Most steaks are perfect just the way they are. There’s no need for gravy, steak sauce , or any spices that cover up the beefy flavors you love, save for a little salt and pepper to enhance the bite. However, a pan sauce is something you may not want to cast off as just another thing to ruin a good steak.
Making pan sauce is super easy, just about anyone can handle creating one from scratch in the kitchen. Grab your stainless steel pan and get ready to make a sauce that elevates the flavor of just about any steak.
Table of Contents
What’s a Pan Sauce?
Pan sauce is a thin sauce that’s made from the drippings your meat cooked in, also known as fond. Steak usually leaves behind delicious, brown, crisp fond that’s super flavorful, making it the perfect base for a pan sauce that you can drizzle over your steak once you’re ready to eat.
Unlike gravy, the consistency of pan sauce is juice-like, which helps keep steak tender and juicy rather than covering it in a thick sauce (although, that can be delicious too!).
How to Make a Simple Pan Sauce
To make a pan sauce for steak, grab the following ingredients, so they’re ready to go:
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
Beef or vegetable broth, or your favorite cooking wine
1 garlic clove, minced
1 rosemary
1 basil
You’ll also need a whisk or spatula and your stainless-steel or cast iron skillet (whatever you used to cook the steaks).
Once your steaks cook to your desired temperature, remove them from the pan and set them aside. Then:
Drain the leftover fat from the pan but leave the bottom greased and don’t get rid of the fond. You want all that flavor left in there for your sauce. Keep the pan set on medium heat.
Add thyme, rosemary, and garlic to the pan. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until you start to smell the aromatic mixture.
Pour in the broth or wine until the liquid coats the bottom of the pan. You don’t want too much, or your sauce will be too liquidy. Allow to simmer for about 3 minutes, consistently scraping the fond off the bottom of the pan with your whisk or spatula to mix it in with the liquid.
Now, add a little more of the same liquid, about ½ a cup. Simmer the mixture until it begins to thicken slightly.
Add the butter and stir into the sauce until fully melted. This helps thicken up the mixture to the perfect consistency and adds a buttery flavor to complement your steak.
Once it’s done, you can turn off the heat, but try to keep the sauce warm until you’re ready to serve your steak dinner. Then, pour it over freshly sliced steak and enjoy!
Sprucing Up Your Steak Pan Sauce
Once you’ve made the sauce, you can taste it and add in some kosher salt and pepper, if necessary. There are other ways to spice up your pan sauce, too, like adding a little zest with fresh lemon juice, sprinkling in some fresh, chopped herbs, or even amping it up with a little steak seasoning. If you love mushroom-topped steak, you might want to try sautéing mushrooms in a separate pan and mixing them into the finished pan sauce.
Conclusion: Making Pan Sauce for Steak
There you have it: The perfect steak pan sauce. Try it with filet mignon, which is one of the most accepting cuts for gravy and sauce because it sometimes needs a little extra flavor. However, if you want to do something a bit different to your ribeye steak or T-bone, the pan sauce can be just the thing to switch things up. Check out our selection of best-selling steaks and order online conveniently and quickly for your next steak dinner experiment.
How do you make sauce from drippings?
You can make a steak dripping sauce using the pan you cooked your steak in. First, drain the fat from the pan. Add butter and your choice of herbs and seasonings, like garlic and thyme. Once butter melts, add enough beef broth or cooking wine until the liquid coats the bottom of the pan, gently scraping the leftover cooking bits into the mixture. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, adding small amounts of liquid as it evaporates.
What can I do with beef drippings?
Use beef drippings to make a steak dripping sauce. Melt butter in the same pan you cooked your steak in, combining it with the leftover steak bits, also known as fond. Add some beef broth or cooking wine and your favorite herbs and spices to finish off the sauce.
How do I thicken my steak drippings?
Learning how to make gravy from steak drippings is as simple as learning how to make a roux, which is equal parts butter and flour. Melt two tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Then, add two tablespoons of flour. Whisk them together until well blended. Then, add the steak drippings to the pan with the roux. Continue whisking until the mixture becomes bubbly and thicker. Then, turn heat to low and simmer for a few more minutes, occasionally whisking until thickened.
