If you've ever wondered what brown sauce is or how it connects to the legendary French mother sauce, Sauce Espagnole, you're in the right kitchen. This deeply savory, gently peppery brown sauce recipe transforms simple meat dishes into something wonderfully comforting. Whether you're making my easy home-style version or diving into the classic espagnole sauce, you'll discover just how magical a well-made brown sauce can be.
As a member of the iconic French mother sauces, you can try each one right here on Love French Food: Bechamél Sauce Recipe, Velouté Recipe, Classic Hollandaise Sauce, and Homemade Tomato Sauce.
This sauce if often used in the UK and Ireland to enhance meat dishes to a new level by using meat drippings. I have two alternatives too, an easy au jus recipe without beef drippings or red wine jus for steak, you will love them all!
This is a basic brown sauce recipe that is very easy to make and will transform your meal into a delicious and tasty dish in very little time.
You can use the meat juices from a piece of meat you have roasted, such as beef, lamb, pork, or chicken, but you can also use meat dripping, as in this recipe.
More Handy Sauces
- Bechamel sauce is the basic white sauce used for making many other sauces.
- A coulis is a form of thick sauce made from puréed fruits. Fruit Coulis.
- This mayonnaise recipe will give you the most delicious and superior mayonnaise you have ever tasted.
📖 Recipe
Brown Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 oz pork or beef dripping Can be bought at the butchers or good supermarkets if you don't have your own. Or 6 tablespoons butter.
- 2 oz onion chopped finely
- 3 oz lean bacon chopped into small pieces
- 1 small carrot chopped finely
- 1 stick of celery chopped finely
- 1 clove of garlic chopped finely
- 1 oz all purpose flour
- ¾ pt of stock this can be beef stock or a vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon of tomato purée
- 1 sprig of parsley you can use ¼ teaspoon dried
- 1 sprig of thyme you can use ¼ teaspoon dried
- 1 small bayleaf
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the fat in a heavy bottomed pan.
- Fry the onion, carrot, celery, and bacon gently for five minutes. Add garlic during last minute.
- Add the flour and stir continuously to coat pan contents, as it cooks slowly and gradually turns brown.
- Add the stock slowly, stirring constantly with a whisk, then add tomato purée, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper, continuing to stir until it boils.
- Cover the pan and on a low heat, simmering for about half an hour.
- Press through a sieve or put in a blender/liquidiser or handblend in the pot. If your sauce is too thick, add a little more stock to make thinner to the consistence you desire.
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning as you prefer by adding salt or pepper.
Notes
- This is an easy sauce to make. Chopping the vegetables uniformly will be helpful during the cooking process and for good flavor.
Nutrition
Did you make this & like it, or not, let us know?!