Béarnaise blushed with tomato — a derivative of a derivative, and the prettiest sauce you can put beside a steak or grilled fish.
What you need
Ingredients
Servings
4
Before you start
Mise en place
Yield: About 275 ml
Equipment
Small saucepan
Whisk
Prep checklist
Eggs — yolks only
Butter — melted, warm
Shallot — minced
2 steps
Method
1
Make a béarnaise: vinegar-shallot-tarragon reduction, yolks ribboned over gentle heat, warm butter emulsified in.
10 min — timer available in cooking mode
2
Warm the tomato paste in a dry pan 60 seconds to cook off its raw edge, then whisk it into the finished sauce. Season and serve immediately.
1 min — timer available in cooking mode
Why this works
Concentrated paste (not fresh tomato) keeps the emulsion thick — fresh tomato's water would loosen it toward soup.
From the pass
Chef's notes
Taste before serving and adjust salt and acid — the last 30 seconds of seasoning matter more than any single ingredient.
When it goes sideways
Common mistakes
The sauce broke into oily puddles
Too much fat too fast, or too much heat. Whisk a tablespoon of warm water in a clean bowl and beat the broken sauce into it a spoonful at a time — you're starting a new emulsion and feeding it the old one.
It's too thick
Thickness means crowded, not broken — loosen with warm water a teaspoon at a time.
Afterwards
Keep, reheat & pair
Storage
Airtight jar in the fridge, 3–5 days. Press plastic wrap onto the surface of starch-thickened sauces to stop a skin forming.
Freezing
Most sauces freeze 2–3 months; freeze in ice-cube trays for single portions. Emulsified butter/egg sauces don't freeze — they break on thawing.
Reheating
Reheat gently over low heat, whisking; butter- and egg-based sauces split when boiled. Loosen with a spoonful of warm water or stock.
Make ahead
Most sauces keep 3–5 days refrigerated and freeze in ice-cube trays for instant single portions. Emulsified butter sauces are best made within the hour.