Go Back
–+ servings
making sage brown butter sauce

Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Course Dressings, Sauces, Syrups & Toppings
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Total Time 11 minutes
Servings 5
Calories 163
Author Christina Conte
A quick, butter and nutty sauce which goes perfectly with so many dishes!

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 4 oz butter unsalted
  • 15 sage leaves fresh (or dried)
  • 3 pinches sea salt (optional)

Instructions

  • If using fresh sage, wash and dry the leaves and have them ready.
  • Cut the butter into pieces and place into the pan over medium low heat. Allow the butter to melt slowly, then turn the heat up a little.
  • The butter will start to bubble and squirt. If you use a low quality butter, it will more than likely squirt a lot more, so another reason to use good quality butter for this brown butter sage sauce.
  • Swirl the pan occasionally and watch the bottom closely as you don’t want to burn the butter. When brown particles (the milk solids) start to form, add the sage leaves to flavor the sauce.
  • The leaves should crisp up right away. You can leave them in the sauce or remove them to use in your dish later (I do the latter if using whole leaves.)
  • Once the leaves are ready, remove the pan from the heat (be sure the butter doesn’t burn before the leaves are done. Add salt if you’ve used unsalted butter. This is a very quick sauce, so don’t be tempted to walk away for a moment as it can burn quickly. 
  • Use the sage brown butter sauce as desired. I recommend adding the pasta or gnocchi to the pan versus adding the sauce to the pasta/gnocchi.

Notes

  • PLEASE NOTE: it is very difficult to give an exact time on when your butter will brown as it will depend on how low or high your heat is. Obviously, the hotter the pan, the more quickly it will brown, and vice versa.
  • I recommend a medium heat so it doesn't take too long to brown the butter, but there's also less chance that it will burn quickly. However, it shouldn't take longer than 8 minutes or so.
  • You can use salted butter if that's all you have, but you won't need to add salt unless you feel it needs it.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 163kcal | Carbohydrates: 0.03g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 378mg | Potassium: 6mg | Fiber: 0.01g | Sugar: 0.01g | Vitamin A: 567IU | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 0.02mg
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Please leave a review by clicking on the RATE button above in the purple header or share a photo and tag @ChristinasCucina on Instagram!