One skill that really shows off a pro cook’s kitchen chops is the ability to improvise on the fly when something doesn’t turn out quite right. Smoothing out seized chocolate or clumpy custard. Coaxing broken mayo into a glossy emulsified spread. Re-solidifying oversoftened butter. Patching torn poultry skin. And of course, thickening up a too-loose pan sauce.
Hack This French Technique to Thicken Any Pan Sauce
With butter, flour, and a whisk, your pan sauce can be lush and silky.
By Published June 1, 2022.
There’s actually a dedicated French technique for that last one called beurre manié. It’s a close relative of roux, made by mashing together equal parts butter and flour until you’ve got a paste. In many restaurant kitchens, cooks keep a tub of the stuff on hand to whisk into pan sauces by the spoonful during the final moments of cooking, because it builds body in an instant: Starch in the flour absorbs water, swells, and thickens the liquid, while the butter adds richness and prevents clumping by evenly dispersing the flour as it melts.
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Fortunately, you don’t have to be a pro cook, or have a tub of beurre manié at your disposal, to tighten up a runny pan sauce. The same effect can easily be achieved with this simpler flour-dredged butter hack.
How to Quickly Thicken Any Pan Sauce
- Cut 3 tablespoons of butter into ½-inch cubes and transfer to a small bowl.
- Toss the butter with 1 teaspoon of flour, so that the pieces are amply coated and no flour remains in the bowl.
- Whisk the pieces into any simmering sauce, a few at a time, until the mixture is luscious and cream-like, 1½ to 2 minutes.
It’s a handy, universal fix that you can throw together in minutes. In fact, I even built it into my recipe for Chicken Francese, where it lends silky richness to the lemony reduction. But if you want to plan ahead like a pro chef, you can also keep a stash of flour-coated butter in the fridge until you need it.
Chicken Francese
Eggy and elegantly lavished with lemony beurre blanc, Francese has long been one of the great Italian American cutlet traditions. Et voilà, my modern update.Get the Recipe
Thyme-Sherry Vinegar Pan Sauce
The sauce is the perfect accompaniment to roast chicken.Get the Recipe
Tomato-Caper Pan Sauce
This recipe goes very well with steak.Get the Recipe
