Aspiring Elephant

I love a good sauce. Whether it’s on a burger, in my pasta, or on my steak, a good sauce has the ability to turn a so-so meal into a great meal. If you’re a red wine lover (and even if you’re not) and enjoy a rich, flavorful addition to your chicken or beef – you’ll love this easy red wine reduction sauce. If you’re also a sauce lover and want something without red wine, try this recipe for a delicious Peppercorn Sauce!

I make many variations of this sauce, experimenting with different ingredients, herbs, liquid ratios. But I wanted to write a quick article which explained how to make an easy red wine reduction sauce. The beauty of this sauce is that it requires very little ingredients, many of which you probably already have in your kitchen. It can also be prepared along side your protein in about 30 minutes. Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups red wine
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 medium shallot
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Equipment

Another great thing about this sauce is that it doesn’t really require any special equipment. I like a smooth, creamy sauce, and to achieve that it’s best to use a fine strainer. If you don’t have one, no big deal. Some folks prefer the sauce more textured, leaving the pieces of garlic and shallot in. It’s great either way.

How to Make an Easy Red Wine Reduction

Start by finely dicing one shallot and 2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on how much you love garlic). I can’t seem to get enough garlic so I tend to opt for the 3 cloves. I’ll sometimes even leave 2 additional cloves smashed but whole and add them into the sauce just for additional flavor. These will of course be removed once the sauce is fine strained.

Place a pan over low-medium heat and add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Sauté garlic and shallot until they start to develop a strong fragrance and some color. As you sauté, season with salt and pepper to taste.

What Type of Wine should be used?

The best type of wine for a reduction sauce is going to be one that is full bodied and on the drier side of things. Generally, cabernet sauvignons, merlot’s, and pino Noir’s tend to be the best option. I ended up using Snoop Dogg’s brand 19 Crimes Frankenstein Cabernet Sauvignon and I was very pleased with the overall taste and the end result. Not to mention, the bottle glows in the dark, so there’s that.

Reducing the Sauce, Increasing the Flavor

Once the shallots and garlic have had a chance to cook, add in 1 1/2 cups of red wine. Allow the red wine to cook off for a minute or two. Make sure to scrape up any cooked bits of garlic and shallot that may be stuck to the bottom of the pan. Next, add in 1 1/2 cups of beef broth. Bring this to a low boil then reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for 20 minutes until the consistency becomes thick.

Don’t worry if the sauce looks like a red, watery mess – it’s supposed to look like that in the beginning.

As the sauce slowly simmers, it’s going to burn off more and more of the liquid, becoming more viscous and flavorful. Some people get frustrated when then their sauce isn’t reducing as fast as they would like resulting in them turning up the heat to speed up the process. Please be patient with this sauce. Increasing the heat too high will cause a separation of the olive oil and red wine, also known as a “broken sauce”.

When the sauce starts to look like the photo above, it should be about ready. Personally, I like a thicker, almost syrupy like sauce, but you may prefer yours a bit thinner. At this point, take the pan off the burner and run it through a fine strainer. I poured my sauce into a small, saucepan, but feel free just to return the sauce it its’s original pan. If you find the sauce still not a thick as you would like, return pan to burner and continue cook over low heat.

Once the sauce is to your liking, turn the burner off and add 2 tbsp of cold butter. Continuously stir until the butter fully melts. You should be left with a thick, velvety sauce that is just bursting with flavor. That’s all there is to it. Enjoy this sauce with steak, chicken, or really whatever you like. Hope you enjoy!