Classic Espagnole Sauce (sauce Espagnole)
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Classic Espagnole Sauce Recipe

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Espagnole sauce is one of the 5 mother sauces from Escoffier. You make this strong sauce with beef broth and tomato paste, which is used as a base sauce.

20 minutes
6 persons
Sauces

Nutrition balance score

Great
8.2/10
Glycemic Index
Glycemic Load
46.64 (Low)
5.65 (Low)

Nutrition per serving

Kcal
144.91 kcal
Carbohydrates
Of which sugars
12.11 g
3.23 g
Total fat
Of which saturated fats
9.02 g
5.74 g
Proteins
2.91 g
Fiber
2.52 g
Sodium
398.73 mg
View all nutrients

Espagnole sauce is one of the 5 mother sauces. On this page, we explain how to make this Espagnole sauce yourself. The recipe on this page comes from the grandmaster Escoffier. Auguste Escoffier was a very important French chef.

What is a mirepoix? This is a French term for carrot, onion, and celery (or celeriac) that are finely chopped. In the original recipe of Escoffier, bacon is used, but in modern versions, it is usually left out. You can optionally fry some bacon with the vegetables, which will give the sauce more flavor.

Classic Espagnole Sauce Recipe ingredients

Recipe classic espagnole sauce recipe

Ingredients

6 persons
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Recipe classic espagnole sauce recipe allergens

This recipe contains the following allergens. Click on the allergen to search for alternative recipes.

Gluten
Celery
Milk
Véronique Pouw

Made by Véronique

Published at 2025-07-28, this recipe is for 6 persons and takes 20 minutes.

Updated at: 2025-09-14

Let's get started
Preparation time
10 minutes
Time cooking
10 minutes
Total time
20 minutes

Preparation - 10 minutes

Start by making a mirepoix. This is a French term for carrot, onion, celery, and optionally extra leek in this recipe.

Finely chop the vegetables and mix them well. Make sure the vegetables weigh about 230 grams in total.

Homemade mirepoix
Homemade mirepoix

Making Espagnole sauce - 10 minutes

First, you want to make clarified butter, so melt butter over very low heat. When the butter has melted, you will see foam rising to the top.

Remove the foam from the butter once no new foam is rising. You can do this gently with a spoon. You can also strain the butter with a cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel, where the foam will stay behind.

Make a brown roux by letting the clarified butter brown well (don't burn it!). Browning the butter gives the roux a nutty flavor and will give the Espagnole sauce a nice dark color. A roux is used as a thickening agent for soups, sauces, and stews.

Add the mirepoix to the brown butter and cook the vegetables until soft for a few minutes.

Add the flour and stir well with a wooden spoon, then let the sauce brown a bit more. Let the brown roux and vegetables cool completely.

Heat the beef broth in a medium pot and slowly stir it into the brown roux. Stir continuously to prevent lumps and heat it all again.

Add the tomato paste, peppercorns, and bouquet garni (sprigs of parsley, bay leaf, and thyme).

Let the sauce simmer on low heat for one hour. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve and discard the vegetables and herbs. Season with salt and pepper.

You now have a delicious sauce that you can serve with beef, or use it as a base to make a red wine sauce known as Bordelaise sauce.

Tips!

Is Espagnole sauce the same as Spanish sauce?

No, Espagnole sauce is a classic French base sauce, while Spanish sauce in the Netherlands usually refers to a spicy tomato sauce.

What is a mirepoix?

This is a French term for carrot, onion, and celeriac (or celery) that are finely chopped.

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Nutritional values

Per 1 serving / piece:

