One of my favourite steak sauces – a creamy Peppercorn Sauce made with brandy or cognac, beef broth/stock, cream and plenty of crushed peppercorns. The creamy pepper sauce with juicy steak is a match made in heaven and calls for just 4 ingredients. FOUR!!!
Creamy Peppercorn Sauce – a Steakhouse classic
Creamy Peppercorn Sauce was always my first choice at steakhouses which I frequented quite regularly back in my corporate days. Having traded in suits and heels for an apron, there’s no corporate lunches for me anymore. I make my steaks at home!
There are a handful of truly great sauces in this world that are deceptively simple to make, and this creamy pepper sauce for steak is one of them. It’s the same sauce used in Steak au Poivre, a French classic, except the steak is not crusted with cracked peppercorns so there is more in the sauce. This recipe is more straightforward because you don’t have to worry about burning cracked peppercorns when searing the steak or finishing the steak in the oven to avoid that problem.
How to make Creamy Peppercorn Sauce
This is an exceptionally simple sauce to make with few ingredients, making for a quick dinner any night:
Cook steak to your taste, then remove and rest while you make the sauce;
Make sauce: In the same pan, add brandy or cognac, simmer rapidly for 1 minute until the alcohol smell is gone;
Add beef broth/stock, and simmer rapidly until it reduces by half (intensifies the flavour);
Stir through cream and crushed peppercorns. Serve over steak!
TIPS:
The alcohol brings incredible depth of flavour to the sauce, it’s the secret ingredient. Classic creamy peppercorn sauce is made cognac or brandy, but I’ve made this plenty of times with marsala too. I love ’em all!
Using freshly crushed peppercorns are best for a really great pepper flavour. Or use canned green peppercorns for less heat.
PS Note how I’m searing the sides of the steak ↑↑↑ Always sear the fat strip. Nobody likes a big fat rubbery strip of fat on their steak!
Quick for midweek!
Serve it up with Crispy Smashed Potatoes or Paris Mash and a quick Garlic Spinach side for a true Steakhouse experience! – Nagi x
PS It’s worth getting a decent steak for this one. If you get a really good value economy steak, try my Steak Marinade instead – it will tenderise and add subtle flavour. 🙂
Try these on the side:
For a Steakhouse experience – Paris Mash and Garlic Sautéed Spinach
And more great steak sauces:
A Mushroom Sauce for Steak
Garlic Thyme Butter Basted Steak – a simple, amazing Cheffy technique for cooking steak
Mushroom Gravy – use the sauce in this Chicken with Mushroom Gravy
Creamy peppercorn sauce for steak
Watch how to make it
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Steak with Creamy Peppercorn Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 300g/10oz New York Strip / Porterhouse steaks (or other of choice, Note 1)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Sauce:
- 1/3 cup (85 ml) brandy or cognac (or marsala) (Note 2)
- 3/4 cup (185 ml) beef broth/stock , low sodium (important! Note 3)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) cream , heavy/thickened
- 2 – 3 tsp coarsely crushed whole black peppercorns (or canned green peppercorns, drained) (Note 4)
Instructions
- Take the steaks out of the fridge 20 minutes before planning to cook.
- Crush the pepper using a rolling pin, mortar and pestle or the side of a hardy knife.
Steaks:
- Just before cooking, sprinkle both sides of steak generously with salt and black pepper.
- Heat oil in a skillet over high heat until smoking.
- Add steaks and cook the first side for 2 minutes until it has a great crust, then flip and cook the other side for 2 minutes (for medium rare).
- Stack the steaks on top of each other, then use tongs to sear the fat strip.
- Transfer to plate, cover loosely with foil to rest while you make the sauce.
Sauce:
- Add brandy or cognac into the same skillet and let it simmer rapidly, scraping the bottom of the pan, until it has mostly reduced and you can no longer smell the harsh alcohol smell (~1 min).
- Add broth, bring to simmer and let it simmer rapidly for 2 to 3 minutes or until it reduces by half.
- Turn heat down to medium. Add cream and pepper, stir, then simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes until it thickens (do not let it boil rapidly).
- Taste sauce, adjust salt (and pepper!) to taste.
- Transfer steaks to warmed serving plates. Spoon over sauce. Serve immediately! Pictured with Crispy Smashed Potatoes and Garlic Spinach. (Note 6)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Mandatory post knee-op daily icing involves building blocks, frozen veg and Dozer with his eyes closed the whole time – “OMG it’s so cold, it’s so cold, it’s soooo cooold!!!” (Update: Happy to report he made a full recovery and was bounding around like a loon within weeks!)
