Best No-Fail Hollandaise Sauce (for Eggs Benedict and More)
Think hollandaise sauce is too hard to make at home? This recipe will show you otherwise – make an EASY hollandaise sauce in just a few minutes in your microwave that turns out perfect every time – no blender needed! Perfect for eggs Benedict or topping vegetables like asparagus.
✩ What readers are saying…
“I made this tonight and followed the recipe exactly. It was fantastic! So easy and the taste was delicious! I have made other hollandaise sauces and they always separate, this one was perfect until the last drop! Thank you so much for a great recipe! Definitely my go to from now on.” – Alana
Traditional hollandaise sauce seems to be one of those recipes that takes way more effort than most people want to take.
I’ve read that it can be finicky as well, sometimes curdling or separating.
But honestly, I wouldn’t know because I’ve always made this super easy hollandaise sauce that my sweet stepmom introduced our family to many years ago.
It uses just a few ingredients, takes just minutes to cook in a microwave, and only uses a whisk to mix – no blender needed.
Okay, but what does it taste like?
Once our family had this sauce, we’ve all been ruined for restaurant hollandaise sauces. The consensus among us is that those sauces tend to be greasy, flavorless, and sometimes oddly sweet.
This sauce, on the other hand, is bright, tangy, and buttery. This is because there are a couple extra ingredients that cut the butter and bring more flavor.
And we’ve had a long time to test this – this hollandaise sauce over eggs Benedict has been our traditional extended family Christmas breakfast for more than 30 years (yep!).
If you, too, have never cared for traditional hollandaise or you’d just like a delicious, easy sauce to dress up garden vegetables (in addition to eggs Benedict), try this – I bet you’ll like this as much as we do!
Easy No-Fail Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
In addition to the traditional ingredients of butter, egg yolk, and lemon juice, and salt, this recipe also calls for:
- whole milk/cream
- dry mustard
I believe it’s the milk that cuts the greasy tendency of traditional sauces and the mustard brings a nice sharpness that counters the richness of the butter and cream.
Directions
Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a microwave safe bowl (I like a 4-cup glass measuring cup with a handle) and then add the remaining ingredients, stirring it all well.
PRO TIP: If making Eggs Benedict, add some of the whites to each egg in a cup before poaching.
If making the sauce for vegetables or meats, keep the whites in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week and use in scrambled eggs or a frittata.
Microwave on Roast (usually power level 6, which is medium power) for 2 minutes. It should look like the photo above.
Stir it well, and put it back into the microwave for another 2 minutes on the Roast level.
Now it may look like the photo above when you take it out and you may think, “darn…what happened?
Don’t panic, just stir it well and it will smooth right out and you have a lovely sauce.
See? Fool-proof and E.A.S.Y.
All that’s left is to pour it over the top of whatever you’d like.
Like I mentioned, we usually use this sauce over Eggs Benedict at our early Christmas celebration.
It’s so beloved though, that my kids have requested it for their birthday dinners and sometimes just special breakfasts throughout the year!
AND this sauce is equally good over roasted asparagus or broccoli. As well as this ham and asparagus recipe (that I created mainly to use this sauce, lol.)
Easy Hollandaise Sauce FAQs
Béarnaise sauce is actually a step beyond hollandaise, using it as a base but then adding white wine vinegar, shallots, and tarragon. However, both sauces are used for similar foods – eggs, and vegetables, as well as meat and fish.
Yes, the egg yolks are cooked slowly to avoid curdling, but are cooked.
If you want to be doubly sure, you can take the temperature of the sauce at the end of cooking – the FDA say eggs are “safe” to eat once they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Yes! While it’s best to make it right before serving if you can, when we make it for our extended family Christmas eggs Benedict tradition we have to make a huge batch of 20 servings the day before.
We’ve never had a problem with curdling when we gently reheat it in the microwave the next morning. Instructions for this are included in the recipe card below.
I’ve also read that you can spread the cold hollandaise u0022butteru0022 on toast if you have leftovers, but I wouldn’t know since we never have any left!
