How to make hollandaise sauce in just minutes with a handful of ingredients, a blender, and an easy, no-fail method. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, eggs benedict, salmon, steak, and more!
Separate the egg yolks from the whites and juice the lemon.It can be a good idea to allow the eggs to come down to room temperature for 15-20 minutes before continuing with the recipe. This will help ensure that the eggs' coldness doesn’t impact the butter when blending.
Transfer the white wine vinegar to a small saucepan and heat it over medium-low heat until it reduces by half.
At the same time, melt the butter in a separate small pan until it begins to bubble, and then scoop off and remove any white foam.It’s important to move to step two immediately after heating the butter. If you allow it to cool, you risk the emulsification not working properly. The melted butter needs to be HOT.
Step 2: Blend the Hollandaise Sauce
You can do this step using either a food processor/blender with a pouring spout or an immersion blender.Place the egg yolks, lemon juice, reduced vinegar, and cayenne pepper in your food processor or a tall immersion blender cup (or jar).If you’re using an immersion blender, ensure it’s touching the bottom of the container and turn it on. Allow the blender to run while very slowly pouring in the melted butter.
A thick, creamy-looking sauce will start to emulsify near the blades. If using an immersion blender, slowly pull the blender up towards the top of the mixture as it emulsifies, ensuring it is all fully emulsified and rich and creamy.
Step 3: Taste and Enjoy
Season the homemade hollandaise sauce with salt and black pepper to taste, and enjoy!
Storage Instructions
Store: Best to enjoy soon after preparing. However, if needed, you can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.While the sauce doesn't store particularly well, you can keep it warm for up to an hour over a double boiler with hot (not boiling) water.Freeze: Technically, you can freeze hollandaise sauce for up to a month, though I haven't tried and don't recommend it. Allow it to thaw in the refrigerator before reheating it.Reheat: You have to be careful when reheating Hollandaise as you don't want to cook the eggs within the sauce, and it can be a bit of a risk as to whether it will work.It’s best to be gentle when reheating it. You can do so in a small saucepan on the stovetop over low heat (adding a little more melted butter if necessary to re-emulsify) over low heat. Alternatively, set the sauce container in a bowl of warm (not hot) water and allow it to sit for 15-20 minutes, swap out the water and repeat until the sauce is warm.
Notes
Use high-quality ingredients: The eggs and butter used in this easy blender hollandaise sauce recipe make all the difference for the best flavor.
Use HOT butter: If it's lukewarm, you risk emulsification issues. Temperature control is important for this recipe.
Don't add the butter too quickly: It must be in a thin stream, with breaks in between. If you pour it in too quickly, it won’t emulsify properly.
Optional Add-ins and VariationsNot all of the below are classic hollandaise ingredients, but they’ll still taste fantastic.
Other spices:
Nutmeg
Smoked paprika
Dijonmustard: Just a tiny amount of mustard will add depth to the sauce.
Herbs: Several herbs work well in this sauce, including fresh dill, chives, tarragon, and parsley.
Sriracha: Add sriracha or another hot sauce, one teaspoon at a time after emulsifying the sauce. Add to taste, blending between to disperse it in the sauce.
Check the blog post for suggested uses, how to fix broken hollandaise, and answers to top FAQs!