This Peppercorn Sauce without brandy is about to be your go-to sauce for steak, chicken, portobello mushrooms, potatoes and everything in between. Better still, it couldn’t be easier to make!
Here I’ll show you how to whip up a classic peppercorn sauce that you can make from scratch, with or without steak. It also uses no flour or alcohol!
Reader, Paul says: ‘Omg this went down so so well it has to be one of the easiest and the best tasting sauce I’ve ever had ★★★★★’
Peppercorn Sauce
I’ve been obsessed with peppercorn sauce for as long as I can remember. But honestly, it can be hard to find a decent pepper sauce in a restaurant. Most are watery and flavourless and many just aren’t peppery enough. In fact, a lot are almost like gravy with a few whole peppercorns floating in it.
As such, I made it my mission to create a gorgeous homemade peppercorn sauce that never fails.
Crushing the peppercorns
The first thing you want to do is crush some whole peppercorns. Do not use powdery pepper for this recipe. Crushing whole peppercorns gives you more texture. You can then also fry the crushed pepper, which releases its flavour.
To crush the peppercorns, I typically use 1 of 2 methods:
- Pestle & mortar
- Zip-lock bag & rolling pin
Steak and Peppercorn Sauce
Whilst this sauce goes tremendously with a range of foods, peppercorn is notoriously served with steak. As such, there are two main ways you could make it:
- With steak – This is my preferred method because you can use the leftover fat in the pan from the steak to get going with the sauce. You can then also stir through the resting juices from the steak for bonus flavour!
- From scratch (without steak) – This is for when you want to make it ahead of time, or you’re simply pairing it with something other than pan-fried steak. It’s not much different ,other than you’ll start with butter and you won’t get the bonus flavour from the steak.
Thickening the sauce
You do not need flour or any other thickening agent to thicken this sauce. Because you’ll be using double/heavy cream, it naturally thickens as you simmer it. It’ll look watery at the start, but if you just keep simmering and stirring away, it’ll thicken – promise!
Process shots: fry onion and garlic in butter (photo 1), add beef stock (photo 2), stir in cream and Worcestershire sauce (photo 3), simmer to reduce (photo 4), serve (photo 5).
Peppercorn Sauce without Brandy or Alcohol
There are a lot of peppercorn sauce recipes that use brandy (or even cognac) and honestly, when I first developed this recipe way back when, I did include brandy.
It does add a nice background flavour, but I personally find the difference minimal. It’s rare that I’ve got brandy on hand and since the other ingredients in this sauce are fairly cheap, I begrudge buying brandy just to use a splash in the sauce.
Having said that, you can absolutely add brandy if you’d like to. You just have to simmer it down to burn off the alcohol to remove the pungent flavour.
Serving Peppercorn Sauce
This sauce goes perfectly with a range of foods. Here’s some of my favourites:
- Steak – The classic and my preferred option.
- Chicken or pork – If you’ve not got steak then pan-fried chicken thighs or pork chops work perfectly!
- Potatoes – You’ll sometimes catch me pouring this over roast potatoes or mash (so good!)
- Mushrooms – Portobello mushrooms act like cups for this sauce (yep, it’s as good as it sounds).
- Sausages – If you’ve never had sausages and peppercorn sauce, you’ve not lived.
Looking for more steak sauces? I’ve got you covered:
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this creamy peppercorn sauce we?!
How to make Creamy Peppercorn Sauce without Brandy (Full Recipe & Video)
Creamy Peppercorn Sauce
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board (for shallots/garlic)
- Pestle & Mortar or Zip Lock Bag & Rolling Pin (for peppercorns)
- Medium-Large Frying Pan
- Wooden Spoon
- Jug (for stock & serving)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Whole Black Peppercorns, crushed (see notes)
- 1 tbsp Butter (see notes)
- 2 small Shallots, very finely diced
- 1 clove Garlic, very finely diced
- 3/4 cup / 180ml Beef Stock
- 3/4 cup / 180ml Double Cream, at room temp (Heavy Cream in US)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- If you're frying steak leave the juices in the pan. This will add a huge amount of flavour to the sauce. Melt the butter over medium heat and fry the shallots until soft and golden (careful they don't burn).
- Add in the garlic and peppercorns and fry for a further 30 seconds or so until the garlic just begins to colour (again, be careful it doesn't burn). Add the beef stock, then stir in the cream and Worcestershire sauce.
- Simmer and stir somewhat frequently until the sauce thickens (approx 8-12mins). It will thicken, just keep simmering and gently stirring away. If you've cooked steak or any other meat you can stir in any resting juices just before you finish, just for extra flavour! Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.
- Remove from heat and pour into a jug. Just be aware it'll thicken the longer you leave it. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
Creamy Peppercorn Sauce FAQ
Yep! Just allow to completely cool then tightly store in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can reheat on the stove over LOW heat, stirring as you go to ensure the sauce doesn’t split. Only heat until it’s warmed through again, don’t rapid simmer or you risk the sauce splitting. You can also do this in short bursts in the microwave, stirring between each stint.
Just keep simmering and stirring away. It will thicken – promise!
Double/heavy cream is essential in this recipe. Not only for its fuller, richer flavour, but also to ensure the sauce thickens. Some lighter, say milk, will only thicken if you use a thickening agent (and the sauce won’t be as rich).
Have made this so many times and it turns out perfect every time, I add more peppercorns but that’s because we like the spice.
So pleased to hear! Thanks so much for the review 🙂 C.
Enjoyed the steak with sauce.
Pleased to hear! C.
Absolutely delish, thank you Chris for yet another brilliant recipe!
Thanks so much for the review, Alex! 🙂 C.
This sauce was so good, first made with sirloin steak, secondly with beef sausages, transformed bangers and mash from the usual to sensational! Family loved it. Thanks for recipe, it’s a keeper
So pleased it went down well, Maria! 🙂 C.
Omg this went down so so well it has to be one of the easiest and the best tasting sauce I’ve ever had we followed the recipe to a T after cooking in the saucepan I tipped it back into the frying pan after the steak was cooked and omg it was perfect. Thankyou so much for this recipe its most definitely a keeper
So pleased this went down well, Paul! Thanks so much for popping back for a review 🙂 C.
I have not had any version of creamy peppercorn sauce in the past so I cannot offer a comparison. What I can say is that I made this with a prime rib roast and all of the family, without exception, loved it and said it was much better than any au jus I have ever made.
I did not have brandy or cognac to add and chickened out on trying bourbon. Maybe another time. Thank you for sharing your excellent recipe.
So great to hear this went down well, Steven! 🙂 C.
I’m going to try it with fresh cut corn, mmm, creamed corn.
I made your creamy chicken recipe (and commented on it) for a party a few weeks ago. I made it again for the neighbours at the weekend and they were desperate for the recipe. I had double cream left over so I then made this peppercorn sauce recipe which I served with pork loin steaks, battered potato slices and spring greens. Totally epic! Your recipes are amazing! Thank you!
Ah that’s awesome to hear, Rachel! Thank you for your kind words and happy to hear the recipes are going down well 🙂 C.
Chris, this is amazing!! I had gotten a steak with a pepper sauce while visiting another country and I never thought I would get that taste again. This recipe popped up while I was looking for something else, and thought surely it can’t be that simple! THIS IS IT!! Thank you so much for sharing this.
Ah Karla that’s so awesome to hear! Thanks so much for stopping back for a review 🙂 C.