A quick and easy Horseradish Sauce made from pantry ingredients and perfect with beef.
I always serve horseradish sauce with roast beef. Always.
When I publish a beef roast recipe, like my Rotisserie Sirloin Roast or Standing Rib Roast, I say “serve with horseradish sauce!” But, until now, my horseradish sauce was embedded in one of my earliest recipes, Rotisserie Beef Tenderloin with Shallot Herb Butter and Horseradish Sauce. Since I refer to this horseradish sauce so often, I'm breaking it out into its own recipe.
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What is Horseradish Sauce?
Horseradish sauce is a mix of sour cream and prepared horseradish. That's basically it, and that's why this sauce is barely a recipe. I use four store bought ingredients, all from my refrigerator or pantry. The instructions? Dump everything in a bowl and stir until it’s combined, then taste and add more horseradish if it needs it. Also, two of the ingredients are optional. If I have sour cream and prepared horseradish, I’m ready to make horseradish sauce. (Don't skip the mustard and pepper if you have them. They make the sauce more interesting.)
Ingredients
- Sour Cream
- Prepared Horseradish
- Dijon Mustard
- Fresh ground black pepper
How to Make Horseradish Sauce
Mix the sauce: Put the sour cream, prepared horseradish, dijon mustard, and fresh ground black pepper in a bowl, and stir until evenly mixed. Taste and add more horseradish if it is not hot enough for you. Enjoy!
Substitutions
This is a sour cream horseradish sauce, so the only important ingredients are the sour cream and the horseradish, in a 2:1 ratio. Everything else is optional, but I like to add a few extras to add some complexity to the sauce.
Lemon juice: I like the tart mustard flavor that Dijon brings to the party, but you can substitute some fresh squeezed lemon juice.
Chives (or other herbs): Replace the fresh ground black pepper with chopped chives, or rosemary, or thyme, or a mix. If you have a herb rub on your roast, you can use those same herbs in the sauce.
Prepared Horseradish Rant
If there’s a trick to this recipe, it’s finding refrigerated prepared horseradish. Prepared horseradish is shredded horseradish root, soaked in vinegar with a little salt. The vinegar soak pulls the flavor out of the horseradish; without the vinegar, freshly grated horseradish is bland. (It’s a lot like mustard - mustard seeds on their own are good, but crush them and soak them in vinegar for a few days, and they come into their own.)
Look for prepared horseradish in your grocery’s refrigerated case - and you may have to ask where it is. Grocery stores seem to be hiding it from me. The vinegar makes me want to look for it near the pickles...but one local grocery store keeps it near the cheese, another near the yogurt. Go figure.
Avoid shelf-stable prepared horseradish or horseradish sauces - in my experience, they never have the bite of the prepared horseradish from the refrigerator section. If I have no other choice, I’ll buy shelf-stable horseradish sauce and use it straight from the bottle. They’re not bad, but they’re for spreading on a sandwich, not for serving with a roast.
What is Horseradish Sauce Good On?
Beef! I serve this sauce with prime rib roast, tomahawk prime rib steak, filet mignon... basically every roasted or grilled piece of beef. Leftover roast beef sandwiches get a layer of leftover horseradish sauce on top. It's also good with lean roasts like roast turkey, pork loin, or ham, that need a little extra kick of heat and flavor.
Storing Leftovers
Refrigerate leftover horseradish sauce, covered, for up to a week. It doesn't freeze well, so I toss it after a week and mix up a fresh batch when I need one.
Inspired by: Alton Brown's Horseradish Cream Sauce
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Horseradish Sauce Recipe
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: ¾ cup 1x
Description
A quick horseradish sauce. Four pantry ingredients, stir, and voila: the best friend a beef roast ever had.
Ingredients
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup prepared horseradish (from the refrigerator case at the grocery store)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (optional)
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Make the sauce: Stir the sour cream, horseradish, mustard, and pepper in a small bowl. Taste and add more horseradish if it needs more kick.
Notes
The measurements are just estimates; when I make this recipe, I eyeball it. I want roughly 2 parts sour cream, 1 part horseradish, and a little mustard and pepper.
This recipe scales up or down as needed. Serving a crowd? Double it. (or triple, or quadruple…)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Dump and stir
- Cuisine: American
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Aaron Friedman says
I love mixing horseradish sauce with Dijon and dipping corndogs in it.
Anne says
Mike- I came up with this same recipe a couple of years ago while serving your pressure cooker Corned Beef Brisket. So good on so many things...like instead of russian dressing on a Reuben sandwich.
Mike Vrobel says
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoy it!
Stephanie P says
Using this recipe for our Christmas roast! Thanks for sharing!
Cary Hill says
Mike, great idea. At least once a year I make my own horseradish from scratch. I then put it in Ball jars and using my FoodSaver with the jar sealer attachment, I suction all the air out and it stays fresh in my refrigerator for at over 6 months. I have always just used sour cream and horseradish but your recipe for adding Dijon mustard and fresh ground pepper sounds great. When I make your rotisserie beef this holiday, I will definitely follow your recipe. I highly recommend to any horseradish lovers to try making it on their own. When available, select good, firm roots. Peel the tan skin and course grate with a box grater (If you try to process even small chunks, you will damage your processor). Then, in batches, using the metal blade in your food processor, process it to your liking (creamy or course) by adding white vinegar. I have never found it necessary to add salt. Make sure when you put it in jars that there is enough vinegar to keep the horseradish wet. Be prepared to tear up. When I make a big batch, I sometimes resort to wearing my scuba mask.
Mike Vrobel says
Thanks!