This tempting Wild Mushroom Sauce recipe is pan-roasted mushrooms with herbs and garlic finished with a thick beef stock for an unbelievable flavor. You will be blown away at how delicious this is. You may eat them by themselves.

Sauces can take any dish to the next level. My favorite dishes to serve alongside fish, chicken, beef, or pork are Velouté or Tzatziki Sauce.

Mushroom Sauce

Mushroom sauce accompanies beef, chicken, or pork, consisting of mushrooms cooked and served in a reduced stock sauce. The mushroom sauce is often finished with cream to make it richer in flavor. There are many ways to customize this recipe to your liking, including using your favorite mushrooms, herbs, or type of stock.

This sauce is a game changer and does a beautiful job of enhancing whatever it is you serve it with while not overpowering the hero protein of your dish. It’s rich in flavor and bursting with delicious umami taste due to the pan-roasting of the mushrooms and the beef stock used. Don’t miss how I use this with my Picanha steak recipe.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Mushrooms – Any fresh mushroom will work for this sauce. I used a combination of button, baby bellas, shiitake, and oyster mushrooms. You can use just one from that group, any combination you see fit.
• Herbs – I finished the mushroom sauce with fresh thyme and parsley. You can substitute 1 to 1 with dry herbs.
• Onions – I used a shallot and garlic cloves in this. Substitute the shallot with a white, yellow, red, or sweet onion.
• Butter – I use unsalted butter in my cooking and baking to control the salt content, not a butter company.
• Stock – Veal, or beef stock, or beef bone broth is what you will need.
• Alcohol – I used brandy in this recipe. However, other great options are dry red wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, shiraz, or Merlot. Other options are sherry, marsala, or Madeira wine. If you do not drink alcohol, please replace this with beef stock or water. You’re also welcome to skip it.
• Cream – Some heavy whipping cream will help add a lot of richness to the sauce. There is no substitute for this.
• Fat – You can roast the mushrooms with olive, avocado, ghee, clarified butter, lard, or beef tallow.

How to Make a Mushroom Sauce

Add the fat to a large stainless steel, carbon steel, or cast-iron frying pan over high heat and heat until it begins to smoke lightly.

Place in the mushrooms, season with salt, and cook for 2 minutes without touching them.

Sauté the mushrooms for 6-8 minutes or until they are well browned.

Scoot the mushrooms to 1 side of the pan, and the other, add the shallots, garlic, and 1 tablespoon of butter.

Cook the shallots and garlic on that side of the pan for 1 to 2 minutes or until lightly browned.

Mix all the ingredients in the pan together.

Remove the pan from the heat and deglaze with the brandy.

Return the pan to the cooktop and cook for 30 to 45 seconds or until all the alcohol has been absorbed into the mushrooms.

Set the mushrooms to the side.

Pour the beef stock into the pan and cook on high heat until it is reduced by one-half.

Add the heavy cream and continue cooking until there is about 1 to 1 ½ cups of sauce.

Put the cooked mushrooms back in and finish by stirring the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, thyme, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Serve in a bowl or in the pan.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: For freshness, you can make this recipe up to 2 days ahead. Keep cool until ready to use.

How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze this covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator before reheating.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of mushroom sauce to a small saucepot and heat over low heat until hot. 

More Sauce Recipes

• Gravy
• Red Bell Pepper Coulis
• Bang Bang Sauce
• Pomodoro Sauce
• Hollandaise