Wild Mushroom Sauce Recipe for Steak
This recipe for steak with wild mushroom sauce was posted in 1997 and is one of the first recipes I posted on this site. I’ve made a few changes, but it still holds up. – RG
A great steak deserves an equally great sauce. This wild mushroom sauce, enriched with demi-glace, is rich, earthy, and packed with flavor. It takes a juicy, perfectly seared steak to the next level. Even better, it’s quick and easy to make.
First, choose a high-quality steak. Ribeye, filet mignon, or New York strip all work well. Season it generously with salt and pepper. Then, sear it in a hot pan to lock in those delicious juices. While the steak rests, it’s time to make the sauce.
Wild mushrooms bring deep, savory flavors. Think chanterelles, shiitakes, or creminis. Sauté them in butter until golden. Add shallots and a splash of wine for extra depth. Then comes the secret ingredient—demi-glace. This rich, concentrated sauce base adds incredible depth and a glossy finish. A touch of cream makes it silky and smooth. In just minutes, you have a bold, fragrant, and absolutely delicious sauce.
Pour it over your steak, garnish with fresh herbs, and dig in. Every bite is packed with robust flavors, tender meat, and creamy mushroom goodness. Whether it’s a special occasion or a simple weeknight meal, this dish delivers. Ready to impress? Let’s dive into the recipe!
Steak with Wild Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 medium New York strip steaks
- 2 tablespoons shallots
- 2 oz butter 1/2 stick
- 1 pound assorted wild mushrooms portabello - morel - shitake - cremini...whatever is available
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 cup demi glace
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare Steaks
- Preheat your grill until it’s really hot.
- Season the steaks with a little salt and pepper.
- The meat should be cooked approximately 3-4 minutes per side depending how you like your steaks.When done, slice the steaks into ¼ inch strips, fan out on a warm plate and add your wild mushroom sauce.
Prepare Wild Mushroom Sauce
- Melt butter in a sauce pan and sauté shallots until transparent, approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Add red wine, preferably something you may be sipping while you are preparing this meal. Don’t use plain old cooking wine, big mistake.
- Add mushrooms and cook until tender and wine has reduced to an essence.
- Add demi glace and stir (with a whisk if you have one) until combined with the shallots.
- Simmer until the sauce has thickened, approximately 8-10 minutes or until it is thick enough to coat a spoon.
- Salt and pepper to taste and serve over the steaks (and mashed potatoes if you like).
Side Dishes
| Creamy Potato Gratin | Thinly sliced potatoes baked in cream, butter, and cheese. | Red Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Garlic Mashed Potatoes | Silky mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and butter. | Merlot, Syrah |
| Roasted Asparagus | Tender-crisp asparagus roasted with olive oil and sea salt. | Pinot Noir, Chardonnay |
| Sautéed Green Beans with Almonds | Crisp-tender green beans sautéed with slivered almonds and butter. | Pinot Noir, Beaujolais |
| Creamed Spinach | Rich spinach cooked with cream, nutmeg, and Parmesan. | White Burgundy (Chardonnay), Pinot Noir |
| Grilled Broccolini | Lightly charred broccolini with lemon and olive oil. | Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese |
| Parmesan Polenta | Creamy polenta finished with Parmesan cheese and butter. | Barolo, Chianti Classico |
| Buttered Egg Noodles | Simple egg noodles tossed in butter and herbs — ideal for soaking up sauce. | Côtes du Rhône, Zinfandel |
| Wild Rice Pilaf | Nutty wild rice with shallots, herbs, and broth. | Pinot Noir, Rioja |
| Mixed Mushrooms Sauté | Medley of wild mushrooms sautéed in butter and garlic (for mushroom lovers!). | Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo |
The Secret Ingredient For Restaurant Quality Sauces
Here is my recipe for grilled steak with wild mushroom sauce. Click on my link to see how I like to make perfect mashed potatoes.
The recipe for wild mushroom sauce calls for demi-glace, one of the most essential ingredients for making sauces. Demi Glace is challenging to prepare from scratch and can take hours and hours, but it is now available in commercial form.
There are now several highly-rated commercial demi-glace products available on the market. Below, I’ve listed several you can find at Amazon, and as new manufacturers develop them, I’ll add them.
History
This sauce is rooted in classic French cuisine, where demi-glace — a rich, deeply flavored reduction of brown stock and Espagnole sauce — serves as a fundamental building block.
Demi-glace dates to the 19th century when chef Marie-Antoine Carême systematized the use of “mother sauces” in French cooking. Later, Georges Auguste Escoffier refined these ideas, and demi-glace became a staple in haute cuisine.
At the same time, wild mushrooms — particularly varieties like chanterelles, morels, porcini, and boletes — have long been foraged and prized in European kitchens. The French tradition of sauce aux champignons sauvages (wild mushroom sauce) evolved as chefs combined these earthy, aromatic mushrooms with rich sauces to pair with game meats, beef, and poultry.
When chefs began adding demi-glace to wild mushroom sauces, they created a luxurious blend of forest flavors with deep, meaty undertones — a sauce perfectly suited to the elegant, layered flavors of classic French dishes. Though hard to pin to one date or chef, this sauce reflects centuries of European culinary craftsmanship and continues to inspire chefs today.
2 Responses
Thank you for sharing so many ideas and recipes. When I came across yours, I was looking for a recipe for wild mushrooms to serve with filet mignon. I even ordered your recommended demi-glace. I cut your recipe in half because I was only using 8 oz. of mushrooms. Upon completion, I had a gloppy mess that didn’t taste good at all and had to be discarded. Upon reading the cardboard wrap on the demi-glace, I realized your quantities were way off. For 8 oz of mushrooms, they call for 1.5 oz demi-glace, 1 cup of red wine, 2 T shallots, and 2 T butter. Please correct your web recipe as I wouldn’t want anyone else to end up with an awful result.
Thanks!
Hi Love2cookk, I’m so sorry you had a bad experience. The recipe says to use one cup of demi glace not 1 cup of Demi Glace Gold. There are some other great demi glace products now available so although I like Demi Glace Gold, the recipe is for reconstituted demi glace. The 1.5 ounce puck of Demi Glace reconstitutes to 1 cup. So if you wanted to cut the recipe in half, you would use 1/2 cup of demi glace and if using the MTG product, that would be half a puck or .75 ounces. Hope this helps.