This Balsamic Red Wine Reduction Sauce is so good, if I could bottle it up I would drink it. Drizzle some of this on your steak to take it to a whole new level of amazing!
W.C. Fields: I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.
It’s the perfect finishing touch. It adds wonderful flavor that will enhance, but not overpower the flavor of your steak. It has a dark glossy appearance that looks great too.
Balsamic Red Wine Reduction Sauce Recipe
Balsamic Red Wine Reduction
Equipment
- 1 medium sauce pan
- 1 kitchen knife
- 1 cutting board
- 1 spoon
Ingredients
- 1 cup shallot – sliced very thin
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup dry red wine – something you would enjoy drinking
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- ½ tbsp sea salt
- ½ tbsp black pepper – cracked
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, sauté the shallot in the olive oil and butter over medium-low heat until translucent, and beginning to caramelize.1 cup shallot, 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp olive oil
- Add dry red wine and balsamic vinegar, and boil until liquid is reduced by half.1 cup dry red wine, 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- Add beef broth, and boil until liquid is reduced by half again.1 cup beef broth
- Add rosemary, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to simmer, and allow the sauce to continue to reduce until it is the consistency of warm syrup. There should be about ½ cup of sauce in the pan.1 sprig fresh rosemary, 1/2 tbsp sea salt, 1/2 tbsp black pepper
- Using a spoon, drizzle sauce over steak.
PRIVATE NOTES
Nutrition
More Information
When I cook filet mignon, first I will rub the steak with olive oil, coarse salt and cracked black pepper. Then I will sear it over high heat for a few minutes on all sides. I’ll remove the steaks before they are over-cooked, leaving the fond (pan drippings) in the pan. I then follow this recipe for making the balsamic red wine reduction sauce. I’ll add a few spoonfuls of sauce to a plate, and set the fillet on top. The red wine will deglaze the pan and add a very delicious quality to the sauce.
Notes on cooking with wine
Cooking with wine is fun and delicious. I will use white wine, like Chardonnay to deglaze when I’m preparing a light colored sauce, such as in Braised Country Pork Ribs, or Chicken Marsala. I’ll use a red wine, like Cabernet Sauvignon to deglaze while making a dark colored sauce, such as in Braised Beef Short Ribs, or Salisbury Steak.
Pro tip
It’s a good idea to enjoy a glass of the wine you are cooking with while you cook. This will raise your spirit and help put your mind in the right place to create good food. It also ensures that the wine you use to cook with is something that you would actually enjoy drinking, because the flavor of the wine will be imparted into the sauce. If you don’t enjoy drinking it, you won’t enjoy eating with it either!
Notes on balsamic vinegar
In this recipe for Balsamic Red Wine Reduction, it’s better to use commercial-grade balsamic vinegar. There’s no reason to use traditional aged balsamic vinegar. It is way too expensive and delicious all by itself. In this recipe, we are not trying to create an overpowering sauce. We are infusing the flavor and aroma of rosemary while reducing the red wine and balsamic vinegar down to a syrupy sauce. Using traditional, thick balsamic vinegar would not allow for this further reduction. Use the kind of balsamic vinegar that you would add to a vinaigrette, not the kind you would add to a Caprese Salad.
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