Pay attention! These indicated nutritional values are based on standard tables and are therefore an estimated total. No rights can be derived from the data in the nutritional value table.
General
Kcal
144.91 kcal
Carbohydrates
Of which sugars
12.11 g
3.23 g
Total fat
Of which saturated fats
9.02 g
5.74 g
Proteins
2.91 g
Fiber
2.52 g
Sodium
398.73 mg
Show vitamines & minerals
Handy! Scroll this table horizontally to see all nutritional values per ingredient
Amount Ingredient Allergens Kcal Carbs Carbs of which sugars Fat Fat of which saturated Protein Fibers Sodium Iron Calcium Magnesium Potassium Phosphorus Copper Zinc Iodine Selenium Vitamin C Vitamin D Vitamin A Vitamin B1 Vitamin B2 Vitamin B6 Vitamin B12 Vitamin B11 Vitamin E Vitamin K Vitamin K1
0.17 onion 7.50 1.27 g 1.27 g 0.04 g 0.02 g 0.25 g 0.52 g 1.88 mg 0.10 mg 6.25 mg 2.08 mg 36.46 mg 8.75 mg 0.02 mg 0.17 mg - - 1.35 mg - - 0.01 mg 0.01 mg 0.03 mg - 2.08 µg - - -
8.33 gram celeriac 2.58 0.42 g - 0.03 g - 0.17 g 0.42 g 6.67 mg 0.08 mg 6.67 mg 0.83 mg 33.33 mg 7.50 mg - 0.02 mg - - 1.25 mg - - - - 0.01 mg - 2.92 µg - - -
0.33 carrots 3.60 0.63 g 0.59 g - - 0.11 g 0.39 g 4.00 mg 0.04 mg 4.00 mg 0.80 mg 24.00 mg 5.33 mg - 0.01 mg - - 0.27 mg - 0.15 mg - - 0.01 mg - 2.00 µg - - -
0.04 leek 1.56 0.21 g 0.16 g 0.02 g - 0.09 g 0.13 g 0.26 mg 0.05 mg 3.13 mg 0.52 mg 13.02 mg 1.56 mg - 0.02 mg - - 1.30 mg - - 0.01 mg - 0.01 mg - 3.13 µg - - -
10 gram butter milk 73.50 0.07 g 0.07 g 8.25 g 5.40 g 0.07 g - 0.50 mg 0.01 mg 1.30 mg 0.20 mg 1.50 mg 2.00 mg - 0.01 mg - - - 0.12 mg 0.10 mg - - - - - - - -
10 gram flour gluten 36.40 6.98 g 0.15 g 0.15 g 0.02 g 1.14 g 0.28 g 0.20 mg 0.10 mg 2.00 mg 2.00 mg 18.00 mg 10.00 mg 0.03 mg 0.11 mg - - - - - 0.01 mg 0.01 mg 0.03 mg - 3.50 µg - - -
91.67 ml beef broth celery 5.50 0.09 g - 0.46 g 0.27 g 0.46 g - 339.17 mg 0.18 mg 3.67 mg 0.46 mg 3.67 mg 2.75 mg - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 gram tomato paste 7.60 1.40 g 1.00 g - - 0.35 g 0.29 g 45.00 mg 0.40 mg 3.00 mg 5.50 mg 85.00 mg 7.00 mg 0.05 mg 0.15 mg - - 3.00 mg - 0.02 mg 0.01 mg 0.01 mg 0.02 mg - 3.00 µg - - -
0.17 bay leaf 0.52 0.12 g - 0.01 g - 0.01 g 0.04 g 0.08 mg 0.07 mg 1.39 mg 0.20 mg 0.88 mg 0.19 mg - - - - 0.08 mg - - - - - - 0.30 µg 0.01 mg - -
0.33 sprig fresh thyme 1.63 0.25 g - 0.02 g 0.01 g 0.05 g 0.14 g 0.09 mg 0.18 mg 4.00 mg 1.60 mg 6.10 mg 1.05 mg 0.01 mg 0.02 mg - - 1.60 mg - 2.30 mg - - - - - - - -
0.33 sprig fresh parsley 0.40 0.02 g - - - 0.05 g 0.05 g 0.35 mg 0.09 mg 0.47 mg 0.58 mg 9.92 mg 1.52 mg - 0.01 mg - - 1.87 mg - 0.01 mg - - - - 1.40 µg - - -
0.17 a small handful of peppercorns 4.12 0.67 g - 0.03 g 0.01 g 0.15 g 0.26 g 0.53 mg 0.39 mg 5.33 mg - 17.33 mg 2.40 mg - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
    144.91 12.11 g 3.23 g 9.02 g 5.74 g 2.91 g 2.52 g 398.73 mg 1.69 mg 41.20 mg 14.78 mg 249.21 mg 50.05 mg 0.11 mg 0.52 mg - - 10.72 mg 0.12 mg 2.59 mg 0.05 mg 0.04 mg 0.12 mg - 18.33 µg 0.01 mg - -
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