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).
I tried your saucewith peppercorn today with ‘onglet’ and Belgian fries : heaven ! After your chicken and bacon a real succes in Flanders !
Ah that’s awesome to hear, Bianca! Thanks for the review 🙂 C.
I love this recipe was looking for peppercorn sauce for so long. This sauce is exact to the way I used to eat it in restaurants in Zambia. Brings back good old memories.
Great to hear this brought back good memories, Arti! Thanks for the review! C.
First time making pepper sauce absolutely amazing and so easy
So happy to hear it was a success, Greg! 🙂
Have made this many times and have to say it is the best Peppercorn Sauce I know of.
Made it last night and used extra stock and reduced for longer it was even better.
Great to hear, Neil! Love the tip of extra stock 🙂
This is the BEST sauce I have ever tasted!! It’s utterly delicious <3 My son had it with steak. I just wanted to drink the sauce. Keeping this one for sure – THANK YOU!!
Ah that’s so great to hear, Cheryl! Thanks for popping back for a review 🙂 C.
I remember being out in Long Beach CA. 40 years ago and there was a small cafe called the Zebra Lounge w/ an 8′ open grill inside where you cooked your own Ribeye steak! They had just lettuce as a side with a big urn of Peppercorn sauce & Red Kidney beans! I looked for years to find the sauce they used! I believe yours is the closest to what I experienced there. Thanks!
Ah that’s so great to hear! Happy to hear it went down well and brought back memories 🙂 C.
Thank you for making this without the brandy or flour! I love peppercorn sauce but don’t want to buy brandy that I will only use a tiny bit of and I have a daughter who has Celiac. This turned out perfectly. Just need to make more next time!
Great to hear this went down well, Kam! Thanks for popping back for a review 🙂
Excellent sauce! Great with pork loin as well as steak.
Great to hear! Thanks for the review, Shelley 🙂
Beautiful suace
I never know what sauce to make when my husband smokes a turkey, as I don’t want a gravy without having the drippings from a roasted bird, and anyway that’s just for Thanksgiving. After trying a variety of sauces (even the completely bonkers-as-a-concept-for-an-American “bread sauce”) that were fine but not great alongside it, I found this one, and it’s a winner!
Happy to hear this went down well! I’ve gotta try it with smoked turkey – sounds delish! C.