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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.

Pouring tarragon lemon sauce into a bowl.
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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.

Herbed cream reduction in a dish.

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.

Creamy tarragon chicken in a serving dish.

Substitutions and Serving Suggestions

White wine substitution.

If you’d rather skip the wine, just use an equal amount of broth—chicken or vegetable both work well.

Chicken broth substitution.

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.

White pepper substitution.

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.

Serving suggestions.

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.

Scooping herbed cream sauce from a bowl.

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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Scooping creamy tarragon sauce out of a bowl.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
4.70 from 59 votes

Lemon Tarragon Cream Sauce

By Pat Nyswonger
A French inspired Creamy Tarragon Sauce that has the subtle flavor of anise.  This rich creamy sauce pairs well with poultry, fish or vegetables for a deliciously aromatic dish.

If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating and comment.

Servings: 2 Cups
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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. 
    Melting butter in a skillet.
  • Add the wine and cook for 30 seconds to burn off the alcohol, then add the chicken broth. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, and reduce the liquid by half, this should take about 3 to 4 minutes. Reducing first is key to preventing curdling later.
    Pouring broth into a skillet.
  • Lower the heat to medium-low. Stir in the cream, honey, lemon juice, salt, and white pepper. Simmer gently (do not boil) for 5 to 8 minutes, or until slightly reduced and just thickened.
    Adding cream, honey, lemon juice, salt and pepper to the sauce.
  • Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining butter and the chopped tarragon.  Transfer the sauce to a pitcher or small dish. 
    Adding fresh tarragon to cream sauce.

Video

Notes

The sauce will thicken slightly as it cools: For serving, you can keep it warm by placing the pitcher or dish in a larger bowl of hot tap water.
White wine swap: If you don’t cook with wine, use an equal amount of chicken broth instead.
Pepper options: White pepper keeps the sauce visually smooth, but freshly ground black pepper works fine if you don’t mind the specks.
Versatile pairing: This sauce is excellent with poultry, fish, rice, or roasted vegetables.
Use heavy cream, not milk or half-and-half: The higher fat content (at least 36%) keeps the sauce stable, even with the lemon juice.
Add lemon juice after the cream: Cream buffers the acid. Adding lemon to the wine or broth directly increases the risk of curdling.
Simmer, don’t boil: Keep the heat at medium-low once the cream and lemon juice are in to maintain a smooth texture.
Reduce wine and broth first: Concentrating them before adding cream improves flavor and helps stabilize the sauce.
Whisk as you go: Stirring helps emulsify the fat and keep the sauce cohesive.
 
 

Variations 

Tarragon mustard sauce: Stir in one tablespoon of mustard for a tangy kick that’s perfect with pork.
Parmesan addition: Mix in ¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese for a cheesy variation that’s great with pasta or roasted veggies. This variation will be thicker and you may want to add more broth. 
 

Nutrition

Serving: 2tablespoons, Calories: 176kcal, Carbohydrates: 3g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 53mg, Sodium: 162mg, Sugar: 3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

iconLike this recipe? Rate & comment below!

The Ingredient Shot

Ingredients used for tarragon sauce with cream.

About Pat Nyswonger

Pat Nyswonger is a self-taught home cook with years of experience creating from-scratch meals for family and friends. As a wife, mother of four, and grandmother to seventeen, she understands the value of recipes that bring people together. Her kitchen has always been the heart of her home, where she enjoys developing flavorful, approachable dishes that home cooks of any level can make and enjoy.

Read More About Me

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4.70 from 59 votes (56 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




22 Comments

  1. RW says:

    4 stars
    What’s with the lemon juice and cream? Of course my sauce curdled. Find another recipe folks. Rating, 0 stars

    Reply
    1. Dahn Boquist says:

      Hi there! Sorry to hear your sauce curdled. This recipe uses heavy cream, which is stable enough to handle lemon juice when added in the right order and gently simmered (not boiled). The wine and broth get reduced first, which also helps stabilize the base. If you used a lower-fat dairy or added the lemon too early, that could explain the curdling. I’ve added more tips in the notes section to help troubleshoot this going forward. Appreciate the feedback, and it looks like you might have meant to leave a different star rating?

      Reply