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Ready in under 10 minutes, this Sage Butter Sauce is a homemade luxury done easily. Use it to enhance pasta, or as a decadent sauce for beef, chicken, and more! You will only need four simple ingredients.
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Sage Brown Butter Sauce
When I want to make a truly impressive dinner, you can bet I'm going to serve it with sage brown butter sauce. The rich, caramelized, mouthwatering browned butter paired with aromatic garlic and crispy sage leaves makes any dish restaurant-quality!
Browning the butter sets this sauce apart from other butter sauce recipes. It adds a nutty, rich flavor that is simply irresistible. You'll want to add it to everything - and I do mean everything! Toss it with ravioli or tortellini, or enjoy it over steak, chicken, roasted vegetables, potato gnocchi, and more.
With how versatile and tasty it is, would you believe me if I told you it takes less than ten minutes to make sage butter sauce using four easy ingredients? It's true, and I'll show you how!
What is brown butter?
Browned butter is butter that has been heated until the milk solids separate and start to caramelize, turning the butter a rich golden brown. The taste becomes something truly one of a kind.
It's richly nutty and mildly sweet like caramel, but still savory. This is a classic sauce choice for serving with homemade pasta, especially with the addition of sage!
Ingredients in Brown Butter Sage Sauce
- Fresh sage leaves: This is the key ingredient, so using fresh sage is ideal! It will have the best flavor and texture.
- Unsalted butter: A quality unsalted butter will give you the richest flavor and the most freedom to adjust the salt levels as desired. If you only have salted butter, then adjust the salt used.
- Garlic: Freshly minced garlic is a must! The flavor will be sharper and more aromatic than granulated.
- Salt: Salt the sauce to your desired level! Skip this if you're using salted butter.
- Optional: Lemon juice, black pepper, Parmesan cheese (for garnish)
How to Make Brown Butter
- Melt the butter in a skillet or small saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer for one minute.
- After one minute, add in the chopped sage and garlic.
- Once it starts to foam, stir frequently and continue simmering until the butter browns. You'll know the difference when it changes consistencies to a thin liquid and the milk solids start separating and turning a rich golden brown.
- Once the butter browns, quickly remove the sauce from the heat and pour into a cooled dish or bowl to stop the cooking process, then serve!
Tips
- Browned butter burns quickly! Keep a careful eye on the sauce once it gets thin and starts bubbling. Take it off the heat the instant it starts changing colors or it will overcook on the hot bottom of the pan!
- For the most even cooking, cut the butter into chunks instead of placing the whole stick in the pan. This will keep the temperature even.
- To best keep the sauce from overcooking, pour it from the pan into a cool bowl. This will keep the residual heat from overcooking the sauce.
- Don't add the garlic too early. It can overcook easily.
What to Serve with Sage Butter Sauce
- Lobster Ravioli: My family's personal favorite. I love making homemade raviolis with butter sauce!
- Shrimp Pasta: Shrimp is a great choice for pairing with a garlicky brown butter sauce like this one.
- Pan-Fried Chicken: If you want a truly decadent chicken dinner, this is the way to go!
- Chuck Steak: I love, love, love serving this butter sauce with thinly sliced, gorgeous steak.
FAQ
When heated, butter goes through several stages. It melts to a cloudy liquid, then turns light and clear, then finally becomes a thin, rich yellow with small floating solids. This thinned out stage is what you want to reach. Let it boil until the solids turn a very light brown, then immediately remove it from the heat!
I wouldn't recommend powdered sage for this recipe, as the powder won't blend well with the melted butter and will just sink to the bottom of the sauce. Dried, flaky sage will work just fine, just be aware that the color and texture may differ, and less dry sage is needed than fresh sage.
Using Dried Sage in Sage Burnt Butter Sauce
Fresh herbs are going to make for the best flavor and texture, but you can also use dried sage in a pinch. Make sure it's not powdered sage, as powdered will just not have the right texture to blend into the sauce.
When using dried herbs, use ½ teaspoon instead of the required sage leaves. For exact measurements, scroll to the recipe card below.
How to Store Brown Butter Sauce
- Refrigerator: Butter and sage sauce will thicken up like butter in the fridge, so I recommend storing it in a container that can be heated up to loosen it. I like storing it in mason jars! It will last four to five days.
- Freezer: My favorite way of storing sage butter sauce! Pour the sauce into ice cube trays, then once the sauce is frozen, pop the sauce cubes into a freezer-safe bag. Store for up to four months.
- Thawing and Reheating: To reheat fridge-chilled sauce, place the container in the microwave or run hot water over the sides until it pops loose from the container, then heat it in a pan until thin and bubbly. For frozen, thaw it in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Butter Sauce Recipes
- Garlic Butter
- Creamy Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce
- Truffle Butter
- Cowboy Butter Sauce
- Try my showstopping Charcuterie-style Butter Board!
If you enjoyed the recipe, leave a comment and a rating below!
Sage Butter Sauce
Video
Equipment
- Skillet or small saucepan
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons Unsalted butter - cut into chunks
- 4 Sage leaves - fresh, minced
- 1 clove Garlic - minced
- Salt - to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a skillet or small saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for one minute.6 Tablespoons Unsalted butter
- After one minute, add in the chopped sage and garlic. Once it starts to foam, stir frequently and continue simmering until the butter browns. You'll know the difference when it changes consistencies to a thin liquid and the milk solids start separating and turning a rich golden brown.4 Sage leaves,1 clove Garlic
- Quickly remove from the heat and pour into a cooled dish or bowl to stop the cooking process, then serve!Salt
Notes
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- Browned butter burns quickly! Keep a careful eye on the sauce once it gets thin and starts bubbling and remove it from the heat as soon as it browns.
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- For the most even cooking, cut the butter into chunks.
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- To keep the sauce from overcooking, pour it from the pan into a cool bowl.
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- Don't add the garlic too early; it can overcook easily.
Jodi says
The clear guidance gave me confidence to try a new sauce. The aroma alone! SO fresh and rich--I used it for (all those!) zucs from my garden! Thank you.
Isabel Laessig says
This makes me so happy and is the best feedback! Happy cooking! ❤️
– Isabel | Sunday Supper Movement