If you like your horseradish sauce extra hot, this recipe is for you! If you don't, I'll share how to make it milder. With a few simple ingredients like horseradish, sour cream, blue cheese (didn't expect that, did you?), and fresh garlic, this delicious horseradish sauce recipe will take your smoked prime rib or your tri-tip sandwiches to a whole new level!
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I was recently at a friend's house picking apples when I spotted a few horseradish plants. I had asked her not long before if she grew horseradish, and she wasn't sure. Luckily, I know what horseradish plants look like and pointed them out to her. Before leaving her house, we dug up some of it (okay, a lot of it!), and then, of course, I had to come up with some horseradish recipes.
Since my husband, Scott, loves horseradish, I whipped up a batch of horseradish sauce for him. He's been having it on everything ever since. So far, his favorite is a croissant sandwich, piled high with smoked chuck roast, and plenty of horseradish sauce and au jus on the side.
I, on the other hand, have never been a fan of horseradish- well, until I came up with this horseradish sauce recipe. 🤣 Now I'm putting it on everything too!
So tell me, how will you serve it?
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🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Horseradish: Fresh horseradish root, peeled, chopped, and ground. If you can't find it, or if you prefer a smoother sauce, substitute 3-4 tablespoons of prepared horseradish.
- Garlic: Two to three fresh garlic cloves.
- Vinegar: Distilled white vinegar. You can substitute with white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar, if needed.
- Blue Cheese: Blue cheese adds a nice contrast and a delicious flavor. If you don't like blue cheese, add feta or leave it out.
- Sour Cream & Mayo: Full-fat sour cream and mayonnaise, unless you're watching your fat intake.
- Salt: Sea salt or kosher salt.
- Pepper: My recipe calls for white pepper, but you can substitute black pepper, especially freshly ground.
🥣 How to Make Horseradish Sauce
Step 1: Peel and roughly chop horseradish, then add it to a food processor with the peeled and chopped garlic. Pulse until finely ground. Leave the mixture uncovered for about 5 minutes, outdoors if possible. During this time, an enzymatic reaction develops the horseradish's characteristic heat. The longer it rests before adding the vinegar, the hotter it will become.
Pro Tip: For a smoother texture, use a high-speed blender or bottled prepared horseradish. And for a milder sauce, skip the resting period and add vinegar while blending.
Step 2: Transfer the horseradish mixture to a bowl. Add vinegar, sour cream, mayonnaise, blue cheese, salt, and pepper; whisk until blended.
🍽 Horseradish Sauce Serving Suggestions
Serve this versatile horseradish sauce on your favorite sandwich. Try it on this gourmet grilled cheese sandwich, slathered on a juicy smoked burger, smoked brisket, or as a dipping sauce for French fries, air fried potato wedges, or dove nuggets.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- For a smoother texture, use a high-speed blender or bottled prepared horseradish.
- For a milder sauce, skip the resting period and add vinegar while blending.
- Use fresh horseradish root for the best flavor; however, prepared horseradish can be substituted.
- Vinegar controls the heat. Adding vinegar stops the enzymatic reaction that creates horseradish's intense heat.
- You can adjust the consistency of this horseradish sauce recipe to your liking. Add a little more sour cream for a thinner, tangier sauce, or more mayo for a richer, creamier texture.
- Let the sauce rest before serving. Refrigerating the sauce for at least 30 minutes gives the flavors time to meld.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
🌶 More Sauce Recipes
If you enjoy this horseradish sauce recipe, be sure to try these other delicious sauces!
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📖 Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Peel and roughly chop horseradish, then add to a food processor with peeled garlic. Pulse until finely ground. Leave the mixture uncovered for about 5 minutes, outdoors if possible. During this time, an enzymatic reaction develops the horseradish's characteristic heat. The longer it rests before adding the vinegar, the hotter it will become.
- Transfer the horseradish mixture to a bowl. Add vinegar, sour cream, mayonnaise, blue cheese, salt, and pepper; whisk until blended.
Nutrition
Notes
- Be careful when processing fresh horseradish. The fumes can be surprisingly potent.
- For a smoother texture, use a high-speed blender or bottled prepared horseradish.
- For a milder sauce, skip the resting period and add vinegar while blending.
- Use fresh horseradish root for the best flavor; however, prepared horseradish can be substituted.
- Vinegar controls the heat. Adding vinegar stops the enzymatic reaction that creates horseradish's intense heat.
- Adjust the consistency to your liking. Add a little more sour cream for a thinner, tangier sauce, or more mayo for a richer, creamier texture.
- Let the sauce rest before serving. Refrigerating the sauce for at least 30 minutes gives the flavors time to meld.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Reyna Stoken says
I tried this on a sliced, smoked, roasted beef chuck sandwich, it was so good! I used it a bit sparingly for fear of it being too strong, no worries it had great flavor but wasn’t at all overpowering. Anyway, I couldn’t get enough so the next day I tried it on a leftover fried chicken breast sandwich. Left the crunchy skin on it, toasted the bread and only added this sauce. I lathered it on a little thicker this time, it was another decisive win!!!
Hilda Sterner says
Sounds like you're hooked, Reyna! Also, thanks for the horseradish! I hope you can identify it now! 👀
Hilda Sterner says
We hope you give this recipe a try & let us know what you think!