Ok so I’m not a huge cooker of steak as I always overcook so thought I’d give this a crack…well I nearly burnt my kitchen down when adding the brandy to the pan…tried to follow the instructions but it didn’t say to reduce the heat so not sure what I did wrong. I also def needed more than 2 mins for Med rare…mine was still breathing so had to cook it up a bit more. I also didn’t have reduced salt stock so tried following the steps with the onion etc but found it was then too lumpy rather than a sauce…think this just tells me to not bother with steak- although sounds easy I seem to struggle and the fire in the pan was a little scary….sauce flavour itself was nice….I also trie the potato smash but that didn’t work…potatoes too big and all broke, the spinach well that’s was just too much garlic…overall I was shattered but think it had to do with me rather than the recipe although would like to understand the right level of heat before adding brandy…was terrifying…
Hey Maryanna. That’s always a concern when you add high heat and alcohol. I turned my pan to medium-low for a few minutes and then poured the brandy along the side of the pan rather than straight into the centre.
If you want medium-rare, I suggest 3-4 minutes per side. Also, I prefer to cook my steaks with margarine or butter. Put about a tablespoon or two (depending on how many steaks you’re cooking) into the pan and let it come to a simmer. Test your steak by dipping an edge into the pan – if the steak sizzles, it’s ready to lay in. If not, wait. Otherwise the meat will just soak up the grease. Ensure that the steaks are room temperature before cooking. This will give you a softer steak, like in a restaurant. Otherwise, you’ll get a very chewy steak.
For the stock, I use vegeta, which is used a lot in Eastern European households as kind of a catch-call stock seasoning, and add it to water. The sauce turned out lovely. You could try just bouillon cubes or powder with water next time.
I hope this helps. <3
This sauce is amazing. Definitely gives a high-end restaurant finish to beef tenderloin filet. My sauce was a bit thin, but I think because I used half & half, I thickened it using cornstarch.
Thank you very much for sharing the recipe, came out well except the sauce was too thin , I did simmer on medium for over 5 min. How do I thicken the sauce? Do I add flour?
This was delicious! I didn’t have brandy or cream to hand so I substituted sherry and sour cream and it turned out amazingly regardless! I love your recipes, always a hit in our house 😊
That’s great to hear Anna!! N x
I have a dry and a sweet marsala….which one do you recommend for this recipe tonight?
Hi JoAnne, use the dry for this recipe 🙂 N x
This was amazing! I only had bourbon on hand to use but I can confirm that it was still delicious. Thanks for another fantastic recipe, Nagi!
Yum, this was sooo good, won´t be buying the packets again, I got a high five over the dinner table from my boyfriend who said it was like from a restaurant. Thank you x
You nailed it Rakel! N x
Just tried this recipe for the first time tonight and the family loved it! It will be in the dinner rotation for sure. I like the sauce thickened a bit so I added about 4 tbsp of cornstarch (tripled the recipe) to the broth. Super simple and tasty, thank you!!
I cooked the steak with peppercorn sauce on a Sunday. It was so good now we have it every Sunday.
The best peppercorn sauce you’ll ever eat over steak. My partner couldn’t believe how perfect this was and wouldn’t stop thanking me!
That’s great to hear Natasha, I’m so glad it was a hit! N x
Flavoursome, simple and definitely a regular.
That’s great to hear Elizabeth! N x
This was really delicious but it was runny. I tripled the recipe and I suppose that was the problem. To reduce the sauce enough, I think I would have had to simmer for 30 minutes or longer. Also, I probably didn’t need to triple the butter. I will try again!
It looks AMAZING!!! Steak + creamy sauce is a match made in Heaven!!!
YES definitely!!! N x
Thanks Nagi for the blog, Indeed i can make a very nice food for the family with the ingredients.
That’s great Orsdia!! N x
Hi Nagi, I tried this on the weekend and made it to the recipe ( with butter and onion) for the first time and definitely a keeper. Thank you.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Steve!
Hi Nagi. As always, thank you for a wonderful recipe. Quick question, how long should I cook the steak if I like it medium to well done
Hi Miranda, just cook a further minute each side – Enjoy!! N x
I loved making this recipe, it was very easy to follow and it turned out delicious 😋
Thank you Nagi for sharing your love of cooking, because through your recipes we are able to make our love ones very happy!..
May God bless your creative hands 🙌🏼
Hi there, if I do not have thickened cream , can I used evaporating milk?
In my country, its hard to get thickened cream
Quick question: I’m not very experienced with steak but this one looks perfectly cooked! How long did you cook the steak before you took it out to rest?
I just made the sauce to go with the chateaubriand I made for xmas dinner and it was amazing! I’m definitely going to make more to put on everything I can think of.
Wahoo!!!
Great recipe. It’s how we do our steak! Like the way you also sear the sides of the steak.
As a variation, we blitz in a spice grinder dried porcinis, sea salt, and black pepper and sprinkle that mix on both sides of steak. Then add some sliced mushrooms at the brandy stage. The porcini/salt/pepper mix is now one of our pantry staples. Can be added to lots of things (just adjust the salt in the recipe)!
Sounds divine Heather!