How do you make a cream sauce from pan drippings?
To make a cream sauce for steak using the pan drippings, start by making a regular dripping sauce. Then, create a roux with equal parts of flour and butter. Add the pan sauce to the roux. Bring to a gentle boil as you stir, then simmer for 5-10 minutes to thicken.
Use beef drippings to make a steak dripping sauce. Melt butter in the same pan you cooked your steak in, combining it with the leftover steak bits, also known as fond. Add some beef broth or cooking wine and your favorite herbs and spices to finish off the sauce.
Use beef drippings to make a steak dripping sauce. Melt butter in the same pan you cooked your steak in, combining it with the leftover steak bits, also known as fond. Add some beef broth or cooking wine and your favorite herbs and spices to finish off the sauce.
If you've ever wondered what gives this sauce its characteristic flavor, which is often described as savory yet tart, the answer lies in an uncommon ingredient. Along with components like tomato paste, vinegar, and dried garlic, A. 1. sauce contains crushed orange purée.
Pan sauces and gravies are delicious concoctions that use the pan drippings from roasted meats to make a silky sauce that can accompany the meat. It's usually, and delectably, poured on top of side dishes like mashed potatoes or roasted vegetables.
Jus is a specific type of sauce, made from meat juice that has typically been derived from a roast. It's thus typically served as an accompaniment to meat, especially roast beef, which is then known as beef "au jus".
All that flavorful marinade doesn't have to go to waste, though: You can make it safe-to-eat by boiling the liquid for several minutes. This process will also reduce the liquid, resulting in a thick sauce that'll work well with your freshly cooked steak.
There are many spices available for seasoning a steak, with salt and pepper topping the list. However, other spices, like thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, and minced onion, are also good options to enhance your steak's flavor.
A generous sprig or two of fresh herbs like basil, parsley, rosemary, or sage can all amp up the flavor of a jarred pasta sauce. Alternatively, some of those herbs, like parsley, sage, and rosemary, can be great minced up and gently fried into fresh olive oil before adding the sauce to the pot.
So, here's the scoop – restaurants aren't just randomly slathering butter on steaks like it's a sunscreen at a beach party. There's actually a scientific rationale behind this culinary phenomenon. You see, butter contains fat, and fat, my friends, is a flavor enhancer and a moisture-locking marvel.
In classical French cuisine, a brown sauce is generally a sauce with a meat stock base, thickened by reduction, and sometimes the addition of a browned roux, similar in some ways to, but more involved than, a gravy.
Any red fluid you see coming out of your steak is likely water and myoglobin, not blood. What happens when you cook meat? – Myoglobin is made of a protein and a heme ring, which contains an iron atom, both of which change when meat is cooked: The protein denatures, and the state of the iron changes.
Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with corn starch or other thickeners for added texture.
Uses: In the past, dripping was served as a spread and 'bread and dripping' was considered to be a real treat after the traditional Sunday roast. Nowadays it is used mainly as a cooking fat - either for shallow frying meat, as a roasting fat for potatoes or to dot over a joint to keep it moist during cooking.
Beef tallow is extremely versatile. In the past, it was often used in making candles, soaps, skin products, and much more. For those of us into BBQ, beef tallow is a great item to have on hand for cooking as it's packed full of flavor that brings a different element to sautéed veggies and cooked potatoes.
If your gravy is on the skimpy side, you can thicken it quickly with flour or cornstarch. But don't add your thickener directly to the gravy, which will create lumps. Instead, try stirring in three or four tablespoons of flour or cornstarch into a small amount of cold water until you have a smooth paste.
Boiling a marinade for several minutes will certainly reduce the amount of liquid, which could leave the marinade thicker. In some cases, that may be preferable; the thicker sauce can cling to veggies or meat more easily. If the sauce thickens too much, add some chicken or vegetable broth after the five-minute boil.
If you're using a heavy-gauge frying pan (preferably not non-stick) add a nugget of beef dripping to the hot pan. Or cut a small piece of fat off your steak and rub it over the pan with a pair of tongs. Oil can add a hint of flavour that doesn't sit well with good beef.
Introduction: My name is Trent Wehner, I am a talented, brainy, zealous, light, funny, gleaming, attractive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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