to read, then reread a new recipe.4 stars