Reader Raves:
“I made this last week! It was great and super easy!” -Sherry
“Yum! So easy, reheats (gently, low microwave power), can thus be made ahead. Wonderfully light and silky texture.” -Linda
More Super Simple Sauces to Try
- Quick Honey Sweetened Homemade Ketchup Recipe
- Simple Homemade Chocolate Syrup Recipe
- Homemade Mayonnaise Recipe – Two Easy Methods
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Best No-Fail Hollandaise Sauce
Equipment
- 4-cup glass measuring cup (or medium glass bowl)
- whisk
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 4 egg yolks (reserve whites for another use)
- 1/2 cup light cream (whole milk also works)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt (use 1/4 if butter is salted, 1/2 if unsalted – or to taste)
Instructions
- Place the butter in a 1-quart glass measuring cup and microwave on HIGH for 1 minute or until melted.
- Separate the eggs, adding the yolks to the melted butter along with the remaining ingredients. Stir with a whisk until smooth.
- Set microwave to "roast" (usually power level 6 – medium) and cook for 2 minutes. Remove and stir well.
- Cook for another 2 minutes on "roast," power level 6.
- Stir until smooth and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in April of 2010.
I made this tonight and followed the recipe exactly. It was fantastic! So easy and the taste was delicious! I have made other hollandaise sauces and they always separate, this one was perfect until the last drop! Thank you so much for a great recipe! Definitely my go to from now on.
I’m SO glad you tried this and liked it, Alana – and left a review! I hope others give it a try because I feel like you do about this recipe. 🙂
Yum! So easy, reheats (gently, low microwave power), can thus be made ahead. Didn’t use the mustard, personal preference. Wonderfully light and silky texture.
I’m so glad you liked this, Linda! We make it the day before all the time for our holiday traditional Eggs Benedict – it’s great for that as you discovered. 🙂
I have a feeling that the ‘quick & easy’ has to do with it being made in the microwave, but I’m wondering if there’s some quick & easy way to make it on the stove top. I do have a double boiler.
I haven’t tried it on the stove top, but I would probably do the same steps, just using the double broiler and cooking until it thickens.
Hi Jami-
You mentioned that this works well as a half-recipe also… did you adjust the cooking time, when you did that? I tried cutting this recipe down to a quarter-size (because it’s just my husband and me), and it didn’t work for me– ended up impossibly curdled, and not able to be smoothed out. I’m pretty sure that was because I didn’t also shorten the cooking time…. but how to do that? Just cut all the times down to a quarter as long?
Any suggestions?
Hmmm, I haven’t tried anything less than 1/2, Holly. I do usually don’t need to cook it as long, though, you’re right. I do the first 2 minute cook, and then stir to see how thick it is. Sometimes I don’t need to cook anymore, but usually I do another minute on roast. For a quarter recipe, I’d do a minute for the first round, whisk to see what it’s like and put in for another 30 sec to 1 min if needed. Hope that works for you!
I made this last week! It was great and super easy! I posted info on my blog about it on Monday.
Looks easy enough…thanks for sharing! 🙂
Wow, I’m glad you all are wanting to try it…I wasn’t sure because it’s not “pure” but we do all love it, so I decided to post. Thanks for the feedback!
I have never made it before. Now, with your great step by step instructions, I can be a success. Thanks for linking to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.
This is MUCH easier than the recipe we used in the restaurant and probably tastes better, too!
YUM!!! xoxo
This recipe looks like an absolute gem!!!
I’ve never tried Hollandaise Sauce before, but it sounds yummy. I’ll have to give this a try soon.
Ah we are huge fans of Hollendase sauce at my house and yes we make the real/ regular thing.
I have some asparaagus at home. maybe i’ll try this and see if anyone notices…… 🙂
Ooohh, I’m going to have to try this as I love Eggs Benedict, but I never make it myself. I wait until we go out. I’m putting it on my menu!!
Thank you!!!
Sherry
I am out of the woodwork on this one! My dad’s favorite is Eggs Benedict and I hate making it ’cause I can never get the Hollandaise Sauce to work. I am so going to try this when he is out in a few weeks!