Hollandaise Sauce sounds fancy but it is truly easy to make. It’s often drizzled over a classic dish of Eggs Benedict with crispy bacon, toasted English muffins, and Poached Eggs.
If you’re a lover of French-style breakfast foods, also try your hand at making our Perfect Omelette, Quiche Lorraine, or Crepes.
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What is Classic Hollandaise Sauce?
Hollandaise sauce is one of the five “mother sauces” in French cuisine and consists of egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, and water whisked to creamy perfection over low heat. When preparing this decadent recipe, opt for high-quality eggs and butter – it makes all the difference. I prefer to get grass-fed butter for its deep yellow color and organic eggs.
Hollandaise Sauce Ingredients
- Egg yolks – separate your eggs and use the yolks only which help thicken up the sauce. Save the egg whites for a healthy Egg White Omelette the next day!
- Lukewarm water – To regulate the temperature of the sauce, add lukewarm water.
- Lemon juice – The acid from the lemon juice helps the egg yolks absorb more fat from butter and adds a nice pop of tang. You also need it to prevent cracks and help the sauce thicken up.
- Dijon mustard – adds a great layer of flavor and bite to the sauce.
- Unsalted butter – Butter is the key ingredient to helping your hollandaise emulsify and thicken up to a nice consistency.
- Salt – We use fine sea salt in 99% of our cooking. Feel free to adjust the amount you use to your taste.
- Cayenne pepper – If you love a kick of heat, add cayenne pepper to taste.
How to Make Hollandaise Sauce
- Separate the Eggs – add yolks to a small non-reactive saucepan and save whites for another recipe.
- Add water, lemon juice and dijon and whisk together until well combined.
- Add Butter – Slice the butter into small pieces and toss them into the saucepan.
- Cook the Hollandaise – Place saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking the sauce constantly and vigorously until the melted butter turns the mixture frothy. Continue whisking until the sauce just starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove the Sauce from Heat – Once thickened, immediately remove the sauce from heat and season it with more cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Serve immediately or cover to keep warm.
Pro Tip: Make sure to whisk the sauce the entire time it’s over heat or the eggs will scramble!
To Serve
Aside from traditional Eggs Benedict, there are many ways to serve hollandaise sauce:
- Over Potatoes – use it as a topping for oven baked potato wedges or boiled potatoes.
- On Vegetables – For a quick and fancy veggie side dish, drizzle the hollandaise over air fryer asparagus or air fryer broccoli.
- With Protein – use it as a topping for salmon or steak.
Make-Ahead
- Storing: To keep hollandaise fresh, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. This will prevent it from soaking up any lingering smells in your refrigerator.
- Reheating: To warm it back up, use a double boiler on the stovetop to reheat it over a steam bath (direct heat is prone to burning the delicate sauce). If you don’t have a double broiler, you can keep the sauce in the airtight container and let it sit in hot water for 25 minutes.
Common Questions
While they are super similar in texture and ingredients, there are key differences in the way that they are seasoned. Bearnaise typically contains shallots, peppercorns, tarragon, vinegar and wine.
A perfect hollandaise sauce will be perfectly silky and creamy. A poorly made hollandaise will be runny or overly gummy from cooking it at too high of a heat.
Your hollandaise sauce will crack if it’s cooked at too high of a heat. This will cause the dairy to cook too quickly, resulting in cracks. Keep the heat over medium-low and let the sauce cook gradually.
Your hollandaise sauce will turn out runny if you don’t whisk it vigorously and consistently while it’s heating. Aerating the mixture helps make it light, fluffy and thick. Also, avoid substitutions or modifications.
Heating over too high of heat can cause the hollandaise sauce to break. Also make sure to use a non-reactive skillet. Avoid cast iron or copper which can react with the lemon juice.
More Homemade Sauces
- Tzatziki Sauce Recipe
- Easy Chimichurri Sauce Recipe
- Horseradish Sauce
- Homemade Marinara Sauce
- Tartar Sauce
Easy Hollandaise Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 Tbsp lukewarm water
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, (8 Tbsp)
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, or more to taste
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, or more to taste
Instructions
- Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Store the egg whites in an airtight container in the fridge for another recipe.
- Add the egg yolks to a small non-reactive saucepan with water, lemon juice, and dijon, and whisk until well-combined.
- Cut the butter into small pieces and add them to the egg mixture.
- Place the pot over medium-low heat, whisking the mixture constantly. As the butter melts, it will get a little frothy. Continue whisking constantly for about 3 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken then immediately remove from heat. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Season with salt and cayenne pepper, adding more seasoning to taste. Serve right away or cover to keep warm. If the sauce gets too thick, whisk in a teaspoon of warm water to loosen it up.
Nutrition Per Serving
Natalya Drozhzhin
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! It turned out perfect and I love the cayenne pepper.
It turned out really sour even though I followed the measurements correctly, I also put it on medium low and it was too high and cooked the egg. When I tried it the second time I only put it on low and it worked.
Hi Maya! We’ve never had a sour result for this recipe but I’m glad that you werew able to make it work using low heat. Sometimes it depends on the kitchen appliance or oven.
So simple and delicious. This will be the recipe I will use going forward.
I’m so happy you love it, Wendy!
I’m not usually one to comment on recipes, but this was perfect! I’ve only ever tried to make this sauce once before, using the drizzle hot butter method, and, it inevitably split. I really fancied eggs royale for my birthday brekki today, so found this, and have it a go. On licking the spoon at the adjust seasoning to taste, I was blown away! It’s delicious! It didn’t split, and kept warm enough while I poached the eggs. The only adjustment I made was using hot paprika and black pepper, as I don’t have cayenne. Definitely a recipe I’ll do again. Thank you!
You’re so welcome, Kay! This comment made my day, I’m so glad you found a new favorite. Happy Birthday!
All I could taste was butter when I made this recipe and it was not good. My husband who eats almost anything couldn’t eat it either.
I make hollandaise sauce all the time and I use cold butter, not water, to control the heat or stop it from separating. Once you master the heat it is a simple but amazing sauce.
I have NEVER had success making hollandaise sauce. I have tried every method from blender to double broiler. This recipe is just WOW! Incredibly easy and came out PERFECT. This recipe saved my sanity. I love all of Natasha’s recipes!
This was my first attempt at hollandaise and it came out perfectly. I would reduce the lemon juice for personal taste, but it came out great otherwise. Excellent and easy recipe!