Beurre Blanc
A hearty vegetarian built around dry white wine, shallots and heavy cream — roughly 60 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 7 steps.
You'll mainly reach for saucepan and pan. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (3)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Cut the cold butter into small cubes and keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
- Finely mince the shallots and place them in a small saucepan with the white wine and white wine vinegar.
- Simmer the mixture over medium heat until the liquid has reduced to about 2 tablespoons of syrupy glaze.
- Lower the heat, stir in the heavy cream, and let it warm through for about 1 minute to help stabilise the sauce.
- Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the cold butter a few cubes at a time, adding more only once each addition has melted, so the sauce emulsifies into a glossy, pale cream rather than boiling.
- Once all the butter is incorporated, remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice, then season with salt and white pepper.
- For a silky finish, strain out the shallots through a fine sieve if you prefer a smooth sauce, and keep the beurre blanc warm but never hot, serving it within an hour over fish or vegetables.
You'll use: Saucepan · Pan · Whisk
Ingredient substitutions
- White Wine
- chicken or vegetable stock + 1 tsp vinegar
- Shallots
- ½ small onion + a little garlic
- Heavy Cream
- evaporated milk · ½ cup milk + ¼ cup melted butter · full-fat coconut milk
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
Tips & common questions
How long does Beurre Blanc take to make?
About 60 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 8 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of white wine?
Try chicken or vegetable stock + 1 tsp vinegar. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Beurre Blanc vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Beurre Blanc is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Salmon wrapped scallops with beurre blanc and caviar.jpg (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.