Hunter’s sauce from the Thermomix® takes 30 minutes and makes 4 servings (around 200 kcal per serving). 250 g button mushrooms, 3 shallots, 200 g white wine, 400 g beef stock and 10 g soy sauce as an umami booster. A classic German restaurant dish that turns a simple pan-fried piece of meat into a proper feast.
We serve this sauce mainly with Jägerschnitzel (breaded pork schnitzel, classically with Spätzle), with pot roast, grilled sausages or meatballs. Compared to a ready-made jar sauce (Knorr, around 2 to 3 euros per 400 g), the homemade version costs about 4 euros for 4 servings, so a similar price per portion. But: real wine, real mushrooms, no yeast extract.
Hunter's Sauce with Mushrooms, Thermomix® Basic Recipe
Ingredients 0 / 10 ✓
- 3 shallots
- 50 g butter
- 250 g button mushrooms
- 20 g tomato puree
- 30 g plain flour (Type 405)
- 200 g dry white wine
- 400 g beef stock
- 10 g soy sauce
- salt
- pepper
Instructions 0 / 7
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1
Chop the shallots.
Peel the shallots, place them in the mixing bowl and chop for 5 sec / speed 5, then push down with the spatula.
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2
Sweat.
Add the butter and sweat for 3 min / 100°C / speed 1.
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3
Prepare the mushrooms.
Meanwhile, clean the mushrooms and slice them.
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4
Sweat.
Add the mushrooms and tomato puree to the mixing bowl and cook for 5 min / 120°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
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5
Add the flour.
Add the flour and sweat for 3 min / 100°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
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6
Cook the Thermomix® hunter's sauce.
Add the white wine, stock and soy sauce and simmer the sauce for 15 min / 100°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
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7
Serve.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Tip: You can also enrich your hunter's sauce with seared minced meat and fresh parsley.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Mushrooms: white or chestnut
250 g of mushrooms as the main ingredient. Chestnut mushrooms have a more intense flavour than white button mushrooms. Large portobello-style field mushrooms are even more intense but need to be cut smaller. A mix of 150 g white and 100 g chestnut mushrooms gives the best aroma.
For a wilder flavour: use 100 g mushrooms plus 100 g chanterelles (in autumn) or 150 g mushrooms plus 100 g dried porcini (soaked in lukewarm water for 20 minutes first). Dried porcini bring the real wild note but are more expensive.
Important: never wash mushrooms, just wipe them with a damp cloth or brush. Water soaks in and dilutes the sauce.
Shallots or onions
3 shallots are milder, slightly sweeter and more refined in flavour than regular onions. Their refined character suits the wild-game-style aroma of the rest of the sauce. If you don’t have shallots: 1 medium onion works too, but the flavour will be a touch more dominant.
Both are chopped in the Thermomix® for 5 sec at speed 5, then sweated in butter for 3 minutes. The sweating step is essential: raw onions in a sauce taste sharp and aggressive, sweated onions bring sweetness and depth.
Toasting the tomato puree: Maillard reaction
20 g of tomato puree goes in with the mushrooms. At 120°C in reverse direction for 5 minutes, the tomato puree toasts and undergoes the Maillard reaction. This creates roasted flavours and the deep red colour of a proper restaurant hunter’s sauce.
If you simply add the tomato puree raw to the sauce, you end up with a bland, pale result. Toasting it is not optional, it is the secret step. Professional cooks call this technique “pinçage”.
Roux: 30 g flour sweated for 3 minutes
30 g of plain flour is added to the mushroom, shallot and tomato puree mixture and sweated at 100°C in reverse direction for 3 minutes. This classic roux is what gives the sauce its velvety, thick consistency.
Important: do not let it burn (more than 4 minutes and the flour turns bitter). 3 minutes is enough for the raw flour taste to disappear. Gluten-free: use 30 g cornflour instead, but stir it into a little water first and add at the end.
White wine and beef stock: 200 g plus 400 g
200 g of dry white wine adds acidity and complex wine aromas. Dry rather than off-dry or sweet (otherwise the sauce becomes too sugary). Riesling, Pinot Gris and Sylvaner are classic choices. For a premium version: Sancerre or Chablis. Without alcohol: 200 g cloudy apple juice plus 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar.
400 g beef stock (homemade or from a jar) forms the base. Use vegetable stock for a vegetarian version. Game stock for an even more intense wild flavour. Never use powdered stock dissolved in water, it tastes floury and flat.
10 g soy sauce is the umami secret: it brings natural glutamates that amplify all the other flavours. Light soy sauce (mild) or dark (more intense). 10 g (about 1 tsp) is enough; more and the sauce starts to taste Asian.
15 minutes simmering at 100°C reverse direction
15 minutes at 100°C in reverse direction is the maturing time. The sauce cooks, the wine loses its alcohol (alcohol evaporates at 78°C), and the flavours come together. Reverse direction protects the mushroom slices from being chopped up.
For a very creamy sauce: after the 15 minutes, add 50 g double cream and simmer for a further 2 minutes. This gives you the restaurant version (hunter’s sauce à la crème).
Seasoning: taste and adjust with salt and pepper at the very end. Do this last because both the soy sauce and the beef stock already contain salt.
Variations: cream, game, cognac, vegetarian
Creamy hunter’s sauce (restaurant standard): after 15 minutes of cooking, add 100 g double cream and simmer for a further 2 minutes. Rich and mild, ideal with schnitzel.
Game hunter’s sauce: use game stock instead of beef stock, then stir in 50 g lingonberry jam. A sweet and sharp wild-game accent.
Cognac variation: add 30 g cognac or brandy at the end and let it simmer briefly. An elegant touch.
Vegetarian version: vegetable stock instead of beef stock, 200 g mixed mushrooms instead of just button mushrooms. Vegan: replace butter with margarine and use soy sauce in place of cream.
Mustard hunter’s sauce: stir in 1 tbsp Dijon mustard at the end. A punchy, spiced variation.
Tarragon variation (French style): add 1 tsp fresh tarragon. Classic with chicken.
What to serve with hunter’s sauce
Classic with Jägerschnitzel (breaded pork schnitzel) with Spätzle, chips or dumplings. Great with pot roast, meatballs or grilled sausages. Spooned over mashed potato as a main course. Alongside game (venison, wild boar, roe deer). With vegetarian patties or pan-fried aubergine.
Also works as a pasta sauce over tagliatelle (with a little more cream and a looser consistency). As a topping over stuffed mushrooms. As the base for beef stroganoff.
Hunter’s sauce keeps for 3 days in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer
Store in a covered bowl or jar in the fridge for up to 3 days. When reheating, add 30 ml water or stock (the sauce thickens as it stands). Warm over a medium heat, stirring, and do not let it boil.
Freezing: keeps for 3 months in portion-sized containers. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat while stirring. The consistency stays good after thawing.
Pro tip for getting ahead: make the sauce the day before and let it rest in the fridge overnight. It tastes even better on day 2 because the flavours have fully come together.
Goes well with: Schnitzel, Semmelknödel and Spätzle.
