Creamy Mushroom Sauce for Steak

steak on a bed of asparagus with creamy mushroom sauce on top with roast potatoes in the background

5 from 5 votes

This creamy mushroom sauce for steak is rich, silky and packed with flavour. Quick and easy to make, it's the perfect way to turn any steak dinner into something seriously special.

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: Date Night, Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: British

Servings:

Author: Chris Collins

Equipment

Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Paper Towels (for drying steak)
Heavy-Based Pan & Tongs (like a cast iron skillet)
Wooden Spoon
Jug (for stock)

Ingredients

Steak

2 Steaks of choice, at room temp & patted dry with paper towels (see notes)
1 heaped tbsp Butter
2 small sprigs Fresh Rosemary
2 small sprigs Fresh Thyme
2 cloves of Garlic, skins on & lightly crushed with palm of hand
Olive Oil, as needed
Salt & Pepper, as needed

Creamy Mushroom Sauce

3.5oz / 100g Button Mushrooms, very finely sliced (see notes)
2 small Shallots, very finely diced
1/4 cup / 60ml Dry White Wine
3/4 cup / 180ml Beef Stock
3/4 cup / 180ml Heavy/Double Cream, at room temp
Salt & Black Pepper, to taste

Instructions

Pat the steaks dry to remove excess moisture, then coat in a drizzle of oil and a generous helping of salt and pepper.
Place a heavy-duty pan or cast-iron skillet over high heat, then once smoking hot, lay down your steaks. Don’t push down or move the steaks. For medium rare with a steak approx 3/4" thick, fry for 2 minutes, then flip and fry for 1 minute. Add the butter, thyme, rosemary & garlic and baste for another minute. Remove steaks from the pan and leave to rest to one side (important).
Lower temp to medium-high. Add the mushrooms and fry until golden, then add the shallots. Fry for another couple of minutes until they turn soft and golden, then pluck out the herbs & garlic.
Pour in the wine and allow to simmer and reduce until it mostly evaporates and the boozy smell vanishes (important otherwise the sauce will be too sour). Pour in the stock and cream, then lower the heat to medium and simmer until thickened (it will thicken, just keep simmering and stirring away). Stir in the resting juices from the steak, simmer to re-thicken, then check for seasoning and adjust to taste.

Video

Notes

a) What cut of Steak to use? - Here I used 2x 9oz/250g Sirloins. These were about 2cm/3/4" thick, so only needed 2mins max on either side to get medium-rare. If you're using a thicker fillet steak, then medium rare would require 3 - 3.5mins on each side for medium rare. If you're looking to cook in any other way just increase/decrease the times accordingly.

b) How to keep the Steak warm? - to ensure the steak doesn’t go cold, firstly ensure your mushrooms/shallots are finely chopped so they ‘flash fry’. Also consider very loosely covering with foil, just to contain some heat (but not so tight that they cook further through the centre).

c) Pan Juices - a lot of flavour in the sauce comes from the steak juices, butter, herbs and garlic. So make sure you make it in the same pan.

d) Can I make the sauce without the steak? - You can, but you just lose out on a lot of the flavour. If you want to make the sauce ahead of time, just start by melting the 1 heaped tbsp butter.

e) Serving Size & Calories - The 2 steaks will of course serve 2, but the sauce would actually stretch to 3-4. Calories based on the sauce only, with the 1 tbsp of butter, shared between 4.

Nutrition