What is bordelaise sauce?
Bordelaise is a classic French sauce that is made from dry red wine from Bordeaux. French cooking books date the earliest bordelaise sauce from the 18th century. It’s traditionally served with grilled beef or steak and has a very red-wine-forward flavor.
Bordelaise sauce ingredients
Bordelaise sauce is a base of dry red wine, shallots sauteed in butter, and beef reduction infused with herbs like parsley, thyme, and bay leaves. Traditionally, people used wine from Bordeaux, where the name comes from; however, you can use any dry red wine. I like to add beurre manié (an even ratio of butter and flour) to slightly thicken the sauce.
Type of wine to use for bordelaise
While bordelaise is originally made from Bordeaux wine, you don’t have to be limited to using wines from this region. All you need is a good quality dry red wine to make the base red sauce. For example, I used a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from my local grocery store. You can also use Merlot if you have that on hand. Try to pick something you can easily drink with a mild body – this is a good indicator that you will like it in your sauce.
Using beef stock vs beef broth
Bordelaise calls for beef stock to make the brown sauce–not to be confused with beef broth because these two are different items. The difference between beef stock and beef broth is that the former is made from animal bones simmered with vegetables, and broth is made from roasted animal bones and flesh with vegetables. These two are not interchangeable for this recipe, so make sure to use homemade stock or purchase a premade stock at the grocery store for an easy hack.
What to serve with steak & bordelaise sauce
I like to serve steak and bordelaise with a balance of vegetables and carbs like ranch roasted potatoes, crispy smashed potatoes, string beans with garlic hoisin sauce, air fryer biscuits, and Japanese ginger dressing with greens. For more steak sauce recipes, check out my post here.
