Looking to elevate your special occasion meals to a restaurant-quality level without too much effort, fancy ingredients or special kitchen tools? Then skip the traditional gravy and make this Easy Red Wine Jus recipe instead! This delicious sauce showcases the essence of traditional French cuisine, where the simplicity and ingredients speak for themselves.
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As I write this recipe, Christmas is just around the corner, and for as long as I remember we made this red wine gravy on Boxing Day to serve with red meat, like Slow Cooker Lamb Shoulder, Beef Wellington or simply with a juicy steak (or try Classic Bearnaise Sauce). Over Easter, it's beautiful with Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks!
The kitchen is one of the busiest spaces in the house over the festive period, and we have some good news for you! This Red Wine Jus recipe can be made in advance and reheated on the day too, so there is no need to stress about another element to cook for your Christmas dinner!
What Is Red Wine Jus?
Red Wine Jus is a classic French sauce renowned for its rich and flavorful profile. It's typically made by deglazing the roasting pan with red wine, allowing it to mingle with the meat juices and delicious brown bits at the bottom of the pan, resulting in a rich sauce made with minimal effort.
Our easy recipe can be made ahead of time; and adding any meat juices at the last step, yields a pan sauce with great flavour, making it the best sauce to complement various meat dishes on your festive dinner table when you are short on time.
Ingredients and Substitutes
You will need nine simple ingredients for this red wine onion gravy and just 20 minutes of your time. And we promise you, it will taste so much better than shop-bought sauce (and certainly head and shoulders above gravy made from granules!).
Here's what you'll need:
- butter: use unsalted butter, as the stock will add enough seasoning to the sauce.
- red onion: can be replaced with a large shallot.
- garlic: use fresh garlic cloves for the best flavour (garlic powder just doesn't have the same effect).
- red wine vinegar: is optional, however, it draws out the flavour from the onion and intensifies the overall taste of this red wine jus. You may replace it with white wine, cider, balsamic vinegar, or even some lemon juice.
- red wine: use whatever you like to drink, or see suggestions in the section below for the best red wine to use, depending on what you'll be serving the sauce with.
- stock: again, you can change the stock type depending on what red wine jus will be served with. As a rule of thumb, use beef broth/ stock, as it is flavoursome enough to stand up to red wine. Do not compromise here, and choose good quality stock - we find that stock pots are so much better than stock cubes in this recipe.
- a sprig of fresh rosemary: can be replaced with a sprig of thyme.
- sugar: caster or brown sugar will work.
- cornflour: also known as cornstarch is used to thicken the jus to the desired consistency. You may use potato starch as a thickening agent too.
See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities, full instructions and nutritional information.
Best Wine For The Jus
When it comes to creating the perfect red wine jus, the choice of wine can greatly impact the flavour profile and pairing suitability. Here are some guidelines on the best wine to use for red wine jus, tailored to specific meat dishes:
- Full-bodied reds (like Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Grenache or Malbec) are an excellent choice for red wine jus when preparing various lamb or beef dishes, including steak dinner or boneless prime rib roast (our favourite roast beef dinner). These wines also work great with venison or slow-cooked lamb dishes.
- Light-bodied reds (like Pinot Noir or Pinotage) are better suited for poultry dishes, like Duck Confit, Roast Goose or even Whole Roast Christmas Chicken (yes, we like red wine sauce with chicken!). They are also a perfect pairing for French Pork Tenderloin. We highly recommend trying Les Argelieres Pinot Noir - its fruity notes of cherry make the lightest version of this sauce without compromising on the depth of flavour.
As a general rule, use red wines that you like to drink, but experiment and change things up as different notes can completely change the sauce itself. Do not compromise on quality though - red wine is the base of a beautiful reduction sauce. What kind of red wine will you use?
Step-By-Step Method
1. Melt a knob of butter in a large frying pan. Add the finely chopped onions, and saute over low heat for 4-5 minutes, until the onion starts to soften.
2. Add the garlic, vinegar and sugar and stir everything with a wooden spoon for another minute.
3. Pour in the red wine, add the rosemary sprig and increase the heat to medium. Once the wine comes to a boil, simmer it for about 5 minutes until it's reduced by about half.
***4. If you're using beef broth/ stock in a liquid state, heat it up in a small saucepan. If you are using a stock cube, dissolve it in boiling water. You will need 350 ml beef stock, but make it more concentrated than the packet instructions state. We tend to reduce the amount of water by about ⅓. If you are using a stock pot, you don't need to prepare it - we'll add it directly to the wine reduction.
5. Once the wine has reduced, pour in the stock. If you're using a stock pot, add it to the pan, and pour in 325ml of hot water. Whisk everything to combine, and bring your red wine sauce to a gentle boil. Simmer it for 5 minutes over medium heat.
6. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a clean medium saucepan and set it over medium-low heat. Discard the onions, garlic and rosemary. Taste it and add some salt and black pepper if needed.
