Step up your home steak game with this classic French steak sauce. Bordelaise is a hearty and rich red wine sauce perfect for any seared ribeye or grilled steak. Learn how to make this sauce from scratch at home with red wine, beef stock, and aromatics.
What is bordelaise sauce?
Bordelaise is a classic French sauce that is made from dry red wine from Bordeaux. French cooking books date the earliest bordelaise sauce from the 18th century. It’s traditionally served with grilled beef or steak and has a very red-wine-forward flavor.
Bordelaise sauce ingredients
Bordelaise sauce is a base of dry red wine, shallots sauteed in butter, and beef reduction infused with herbs like parsley, thyme, and bay leaves. Traditionally, people used wine from Bordeaux, where the name comes from; however, you can use any dry red wine. I like to add beurre manié (an even ratio of butter and flour) to slightly thicken the sauce.
Type of wine to use for bordelaise
While bordelaise is originally made from Bordeaux wine, you don’t have to be limited to using wines from this region. All you need is a good quality dry red wine to make the base red sauce. For example, I used a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from my local grocery store. You can also use Merlot if you have that on hand. Try to pick something you can easily drink with a mild body – this is a good indicator that you will like it in your sauce.
Using beef stock vs beef broth
Bordelaise calls for beef stock to make the brown sauce–not to be confused with beef broth because these two are different items. The difference between beef stock and beef broth is that the former is made from animal bones simmered with vegetables, and broth is made from roasted animal bones and flesh with vegetables. These two are not interchangeable for this recipe, so make sure to use homemade stock or purchase a premade stock at the grocery store for an easy hack.
What to serve with steak & bordelaise sauce
I like to serve steak and bordelaise with a balance of vegetables and carbs like ranch roasted potatoes, crispy smashed potatoes, string beans with garlic hoisin sauce, air fryer biscuits, and Japanese ginger dressing with greens. For more steak sauce recipes, check out my post here.
Bordelaise Sauce
Ingredients
Bordelaise
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter split
- ¾ c chopped shallots
- 400 ml beef stock reduce to 200 ml
- 300 ml dry red wine
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 5 branches fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- kosher salt Diamond Crystal brand
- black pepper
Beurre manié
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter softened
- 1 tbsp flour
Equipment Used
- knife and cutting board
- measuring cups and spoons
- Strainer
- saucepan
- saucepot
- Spoon
- spatula
Instructions
- In a sauce pot, add the beef stock over medium heat and cook until it reduces to half the amount. For example if you start with 400 ml, reduce to 200 ml.
- I like to use a tempered glass measuring cup and transfer the stock once it’s reduced enough to accurately check the reduction. Set stock aside. This should take around 10 minutes.
- In a separate pan over medium heat, combine half the butter and shallots. Stir occasionally and cook until golden brown. This should take about 10 minutes.
- Once your shallots are browned, add the red wine, parsley, time, and bay leaves. Stir the mixture and cook until it’s reduced by half. This takes about 5 minutes.
- Add the reduced beef stock to the red wine sauce. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
- Strain the sauce.
- Clean the saucepan and add the sauce back in.
- Make the beurre manié: Use a spatula to mix the butter and flour until they’re combined. It should be a thick paste to help thicken the bordelaise.
- Add all the beurre manié into the sauce. Use a whisk to ensure it’s thoroughly incorporated, and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the sauce is thickened. It should be done when it can coat the back of the spoon.
- Taste test and add salt and pepper based on your preference. Add the other half of the butter and move the pan in gentle circles to dissolve the butter. Sauce is finished when it reaches about a thickness seen here: you can drag a spatula or spoon across the pan and you can see the bottom of the pan for a brief moment before the sauce fills it. Serve immediately.