How to Make Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise is a warm, buttery sauce made by whisking egg yolks with lemon juice over gentle heat, then slowly beating in melted butter until it forms a thick, glossy emulsion. It's one of the French mother sauces and the crown of eggs Benedict.

Why hollandaise works

Butter is about 80% fat and 15–17% water. Normally fat and water separate. Egg yolks contain lecithin and other proteins that act as emulsifiers: one end of the molecule clings to water, the other to fat, so they coat tiny fat droplets and keep them suspended in the lemon juice and water.

Gently cooking the yolks does two more things. It thickens them as their proteins partially unfold, which makes the sauce more stable. And it creates a light, airy base that holds more butter.

The temperature window is narrow:

• Below about 45 °C / 113 °F, the butter firms up and the sauce gets stiff and can break.
• About 60–70 °C / 140–160 °F is the sweet spot while cooking the yolks.
• Above about 75–80 °C / 170–175 °F, yolk proteins coagulate into scrambled-egg bits and the sauce splits.

That's why hollandaise is cooked over a bain-marie of barely simmering water, not over direct heat.

Ingredients (about 250 mL, 4 servings)

Clarified butter gives a thicker, more stable sauce; whole melted butter gives a lighter, slightly thinner one with more flavour from the milk solids.

Steps

1. Melt the butter and keep it warm, around 60–70 °C / 140–160 °F. Too hot and it can cook the yolks; too cool and it won't emulsify smoothly.
2. Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. The bowl shouldn't touch the water.
3. Whisk the yolks, lemon juice, and water together in the bowl.
4. Whisk over the heat for 2–4 minutes, until the yolks are thick, pale, and form ribbons that hold for a second when you lift the whisk. Lift the bowl off the heat every 20–30 seconds if it starts to steam or set at the edges.
5. Take the bowl off the heat and set it on a folded towel so it doesn't spin.
6. Drizzle in the warm butter a few drops at a time, whisking constantly. The first few spoonfuls are the most important; this is when the emulsion forms.
7. Once the sauce visibly thickens, pour in the rest of the butter in a thin, steady stream, whisking all the while. If using whole butter, leave the milky liquid at the bottom behind or add it last to thin the sauce.
8. Season with salt, a pinch of cayenne, and more lemon juice to taste. If it's too thick, whisk in a teaspoon of warm water.
9. Hold it warm, around 60 °C / 140 °F, and use within about an hour.

Chef Fizz says: If the sauce starts looking shiny-greasy instead of creamy, stop adding butter and whisk in a teaspoon of warm water. Catching it early saves it every time.

Blender method

Blend 3 yolks, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and salt for 5 seconds. With the motor running, stream in 170 g of butter melted until very hot and bubbling (about 85–90 °C / 185–195 °F). The hot butter partly cooks the yolks. It takes 2 minutes and is very reliable, though slightly thinner and less stable when held.

Variations

• Béarnaise: Replace the lemon juice with a reduction of 60 mL white wine vinegar, 1 minced shallot, and tarragon, strained. Finish with chopped tarragon and chervil.
• Maltaise: Add blood orange juice and zest.
• Mousseline: Fold in whipped cream just before serving.
• Choron: Béarnaise with a little tomato paste.

Common mistakes and fixes

Broken (greasy, separated) sauce. The butter went in too fast, or the sauce got too hot or too cold. In a clean bowl, whisk 1 tablespoon of warm water or a fresh yolk, then slowly whisk the broken sauce into it.

Scrambled bits. The yolks overheated. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve. If it's badly curdled, start again with new yolks.

Too thick. Whisk in warm water a teaspoon at a time.

Too thin. Not enough butter, or the yolks weren't cooked enough. Whisk over the bain-marie for a few seconds, or add more warm butter slowly.

Sauce set firm while waiting. It cooled. Whisk in a little warm water over very gentle heat.

Food safety

Classic hollandaise doesn't heat the yolks enough to guarantee salmonella is destroyed. Health authorities advise pregnant people, young children, older adults, and anyone immunocompromised to avoid dishes with lightly cooked eggs unless pasteurized eggs are used. Its holding temperature sits inside the danger zone, so don't keep it warm for more than about an hour. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, use them within a day, and rewarm very gently over warm water while whisking.