The perfect, elegant sauce to elevate any steak dish!
Steak is awesome. Red meat is pretty much my all-time favorite protein, even though I was intimidated by the thought of cooking it myself for a very long time. After all, steak can be expensive—especially good steak! I was always afraid of messing it up after paying extra for a good cut. But eventually, I allowed myself to start taking the risk, and now I cook great steaks! Part of cooking great steaks is knowing how to season it or make a sauce that complements it well. And that’s where this red wine reduction sauce comes in.
This is one of the very first sauces that I tried to make when I first started cooking steaks, so that’s how beginner-friendly it is! This was back before I had kids, and it was just me and my then fiancé. If you want to make a fancy date night dinner at home, I highly recommend this sauce on a good steak with some potatoes and a green vegetable, followed by a chocolate dessert. It’ll leave you with a full belly and lots of good memories!
Red wine reduction sauce is really perfect to put on red meat. The sauce has a rich, deep flavor that really stands out as a top-notch addition to your steak. Honestly, it’s so good that even when I sometimes overcooked my steak, I didn’t mind too much because I still got to have this delicious sauce.
Choose A Good Wine
It’s important to pick a good wine for this sauce. You can, if you so choose, just get whatever cheap bottle or box of wine you find at the convenience store, but if you don’t genuinely enjoy the wine, you’ll find less enjoyment in the sauce you make with the wine! So, choose wine that you enjoy. A Merlot or a Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a more full-bodied red wine, will have a rich flavor that carries over to your sauce. I personally recommend a Merlot, and you can also pour a glass for yourself to have with your meal!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 cup beef broth
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
How To Make Red Wine Reduction Sauce
Step 1: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Step 2: Add the shallots and sauté until they are translucent and slightly golden, about 3-4 minutes.
Step 3: Pour in the red wine and increase the heat to bring to a boil. Allow the wine to reduce by half, which should take about 5-7 minutes.
Step 4: Add the beef broth and continue to simmer the mixture until it reduces by half again, about 5 minutes more.
Step 5: Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. For a smoother sauce, you can strain it through a fine mesh sieve before serving.
FAQs & Tips
How To Make Ahead And Store
You can make this sauce ahead of time if you want to and store it in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can freeze it! If you make a lot and want to easily plop it out over time for your steaks, I have an interesting solution for you: freeze it in an ice cube tray. This will give you perfect portions to use for the future, and it will stay good for about 3 months.
Herbtastic
Add some herbs to your sauce! The herbs I like best are a little bit of fresh parsley and very finely chopped rosemary. Just add them to the sauce in Step 3.
The Sauce Thickens
If you’d like a thicker sauce, something more akin to a gravy rather than a runnier liquid, consider adding a slurry made with 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of water. Whisk this well and slowly mix into the sauce. You can also use cornstarch.
Serving Suggestions
Put this on all the steaks. Every one of them. Do you have a Pan-Seared Steak planned for dinner? Sauce it up. What about a tender, delicious, juicy personal favorite of mine, Grilled Filet Mignon? Sauce time! Or maybe you’re doing a Cast-Iron Skillet Filet Mignon? Get saucy. Rib Eye Steak? Sauce. Steak in the Oven? Sauce. Serve any of these with a side of Mashed Potatoes and a green vegetable like Green Beans Almondine or Sautéed Asparagus, and you’ve got a great dinner!
Red Wine Reduction Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 cup beef broth
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the shallots and sauté until they are translucent and slightly golden, about 3-4 minutes.
- Pour in the red wine and increase the heat to bring to a boil. Allow the wine to reduce by half, which should take about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the beef broth and continue to simmer the mixture until it reduces by half again, about 5 minutes more.
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. For a smoother sauce, you can strain it through a fine mesh sieve before serving.
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