Espagnole Sauce Recipe

An Espagnole Sauce is one of the five famous French mother sauces. It is a core component in cooking sauces and forms the base for some of the most famous and delicious sauces that exist. Famous sauces such as Demi-Glace and Bordelaise Sauce all start from a humble beginning as an Espagnole Sauce. Learning the famous mother sauces will help elevate your home cooking so much, allowing you to create delicious sauces to pair with all kinds of wonderful dishes

Espagnole Sauce is one of the five French ‘Mother Sauces’

You may have heard the term ‘mother sauce’ kicking around on your cooking journeys. What it refers to is basically a ‘foundational’ sauce that many other sauces are created from. There are five famous Mother Sauces which are Bechamel Sauce, Velouté, Tomato Sauce, Hollandaise Sauce, and finally our Espagnole Sauce

While many of these mother sauces have fancy, French names, they are all very straight forward and simple to make. We highly recommend learning how to make the five mother sauces. Especially if you are looking to begin to experiment with developing your own recipes in the kitchen

Espagnole Sauce baseline flavors are developing using a Mirepoix

Unlike the other mother sauces, Espagnole Sauce is the only sauce that uses a Mirepoix in its development. You’re probably very familiar with Mirepoix in your own cooking and have likely made a variation of an Espagnole Sauce without perhaps even knowing!

Simply put, a Mirepoix is a combination of diced Onion, Carrots, and Celery that are cooked down in a fat (sometimes Oil, but in this case Bacon Fat) to release their flavors. The amount of flavor that you can develop in recipes by frying off a Mirepoix in a pan for about 5 – 10 minutes is simply amazing. The vegetables will ultimately be discarded at the end of the sauces development, but what they leave behind are their natural sugars in the sauce, which are packed full of flavor

So, we’ve cooked down our Mirepoix in Bacon fat, now what?

The next step in making a classic Espagnole Sauce is one that is familiar to what is done in a Bechamel or Velouté Sauce. That is, we add Roux to the sauce. A roux is a combination of Flour and Butter, which when cooked and mixed adds volume and richness to a sauce

In this instance, the Flour and Butter is simply added straight into the pot with all the Vegetables and Bacon. Add equal quantities of Butter and Flour, as this will form the best consistency for a Roux. When adding Flour, you want to ensure it is thoroughly cooked through before adding liquids to the dish. So be sure to cook the Flour out for about 3 – 4 minutes, stirring constantly

The Flour is probably going to stick to the bottom and sides of the pan. So makes sure that you’re scraping all that Flour up and mixing it back into the mixture. If the Flour ends up sticking to the pan, it’ll eventually burn, and that flavor will make its way into the sauce. So, just mix constantly ensuring your scraping all those bits up as you go

You can turn this classic Espagnole Sauce into a wonderful Duck a L’Orange dish by simply adding Oranges

The key ingredient in a Espagnole Sauce is Beef Stock

Once the Roux has been added and cooked through it’s time to add the Beef Stock. In our opinion this is the key ingredient that makes up an Espagnole Sauce. Good quality Beef Stock is going to transform your sauce into something truly amazing

We always advocate for making your own Stock at home. We’ve got a dedicated section of our website here for homemade Broths and Stocks. We recommend checking out this homemade Beef Broth recipe to use when making an Espagnole

For this recipe you’ll need two cups of Beef Stock. If you are in a pinch and don’t have any on hand then that’s ok. You can always pick up some Stock cubes and simply use them. The flavor won’t be as intense and concentrated, but it will suffice as an alternative if need be

Once the Beef Stock has been added, bring the sauce to a boil then drop the heat to low and simmer it for 15 minutes. This is the final cooking stage before your sauce is done. Simmering the sauce for 15 minutes or so allows for all those sugars and flavors that you’ve developed to blend into the liquid, forming a cohesive flavor

Strain the Vegetables and you are all done!

Once the sauce has been simmering for 15 minutes you’ll notice it will form a slightly thick texture, yet still smooth and runny. The sauce will also have a beautiful sheen to it, which is brought on by the Butter added earlier

Once you reach this point, the sauce is done! All you need to do is strain the sauce through a fine sieve or strainer and it’s completely done. You can use the sauce immediately, or freeze it for later use

This sauce is so versatile and can be used to make beautiful Gravies and fillings for Pies. You can also use it as a baseline sauce for all kinds of delicious dishes including the famous Duck a L’Orange. All you’ll need to do is add the juice of 2 Oranges! This is such a versatile and delicious Sauce that is well worth everyone having in their cooking arsenal

Espagnole Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 Bacon Rashers, diced
• 2 Carrots, diced
• 2 Celery Stalks, diced
• ½ Yellow Onion, diced
• 1 tbsp. All Purpose Flour
• 1 tbsp. Butter
• 2 cups of Beef Stock (recipe here)
• 1 tsp. Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. Fry the Bacon in a large pot for 5 minutes over medium heat until the fat has rendered, then add the Onion and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring frequently
2. Once tender, add the Celery and Carrots. Cook for a further 6 – 7 minutes then add the Flour and Butter
3. Cook for 4 more minutes ensuring the Flour has cooked through. Stir constantly, scraping any Flour that has stuck to the bottom or sides of the pan
4. Once the Flour is cooked, add the Beef Stock and bring to a boil. Drop the heat to low, add Salt, and simmer for 15 minutes
5. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve and discard the Vegetables and you’re done!
   
   

Recipe Notes

• If you don’t have homemade Beef Stock you can use Stock cubes for this recipe
• The sauce will freeze well and store for up to a month
  
  

We hope you enjoy this simple and easy to prepare Espagnole Sauce Recipe. It will form the basis of so many great dishes that you can make at home

Who doesn’t love making a great homemade Sauce? If you’ve got a hankering for some more delicious Sauces then check out some of our favorite Sauce recipes:

• Hollandaise Sauce
• Béarnaise Sauce
• Thai Peanut Sauce
• Tamarind Chili Jam
  
  

Happy Cooking!