It’s not often that I use such highly subjective descriptors and food writing clichés as “the best”, but honestly, life is too short for bad mushroom sauce.
I thought I’d share my secret mushroom sauce recipe with you… Just a few ingredients, it’s that simple: cream, mushrooms, pepper, garlic, salt, some parsley on top. And a little time, to let the sauce cook down and develop more intense flavors. I love watching it bubbling away, condensing, turning a golden caramel brown colour and waiting for the few minutes it takes to cook. You can really smell the mushrooms and the consistency becomes just right!
If you don’t believe me, I dare you to try it. After all, good steak deserves the best mushroom sauce. 
How to Make The Best Creamy Mushroom Sauce for Steak
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Prepare the Mushrooms:
- Heat the cooking oil in a medium saucepan over high heat.
- Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan and stir-fry until they are lightly browned. This should take about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium.
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Cook the Sauce:
- Add the heavy cream to the saucepan with the mushrooms.
- Season with ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer. Cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Be sure to watch that the cream doesn’t over-boil.
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Add Garlic and Parsley:
- Once the sauce has reduced by half, add the crushed garlic to the saucepan.
- Cook for another minute to let the garlic flavor infuse into the sauce.
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Finish and Serve:
- Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Top the sauce with chopped parsley.
- Serve the creamy mushroom sauce hot over your favorite steak or pasta.
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Reheat Instructions:
- To reheat the sauce, place the saucepan back on low heat.
- Let the sauce “melt” and heat through gently.
The Best Creamy Mushroom Sauce For Steaks
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
- Diet: Omnivore
Description
Rich and savory mushroom sauce, ready in under 20 minutes.
Perfect for steaks, schnitzels, or pasta.
Ingredients
- 6 oz (150 g) button mushrooms
- 5 fl oz (150 ml) heavy cream
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 0.5 tsp ground sea salt
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tsp cooking oil
Instructions
Prepare the Mushrooms
- Heat the cooking oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and stir-fry until lightly browned (about 5 minutes). Reduce heat to medium.
Cook the Sauce
- Add the thickened cream to the saucepan with the mushrooms. Season with ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, ensuring the cream doesn’t overboil.
Add Garlic and Parsley
- Once the sauce has reduced by half, add the crushed garlic. Cook for another minute to infuse the garlic flavor.
Finish and Serve
- Remove the saucepan from the heat. Top the sauce with chopped parsley. Serve hot over your favorite steak or pasta.
Reheat Instructions
- To reheat, place the saucepan on low heat and let the sauce melt and heat through gently.
Notes
- For a richer flavor, use cremini or shiitake mushrooms instead of button mushrooms.
- To prevent the sauce from separating, whisk the cream continuously while simmering.
- Store leftover sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stir-Frying
- Cuisine: Continental
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 200
- Sugar: 2
- Sodium: 200
- Fat: 18
- Saturated Fat: 10
- Unsaturated Fat: 6
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 5
- Fiber: 1
- Protein: 4
- Cholesterol: 20
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of mushrooms work best for a creamy steak sauce?
Cremini or baby bella mushrooms are a solid choice because they have a meatier flavor than white button mushrooms. You can also mix in some sliced shiitakes for extra depth.
Should I cook the mushrooms before adding the cream?
Yes. Saute the mushrooms in butter until they release their moisture and turn golden brown. This concentrates their flavor before the cream goes in, so you get a richer sauce instead of a watery one.
How do I prevent the cream sauce from breaking or curdling?
Keep the heat at medium-low once you add the cream, and avoid letting it boil rapidly. Stirring consistently helps the sauce stay smooth and emulsified.
I’m not understanding what kind of cream to use… Is there a brand? I’m new to cooking :/ can I use heavy whipping cream instead?
very nice flavour and easy to make THANKS
very enyoyable
Excellent and basic. Some VERY finely chopped onion also adds another dimension, and if you want to use low fat milk then a sprinkle of mustard powder will help thicken, otherwise just keep reducing.
I used sour cream with a bit of milk to thin it down as that’s all I had, and added a dash of Worcester sauce, delish!
Perfect for steak. Berry lovely Thank you
Mouthwatering! Can’t believe how quick and easy this recipe is. Decided to use some leftover cream but it wasn’t enough. So I used one percent milk and thickened it with a tblsp of butter and half a tbls of flour, stirring about five or six minutes until hot and nicely thickened, then added salt, pepper & garlic and cooked another couple minutes. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you for sharing!
Any chance skim milk can be used successfully?
Not really, skim just won’t reduce into a proper sauce and you’ll end up with something thin and watery. If you’re cutting fat, whole milk with a small cornstarch slurry is a better workaround.
Oh wow oh wow oh wow. I’ve just tried this recipe and it is really delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Yum
Hi Martyna, I would like to try your recipe however I was wondering which type of cream is the one I will need? I found cream of mushroom..is this ok?
Hi Marysol, you should just use plain (cow’s milk) cream of about 30% fat content. Pure pouring cream would also work.
This is a wonderful sauce. We have just had it on venison steak. I will certainly be using the recipe a lot. Thank you.
Tried this recipe out yesterday and it was delicious. I posted the link to this recipe on my blog because more people should know about this recipe :)
Delicious! so simple to make and tastes devine will use time and time again! thank you :)
This is a beautiful sauce! They make something similar here in Portugal for their steaks, but the only time I’ve seen it made the person used a premade knorr cube mix.
I’m now looking forward to playing with this recipe!
Hi Rochelle, I know the sayce is popular in Germany for schnitzel and Poland with veal, but I didn’t realize the sauce was popular in Portugal so thank you for bringing that to my attention. I hope you enjoy it!