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This creamy tarragon sauce is rich, silky, and full of bright flavor from fresh lemon juice and herbs. It’s a simple way to elevate chicken, fish, roasted vegetables, or even a bowl of rice.
Our French lemon tarragon cream sauce is velvety smooth and aromatic. It’s particularly delicious with our Chicken Cordon Bleu with Asparagus. It is easy to make and will take your meals to the next level.
Why This Creamy Tarragon Sauce Recipe Works
- Quick and easy: You don’t need any fancy skills—just a handful of ingredients and a saucepan.
- Versatile: It pairs well with chicken, fish, rice, and even veggies.
- Fresh and zesty: Lemon and tarragon give it a fresh, vibrant taste.
- Customizable: Swap out the white wine for chicken broth or tweak the seasonings to make it your own.
If you like this recipe, try our tarragon cod or our chicken with tarragon sauce.
Ingredient Notes:
- When cooking with wine, choose a good dry white wine you’d actually enjoy sipping; it’ll enhance the flavors in the best way. If wine isn’t your thing, no worries! You can swap it out for extra broth.
- Use fresh tarragon. Dried tarragon will be too mild and contribute a grainy texture.
Recipe Tips
Have all your ingredients measured and ready before you turn on the heat. This sauce comes together quickly, so a little prep goes a long way.
It will thicken. If the sauce seems a bit thin at first, don’t worry, it will thicken slightly as it cools.
To keep the sauce warm, set your serving dish in a larger bowl of hot tap water. It’ll stay warm without the risk of overcooking.
Use room temperature cream. Cold cream can cause the sauce to cool down too quickly or seize slightly. If you have time, take it out of the fridge before you start.
Don’t let it boil. Once you add the cream, keep the heat low. A gentle simmer is all you need, boiling can cause the sauce to separate or turn grainy.
Reheat gently. This sauce holds up well if you make it a little in advance. Reheat it over low heat, stirring constantly. If it thickens too much in the fridge, just stir in a splash of broth as it warms up.
Substitutions and Serving Suggestions
If you’d rather skip the wine, just use an equal amount of broth—chicken or vegetable both work well.
Vegetable broth is a fine swap. We don’t recommend using water, you’ll lose a lot of flavor, and the texture won’t be quite right.
You can use freshly ground black pepper instead. It’ll add some black flecks to the sauce, but the flavor will be just as good.
This rich, creamy sauce goes with just about anything. Spoon it over steak, pan-seared fish (like our tarragon salmon), or grilled veggies. It’s also great on rice, mashed potatoes, or pasta, and makes a fantastic dip for crusty bread.
Storing Leftovers
To store leftovers, transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to use it again, reheat gently over low heat on the stovetop.
You can also store it in the freezer for up to 6 months but it will split and look watery when you thaw it.
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Lemon Tarragon Cream Sauce
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Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 garlic clove, grated or minced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
Instructions
- In a saucepan set over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and add the garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, do not brown.
- Add the wine and cook for 30 seconds to burn off the alcohol; then add the chicken broth. Increase the temperature to medium high and bring to a boil and reduce by half. This should take about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Adjust the stove to medium low and stir in the cream, honey, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Simmer for 5-8 minutes or until slightly reduced and a little bit thicker.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining butter and the chopped tarragon. Transfer the sauce to a pitcher or small dish.
Video
Notes
- The sauce will thicken a little more as it cools.
- To keep it warm, set the pitcher or dish into a larger dish of hot tap water.
- The white wine can be subbed with an equal amount of chicken broth.
- Pairs well with poultry, fish, rice, and veggies.
- Freshly ground black pepper can be swapped for white if you don’t mind the black specks.
Variations
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!The Ingredient Shot
The Process Photos
We made this for pasta and salmon meal. It turned out so delicious! The sauce is had the perfect thick consistency and made the salmon taste so good. We will definitely be making this sauce again with other meats.
Thanks for the comment, I’m so glad you enjoyed it. It really is a great match with salmon!
Can I use 1/2 & 1/2 instead of Heavy Cream?
Hi, Joyce…Yes, you could and it would save a few calories but I think you will not get the same thickness and consistency. Thanks for the great question, if you use the 1/2-1/2 I would love the feedback on how it turned out.
can I substitute lime juice or lemon paste for the lemon juice?
Thank you
Yes, that will work just fine. Thanks for the question.
Lovely sauce which paired well with my meal.
Thanks for the comment, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Mmmmmm, so goooooood! I would make this again.
Thank you, Viki….I am so pleased that you enjoyed it!
When it states heavy cream does this mean double cream? The recipe uses one and a half cups of this to give a yield of one and a half cups?
Heavy cream is 36% to 40% fat. You can use a lower-fat cream than that, but you don’t need to use double cream. I think that would make it a bit too rich.
What do you mean reduce by half? Are you referring to the temperature for the thickness of the sauce?
Hello, Charlotte, thank you for you question. To reduce by half means to cook until the volume of the sauce has been reduced by half the amount. This will slightly thicken the sauce.
Hello I have a question can I replace the chicken broth with seafood broth if im pairring it with octopus?
Yes, that would work just fine, thank you for the question.
Can this be frozen?
Yes, you can freeze it. Keep it in an airtight container and let it thaw slowly in the fridge. Occasionally the sauce will break when you freeze and thaw it out. If that happens warm it up slowly and whisk it vigorously. You can also try a slurry of 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and 2 teaspoons water to the sauce while you heat it will bring it together if it breaks.