This easy German rahm sauce is the perfect cream gravy for your German meal because of its velvety texture and rich flavor.
You won't need more than a few basic ingredients to whip up this sauce quickly from scratch.
Rahm sauce is a classic of German cuisine. The sauce is especially popular in the south of Germany, where it is often served with spatzle and schnitzel or pork tenderloin.
If you love German schnitzel check out my recipes for Zigeunerschnitzel - Bell Pepper Sauce for Schnitzel, German Schnitzel Sandwich and this article where I talk about the top 8 German Schnitzel Variations.
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Cultural Background
The base for both sauces are similar. But jager sauce contains mushrooms while rahm sauce doesn´t.
Click on the play button to hear how to pronounce rahm sauce the correct way in German.
Rahm is a German word for cream, rahm sauce means creamy sauce in German.
The German name for rahm sauce is Rahmsoße or Rahmsauce. Soße is another word for sauce or gravy in the German language.
Ingredients
Like most gravies this sauce can be made with just a few simple ingredients that you probably already have at home.
- butter
- flour
- tomato paste
- beef stock, alternatively vegetable broth
- half & half
- water or white wine
- coarse Kosher salt
- white pepper
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- paprika powder
- sugar
See recipe card for quantities.
Easy Step-by-Step Instructions
Follow these easy step-by-step instructions to see how you can make German rahm sauce from scratch in just a few minutes.
Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat.
Add the flour and fry on medium heat for a couple of minutes.
Then add the tomato paste and fry for another couple of minutes.
Pour in the beef stock or vegetable broth and mix until everything is well combined.
Add the half & half and wine or water. Allow to simmer on medium heat until the sauce is smooth and thickened.
Add seasonings to taste.
Hint: Serve immediately or keep warm on low heat until serving.
Substitutions
Adjust this recipe to your own preferences:
- Milk - if you like to save some fat and calories, you can make the sauce with milk instead of half & half. The sauce will be not as creamy but still will taste good.
- Margarine - instead of butter you can use margarine.
- Vegan - you can use vegan butter and cream instead of half & half. You can replace the half & half also with plain almond milk.
- Low Carb - thicken the sauce with Xanthan gum instead of flour.
Variations
This basic sauce can be used as the base for several variations.
- Spicy - to give this sauce some heat, add chili pepper flakes or some splashes of Tabasco.
- Deluxe - You can give this sauce a more sophisticated appearance by adding green pepper corns to it.
- Mushrooms - add mushroom slices to make a creamy mushroom gravy from this sauce base.
- Bell Pepper - the addition of finely slices bell pepper gives the sauce a nice fresh flavor and adds some veggies into your diet.
Equipment
Making this sauce does not require a lot of equipment.
- small sauce pan
- cooking spoon
- measuring cup
- measuring spoon
Storage
The sauce will keep refrigerated for at least 3-4 days. If you plan a meal, prepare the sauce the day before, this will save you time and stress.
Use ice cube trays to store any leftover sauce or double the recipe. You will have a nice supply of homemade gravy at your fingertips.
How to Serve
Rahm sauce goes well with various meat dishes like breaded schnitzel, unbreaded schnitzel, pork steaks, tenderloin, roasts and even fish dishes. But it also tastes amazing in meatless dishes like spaetzle any other kind of pasta, potato dumplings or vegetables.
Top Tip
Make your own dark gravy sauce base and add a cube of it to this sauce to make it even more flavorful.
Recipe
German Rahm Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 1 tsp. tomato paste
- 1 cup beef stock alternatively vegetable broth
- 1 cup half & half
- ⅓ cup water or white wine
- 1 tsp. coarse Kosher salt
- ¼ tsp. white pepper
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
- ¼ tsp. paprika powder
- ¼ tsp. sugar
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat.
- Add the flour and fry on medium heat for a couple of minutes.
- Then add the tomato paste and fry for another couple of minutes.
- Pour in the beef or vegetable broth and mix until everything is well combined.
- Add the half & half and, wine or water and allow to simmer on medium heat until the sauce is smooth and thickened.
- Add seasonings to taste.
- Serve immediately or keep warm on low heat until serving.
Notes
- Put any sauce that is left over into ice cube trays and freeze it.
This way, you won't have to worry about running out of homemade gravy ever again.
Nutrition
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