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, (1/2 cup =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
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
This was a great recipe especially as it was not done in a double boiler. Mine did split, however adding a tablespoon of hot water and whisking corrected the problem. It took it right back to its correct consistency. Definitely a keeper
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi, although the sauce tastes wonderful, it completely separated and would not thicken. It did not look very appealing as a result, but my family ate it up. I am wondering what suggestions you would have to make it smoother? Thank you!
HI Erica, did you possibly have the heat too high?
I used this sauce for crab omelettes and also steak Oscar … so easy and and huge hit with husband!!!! A keeper for sure!!
I never comment on recipes but I had to make an exception. This was by far the best and easiest hollandaise I’ve ever made. No fiddling around with a double boiler or pouring piping hot butter and making a mess.
I had trouble sustaining the rhythm of whisking so I grabbed my immersion blender and it worked beautifully and magically. This will become my one and only hollandaise recipe!
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Super easy, no fail and delicious! Now I need to find more of her recipes!
Thank you for your excellent feedback! Hope you’ll love all of the recipes that you will try.
Wonderfully easy and delicious! Thank you for this recipe. I used to make hollandaise in a blender, but it didn’t work well last time I tried. This is foolproof.
Thank you, Joan. Great to hear that it was a success!
Wow, eggs benedict is my favorite, this hollandaise sauce is the BEST I have ever had!! My husband and I agree better than any restaurant sauce!!!!
This was great! Had it with sourdough discard crumpets, asparagus, prosciutto and Manchego cheese. Stuck inside due to weather and lots of time for an excellent breakfast!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Matt!
Perfect recipe! I was apprehensive because I only had enough butter on hand to get it right the first time- but it came together flawlessly. I also halved the recipe and wondered if that would make it cook too quickly but nope… perfect. Half the recipe made just the right amount of sauce for eggs Benedict for two. <3
That’s great, Beth! Thank you for sharing.
I doubled the recipe as I had a few people to feed. I added a little too much lemon juice though and it was a little more than I wanted, but it was still a hit with everyone ! Great recipe and thank you 😊
Hi David, oh no but still good tio know that it was still a huge hit. Feel free to adjust the lemon next time.
Easy to make and absolutely perfect. We tried it on eggs benedicts and it was a banger.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Mark!
Perfect hollandaise sauce finally! Thank you!!I will make this again and again.
So glad you loved it!
First time ever making hollandaise, turned out beautifully 😍
That’s great, Lindsay!
This recipe is horrible. I tried making it twice and both times it never thickened and then turned into an oily curdled mush. I hate making hollandaise sauce because it is so finicky and this recipe is just not good nor easy. Waste of ingredients and my time!
HI Allie, I haven’t had that happen but I think I can help troubleshoot that so you can have success with hollandaise in the future. Here are the things that can cause breaking or curdling of the sauce: 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. I added this tip in the post and hopefully it will help others avoid this issue.
Clearly the heat was too high and probably used a reactive pan. That is so sad. I think this recipe is just fine.
Wow! Thank you for sharing. We made this on Christmas day and we love it!
Hi Petra, I’m so glad you loved the hollandaise recipe. Thank you for the great review.
Simple instructions, very easy to follow and the sauce came out great!
I was scared when I tasted it and the Dijon came through pretty strong. Stuck with it, and, after it’s poured over poached eggs and bacon and toasted croissant – the balance is perfect and it worked out great!!! 👍🏼
Thanks for your good comments, Jess. Glad that it was a success!
Sauce didn’t thicken using this method. I’m going back to thickening the yolks first and then pouring in melted butter. Works every time.
Hi Casey, I haven’t had that happen where it didn’t thicken up – that is not a normal occurrence. Did you substitute anything?
It was delicious! It was my fist time trying, and it turned out great! At first it wasn’t thinkening up, but I just set the heat higher and it worked. My family loved it!
BTW Im 11 and was able to do it completely by myself.
Thank you for the feedback, Jackie!
I was very skeptical (due to direct heat method and “put all of the ingredients together”) but gave this recipe a try. It came out just perfect – flavor, consistency and it held up covered with foil on the stove until my nocturnal son was able to get out of bed. I overcooked the eggs for the benny a tad, but the sauce covered for that beautifully. On my gas stove, the correct heat was juuuust over “simmer” (my stove lies. It has no “simmer”).
Hi Ken! Thank you so much for trying the recipe. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
This recipe was super easy and great. It did take me much longer to get a thicker consistence but my stove is pretty old. I would say be patient and let the hollandaise thicken without turning up the heat or thinking you’re doing something wrong. It probably took me a good 10-15 minutes to get it thick enough but again, my stove is super old. I took the pan off the heat after I reached my desired consistency and put a lid on it until I was ready to serve it (atop eggs Benny) and the sauce didn’t break at all and I wasn’t ready to serve after making the sauce for at least 15 minutes (or longer!) Great recipe and I’m glad I didn’t have to use a blender as many other recipes called for. This is in fact easy! Thank you!
Hi Ariel, thank you so much for your detailed feedback and comments. We appreciate it and we’re so glad that you enjoyed this recipe as well.