Cherry Red Wine Sauce Recipe

Perhaps one of the most flavorful sauces that you can pair with a load of different dishes is a classic Cherry Red Wine Sauce. This amazingly simple sauce to make is loaded with rich sweet flavors. It pairs perfectly with Poultry, especially Duck, but tastes just as good with a nicely cooked piece of Chicken or your favorite Steak. What is best about this Cherry Sauce is it’s simplicity. There are remarkably few steps involved in making this Sauce and the results are truly amazing!

Jump to Recipe

Quality Ingredients are key when making a Cherry Red Wine Sauce

Unlike other restaurant-quality sauces, this sauce is so simple and takes very little time to prepare at all. You don’t need to use any Demi-Glace or Stocks, which significantly reduces the amount of time required. In fact, the whole dish requires just 4 ingredients: Butter, a Shallot, Red Wine, and Cherry Jam / Jelly

The last ingredient is the most critical, as the combination of ingredients within a typical Cherry Conserve or Jam is what will impact the flavor of your sauce. The Sugars in the Jam is going to give the Sauce its rich, sweet flavors as well as provide the viscosity as it cooks down along with the other ingredients

Cherry Red Wine Sauce with chunks of Cherry — I like to use Jam that has Cherry Chunks in it so your Cherry Red Wine Sauce will look loaded with delicious Cherries

For the best result we recommend buying some good quality Cherry Jam. How to determine what is ‘good quality’ is somewhat subjective, we understand that. What I would suggest is aiming for something locally produced if you can find it. You don’t want one that has a load of ingredients in it. Cherries and Sugar are the key ingredients

I prefer to use a Cherry Jam that has whole Cherries in there. It’s not necessary, however I find it adds a nice visual appeal and varying textures to the Cherry Red Wine Sauce. You’re also assured that the Jam you’re using is made from fresh Cherries, which is always a good thing!

What type of Red Wine should I use for this recipe?

The other major ingredient in this Sauce is Red Wine. There’s a load of articles and opinion pieces written about what kind of Wine to use in cooking. Advice can range from ‘using the cheapest Wine you can find as it all tastes the same when it’s cooked’, to ‘the more expensive the wine, the better the flavor’

We fall somewhere in the middle of these two extreme statements. I think using cheap wine is only going to produce a poor-quality sauce. If the Wine tastes bad, it’s not going to magically taste good when it’s heated up

I do believe that the quality of the Wine is going to effect the taste. Therefore, I recommend using a Red Wine that you would typically enjoy drinking yourself. Remember, this dish only requires 1 cup of Wine (about ⅓ of the bottle), so you’ll be left with heaps to drink. So, think about what kind of dish you’re making and use a Wine that pairs well with the dish

Personally, I like my Wine and my Sauces on the richer side, so a full-bodied Red like a Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, or Shiraz is what I would opt for with this dish. But, if you like Pinots with your meal then go ahead and use it! If you like the taste of the wine, it’s going to taste great in your sauce

Red Wine for Cherry Sauce — Use a full bodied Red Wine that you enjoy drinking, it’ll make the Sauce so much better

How to make Cherry Red Wine Sauce at home

The process of making this sauce is very easy and the whole thing will be ready in under 20 minutes, making it the perfect sauce to pair with your meal for easy, midweek cooking. First step is to melt the Butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the Shallots

Cook the Shallots down until they are tender and begin to slightly caramelize. This process should take about 5 minutes. Just keep stirring them as they cook. Once the Shallots are done it’s time to add the Wine

Crank the heat up and allow the Red Wine to burn off its alcohol. This should take about 5 minutes. Just keep your eye on it as it cooks. There’s no need to cook it down like you would a Bordelaise Sauce, as we’re using the Cherry Jam to concentrate the sugars and add body to the sauce

The final step is to simply add the Cherry Jam. It’ll melt down and turn into a liquid almost immediately. Drop the heat and let the whole sauce Simmer for 5 – 10 minutes. This step is about fully incorporating the Jam into the Sauce. Once this is done the Sauce is ready to eat!

Word of warning, the Sauce is going to be hot!

Any sauce that you’re making that has a lot of Sugar in it is going to be scoldingly hot immediately out of the pan. Personally, I’d pour the sauce out into a separate serving container and let it cool for about 5 minutes before eating. This will just let it cool down and settle a bit

This amazing Roast Duck with Cherry Red Wine Sauce is just one of many delicious meals you can make with this Sauce recipe

You can, of course, pour it right over your meal if you like, which is a good way to re-heat a protein that may have been sitting out resting for a little bit. Speaking of proteins, here are a few of our favorite recipes that will pair perfectly with this amazing Cherry Red Wine Sauce

Duck is always a great option, but I highly recommend trying this Cherry Sauce with Steak, it tastes so good! The richness of the Red Wine paired with Cherries is the perfect compliment to a wonderfully cooked piece of Steak

Recipe Details

Servings

4 – 6 people

Prep time

5 minutes

Cooking time

15 minutes

Total time

20 minutes