If you're looking for the best sauce to serve with roast or steak, this red wine jus might be it. A simple, but delicious sauce made with red wine and beef stock.
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Why you'll love it
- It might take some time to make, but it's really easy.
- A great sauce to make with drippings from roast beef or chicken.
- Perfect with any meaty entree, such roasts or steak.
- Jus sounds fancy and impressive, even if it's super simple.
- The alcohol in the wine will cook out, so this red wine sauce is completely alcohol free.
Browse my collection of roast dinner recipes for more delicious meal inspiration.
What is jus?
Jus is a sauce based on stock, broth or drippings from cooked meat. Jus can be made vegetarian, based on vegetable stock, or made using drippings from roast chicken or roast beef.
Most sauces, like gravy, are thickened by using a thickening agent such as flour or cornstarch. With jus, however, no thickening agent is added, and the sauce is instead cooked for a longer period of time until the sauce is reduced to the desired consistency.
Jus is a lot thinner compared to other sauces, and often takes longer to make. It's often considered a delicacy, but it's actually easier to make than you might think.
Ingredients
Red wine: Use a dry red wine. The alcohol evaporates out of the sauce as it cooks, but you can use alcohol free wine if you prefer.
Beef stock: Use beef stock, beef drippings, or any other stock or broth. I tend to use beef stock if I'm serving the jus with beef, and chicken stock if I'm serving it with chicken.
Garlic + shallots: Adds flavor to the jus. Shallots are mild, small onions, and taste great in this recipe. If you can't find shallots, you can use a small red onion instead.
Rosemary + bay leaf: These herbs add some flavor to the jus.
Olive oil: Used to sauté the onions. You can use vegetable oil instead.
Instructions
- Heat up olive oil in a pot on the stove top on medium heat. Add finely diced shallots and garlic, and sauté for a few minutes until the shallot is soft and translucent.
- Add red wine, bay leaf and a rosemary sprig to the onion, and bring it to a simmer. Leave the red wine to simmer until it is slightly reduced, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add beef stock or drippings. Gently simmer the jus on low to medium heat until it has thickened to your liking. This takes between 10-25 minutes, depending on how you like it.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- If you want to keep the onions in: Remove the bay leaf and rosemary sprig from the pot, then pour the sauce into a sauce jug.
- If you want a smooth sauce: Strain the sauce through a sieve to remove any chunks of onion, the bay leaf and rosemary. Discard the chunks, and pour the smooth sauce into a sauce jug.
- Serve the red wine jus immediately while it's warm.
Top tips
- This sauce will not be as thick as gravy, but it will thicken a little as it cooks. Make sure to give it enough time to reduce enough.
- I love to serve this with roast beef. After removing the roast from the oven, it usually has to rest for up to an hour. This gives you plenty of time to make red wine jus from the beef drippings in the roasting pan.
Serving suggestions
Serve red wine jus over your favorite meaty entree. Here are some of the main courses that I love to accompany it with:
- Air Fryer Steak - Red wine sauce and a juicy steak are perfect together.
- Spatchcock Chicken - This easy roast chicken is perfect with chicken jus.
- Roast Topside of Beef - Make red wine jus with the drippings of this juicy beef roast.
Leftovers
Store leftover red wine sauce in a sealed container in a refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat the sauce in a pot on the stove top over medium to low heat, and serve it warm over your favorite entree.
Leftover roast dinners taste just as good the next day. If you have roast meat or steak leftover as well as the sauce, you can also make an amazing roast beef sandwich with jus.
You can also freeze leftover jus for up to 3 months. Defrost and reheat, and serve it with a future dinner.
Frequently asked questions
You thicken jus by allowing it to cook. The liquid will gradually reduce, and become thicker.
Yes! Jus is commonly made with red wine, but it can also be made with white wine. Keep in mind that white wine has a completely different flavor, so the sauce will taste different than red wine jus.
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Recipe
Red Wine Jus
Ingredients
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 shallots
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Instructions
- Heat up olive oil in a pot on the stove top on medium heat. Add finely diced shallots and garlic, and sauté for a few minutes until the shallot is soft and translucent.
- Add red wine, bay leaf and a rosemary sprig to the onion, and bring it to a simmer. Leave the red wine to simmer until it is slightly reduced, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add beef stock or drippings. Gently simmer the jus on low to medium heat until it has thickened to your liking. This takes between 10-25 minutes, depending on how you like it.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- If you want to keep the onions in: Remove the bay leaf and rosemary sprig from the pot, then pour the sauce into a sauce jug.
- If you want a smooth sauce: Strain the sauce through a sieve to remove any chunks of onion, the bay leaf and rosemary. Discard the chunks, and pour the smooth sauce into a sauce jug.
- Serve the red wine jus immediately while it's warm.
Video
Notes
- Refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat the sauce in a pot on the stove top on medium heat.
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