Sauce Paloise

Sauce Paloise is a classic French sauce that is perfect with lamb dishes.

Delicious with a leg or shoulder of lamb, chops or lamb steaks, it takes any cut to the next level.

Creamy, buttery and flavoured with mint, this sauce is delicious warm or cold too.

Bon appétit   

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• 📋 Recipe
• French Sauces
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you will love this dish

• Delicious with any lamb dish.
• Elegant sauce for a dinner party.
• Takes just a few minutes to make.

🤔FAQs

There is always a French sauce, to go with meat, fish or vegetables, that takes a meal from the everyday to the luxurious and sauce Paloise is the perfect partner to lamb dishes or even the most basic chop.

It's creamy, with a subtle taste of mint that doesn't overpower the dish. In fact, in French cooking, mint is not a herb that is used in many dishes. Even the humble pea in the side dish Petits Pois à La Française is flavoured with parsley rather than mint.

Of course, they do have Crème de Menthe liqueur and also a popular mint cordial, that can be quite refreshing, but mint is rarely used in savoury dishes.

If you normally buy mint sauce to go with lamb, do try this. It's delicious warm or served with cold cuts too.

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🥘 Ingredients

• Eggs - fresh free range large egg yolks if possible.
• Tarragon - I normally prefer to use fresh herbs, however, fresh tarragon isn't always easy to find all year round and I actually find that you get a stronger flavour with dried tarragon.
• Mint - fresh mint leaves. Garden mint is perfect or from the supermarkets. I prefer to buy a small pot rather than just leaves as the leaves wilt quickly. Transfer to a larger pot to use throughout the growing season. However, don't be tempted to plant it in the garden as it will take over!
• Vinegar - white wine vinegar.
• Butter - salted or unsalted butter. If you are using salted butter the adjust the amount of salt to taste at the end.
• Shallot - these tend to have a sweeter and milder taste than brown cooking onions and are a classic in French cookery. The longer or banana shallots are slightly easier to peel than the small round ones.
• Bay leaf - a dried bay leaf. If you have a tree in the garden make sure that you dry the leaves first, as the flavour of fresh bay can be overwhelming.
• Peppercorns - black peppercorns for flavour.
• Salt - flaked sea salt or kosher salt.

💭Top tips for separating eggs

• I normally store my eggs at room temperature, but if you put your eggs in the fridge for an hour or so before you are ready to bake, then they will be easier to separate.
• Separate each egg, putting the yolk and whites in separate bowls then add the yolks to the bowl as you go. This makes it easier in case you come across a bad egg without wasting the rest

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

🍽 Equipment

• whisk
• glass or ceramic bowl
• saucepan - not aluminium as it will react with the vinegar.
• chopping board
• sharp knife
• sieve

🔪 Instructions

Peel and roughly chop the shallot into small pieces.

Strip the mint leaves from the stalk and chop .

Crush the peppercorns with the back of a knife, so that they release their flavour.

Put the shallot, bay leaf, peppercorns, mint and vinegar into a small saucepan.

Place the saucepan over a medium heat and allow the liquid to evaporate until about half of the liquid remains.

Scrape the mixture into a sieve with a heatproof bowl underneath that you will make the sauce in.

How to make clarified butter

• Put the butter in a small saucepan and heat gently until it melts. You could also use a heatproof bowl or jug in the microwave in 10 second bursts on high.
• Use a spoon to skim off any foam or bits that rise to the surface and discard.
• Next, pour the liquid butter into another container, being careful not to let any of the sediment at the bottom to go with it. I prefer to use a separating jug for this.
• The clarified butter is now ready to use.

Now set up a bain marie which is the bowl with the vinegar reduction over a pan of simmering water. The bowl should sit on the saucepan and not in it so the bowl is heated with gentle heat from the water.

The aim is to have about an inch of water in the bottom of a saucepan over a low to medium heat that is at a simmer.

Take care to make sure that the bowl doesn't touch the water. In this way the contents of the bowl are warmed but don't get a direct heat. This will help to make the egg yolks increase in volume when they are whisked over warm air.

Add the egg yolks to the strained liquid and whisk for 2 minutes.

Continue whisking for a further 2 minutes until the mixture is pale and thick.

Whisk in a small amount of butter at first.

Then add the remaining butter in a steady stream, whisking continuously.

The mixture will thicken and become glossy like Hollandaise.

Turn off the heat and season to taste.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

🥗 Side Dishes

Serve the sauce with some of these lamb ideas.

• Roast Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary
• Lamb Kleftiko, Greek Slow Roasted Lamb
• Slow Roast Lamb Shoulder
• Lamb with Pomegranate Molasses, Garlic & Mint
• Cannon of Lamb
• Barnsley Chops
• Stuffed Breast of Lamb
• Saddle of Lamb

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - refrigerate for up to 2 days.
• Freezer - not suitable for freezing.
• To reheat - gently warm in a bain marie, whisking constantly.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• The sauce is best made just before you want to serve it. You can keep it warm in the bain marie for up to an hour.

Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais

More sauces like this

• Sauce Choron
• Basic White Sauce Béchamel
• Bacon Aioli
• Béarnaise Mayo
• Hollandaise
• Thermidor Sauce
• Mousseline Sauce
• Sauce Soubise
• Sauce Forestière
• Sauce Pistou
• Dijon Mustard Sauce

📋 Recipe

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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