7. In a small bowl, mix 1 heaped teaspoon of cornflour (corn starch) with 1 tablespoon of cold water. If you like your gravy particularly thick, you may need more cornflour. Pour the slurry into the red wine reduction sauce and stir for a couple of minutes over medium heat until the sauce thickens to a desired consistency. That's it! Your beautiful sauce is ready to be poured into a gravy boat and served!
HINT: What About The Pan Juices? If you are cooking your meat at the same time (pan-frying or roasting), add a few tablespoons of pan drippings from the bottom of the pan into the sauce together with the cornflour slurry.
Substitutions & Variations
You can easily adjust the recipe to suit many dietary requirements.
- Gluten-Free - make sure to check the label on your stock. Many stock cubes and pots may contain wheat.
- Dairy-Free - sauté the onions in plant-based butter or olive oil instead, and make sure your stock does not contain any milk powder or other dairy ingredients.
- Vegetarian - use vegetable stock instead. Red wine just will still taste amazing, but won't be as rich.
Experiment with a different type of wine every time you make it to arrive at a version of this red wine jus that is perfect for you. You may also try it with chicken stock or lamb stock. Try adding different herbs and a bay leaf to change the flavours slightly!
Smooth Sauce vs. Chunky Sauce? If you prefer a more rustic approach, you don't need to strain the jus. Take the rosemary sprig out of the sauce, and leave the onions and garlic in it. Chunky red wine jus is great with sausages and potato mash too.
Video
Storage and Reheating
Place any extra red wine jus into an airtight container and store it in the fridge for a maximum of 4 days. Simply reheat this flavorful sauce on the stove top over medium-low heat and drizzle it over your leftover roast dinner.
Can You Freeze Red Wine Jus? Freeze any extra sauce in a sealed container for up to 3 months. Defrost it in the fridge overnight and reheat it on the stovetop as normal.
Recipe FAQ
If you follow the recipe below, you will have a slightly thickened, but still relatively thin red wine sauce. It has a perfect consistency, so that it wraps around the meat, but can also be easily soaked up with a roast potato. We use 1 teaspoon of cornflour mixed with 1 tablespoon of water to make a slurry, but if you like the sauce thicker, you can always use more of the thickening agent. Simply make more slurry, but only add more if needed. Two things to note: 1. Sauce will thicken as it heats up, 2. Never add dry corn starch directly to the sauce.
Whilst some alcohol evaporates when red wine bubbles away, you would need to cook your jus for hours for this sauce to be completely alcohol-free.
Not necessarily. Whilst no explicit ingredients containing gluten are used, do check the labels, especially stock. Our red wine jus recipe uses beef stock, so the recipe isn't vegetarian, but you may use vegetable stock if you wish.
Easy Red Wine Jus
Ingredients
- 15 g (1 tablespoon) butter
- 1 small red onion finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar optional
- 200 ml (0.85 cups) dry red wine
- 350 ml (1½ cups) beef stock or 1 stock pot + 325 ml hot water, see instructions
- 1 rosemary sprig
- ½ teaspoon (teaspoon) caster sugar
- 1 heaped tsp cornflour (corn starch) + 1 tablespoon cold water
Instructions
- Melt a knob of butter in a large frying pan. Add the finely chopped onions, and saute over low heat for 4-5 minutes, until the onion starts to soften.
- Add the garlic, vinegar and sugar and stir everything with a wooden spoon for another minute.
- Pour in the red wine, add the rosemary sprig and increase the heat to medium. Once the wine comes to a boil, simmer it for about 5 minutes until it's reduced by about half.
- ***If you're using beef broth/ stock in a liquid state, heat it up in a small saucepan. If you are using a stock cube, dissolve it in boiling water. You will need 350 ml beef stock, but make it more concentrated than the packet instructions state. We tend to reduce the amount of water by about ⅓. If you are using a stock pot, you don't need to prepare it - we'll add it directly to the wine reduction.***
- Once the wine has reduced, pour in the stock. If you're using a stock pot, add it to the pan, and pour in 325ml of hot water. Stir everything to combine, and bring your red wine sauce to a gentle boil. Simmer it for 5 minutes over medium heat.
- Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a clean medium saucepan and set it over medium-low heat. Discard the onions, garlic and rosemary. Taste it and add some salt and black pepper if needed.
- In a small bowl, mix 1 heaped teaspoon of cornflour (corn starch) with 1 tablespoon of cold water. If you like your gravy particularly thick, you may need more cornflour. Pour the slurry into the red wine reduction sauce and stir for a couple of minutes over medium heat until the sauce thickens to a desired consistency.
- If you are cooking your meat at the same time (pan-frying or roasting), add a few tablespoons of pan drippings from the bottom of the pan into the sauce together with the cornflour slurry. That's it! Your beautiful sauce is ready to be poured into a gravy boat and served!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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