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A spoonful of espagnole sauce being lifted up over a canning jar.
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5 from 10 votes

Espagnole Sauce (Basic Brown Sauce)

This traditional French recipe is quick and easy to make at home. The versatile, strong flavor of Espagnole Sauce is great for building rich, savory dishes such as soups, stews, and anything requiring brown gravy.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: French
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 96kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Heat a large pot over medium heat. Once hot add the butter.
    4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • When the butter is melted, add the onion, carrots and celery to the pot. Cook, stirring often, until well caramelized, about 15 minutes.
    1 medium onion, 1 medium carrot, 2 ribs celery
  • Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, to form a brown roux, about 5 minutes.
    1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • Stir in the stock and tomato puree, whisking to remove any lumps. Raise the heat to bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.
    4 cups beef stock, 1/4 cup tomato puree
  • Prepare a seasoning sachet by placing the bay leaf, thyme, crushed peppercorns and parsley stems on a small square of cheesecloth and tie closed with kitchen twine.
    1 bay leaf, 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/4 teaspoon peppercorns, 2 parsley stems
  • Add the sachet and continue to simmer for about an hour and a half to reduce. Skim any scum or impurities off the top, as needed.
  • Remove the sachet and strain through a cheesecloth lined sieve.
  • Taste and season as needed.
    salt, pepper

Notes

This recipe yields approximately 2 cups of sauce. 

Tips and Techniques

  • Leave extra kitchen twine for your sachet long enough so that you can tie it to the end of your pot handle. It makes finding the sachet much easier when it’s time to remove it.
  • Store espagnole sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Use within one week. This sauce can also be frozen.
** Nutritional information is an estimate and may vary.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 96kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 255mg | Potassium: 346mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1539IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg