Steak Pan Sauce with Mushrooms (No Wine, No Cream)
Last updated on October 13th, 2026
This steak pan sauce is rich, beefy and ready in about 9 minutes, with no wine and no cream. Red onion, garlic and mushrooms cook in the pan your steak just left, a heaped teaspoon of flour thickens it, and a teaspoon of redcurrant jelly lifts the flavour. It is the steak version of the method in my pan sauce guide, the same structure I was taught as a trainee cook, and I filmed it with hanger steak.
Why You’ll Love This Steak Pan Sauce
It starts with what is already in the pan, and it only needs six everyday ingredients and shop-bought stock. You do not need a gelatinous six-hour homemade stock to get a result you will be happy with. I have cooked professionally for 20 years, and a sauce like this is a quick way to take an ordinary steak dinner up a level.
Many no-wine steak sauces lean on vinegar and cold butter. This one takes a different route: body from mushrooms and a little flour, lift from redcurrant jelly. It is also a flour-thickened sauce, the kind that famously goes lumpy, and the method below shows how to avoid that.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For two portions you need a quarter of a red onion, one garlic clove, a few mushrooms, a heaped teaspoon of flour, 300 ml of hot beef stock and a teaspoon of redcurrant jelly. The full quantities are in the recipe card below.
Any mushrooms work: button, chestnut or portobello. Chop them small, though not as fine as the onion. Stock cubes or powder are fine here.
With no alcohol in the pan, the sauce needs a little acidity to lift the other flavours. A dash of vinegar works, or use the redcurrant jelly as I do. You should not be able to taste the jelly in the finished sauce, it just brings the rest forward.
How to Make Steak Pan Sauce
Cook your steak first. My hanger steak took around 3 minutes in total. Rest it on a plate, then make the sauce in the same pan.
Drain the pan and soften the onion and garlic
Pour off the excess fat until you have a thin, even coating on the base of the pan, then return it to a medium to low heat. Add the finely diced red onion and a halved, lightly crushed garlic clove. Cook for about a minute, until the onion is slightly translucent and smells a little sweet. The browned bits left by the steak are where much of the flavour comes from.
Fry the mushrooms hard
Add the chopped mushrooms, turn the heat up and cook for 2 minutes. You can be quite aggressive here, because mushrooms hold a lot of water that has to cook off.
Cook out the flour
Take the pan off the heat, add the heaped teaspoon of flour and stir until you have a paste. Return it to a low heat for about 30 seconds, taking care not to burn the flour. If the pan looks dry, add a little more fat.
Add the stock in stages
Stir in a splash of the hot stock until you have a thick, smooth paste, then add the rest in two or three stages, stirring each time. Adding the liquid gradually is what prevents lumps. Turn the heat up, bring it to a boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
Finish with redcurrant jelly
Stir in the teaspoon of redcurrant jelly, taste and adjust the seasoning. The sauce should taste rich, beefy and savoury, with the mushrooms doing a lot of the work.
Tips for the Best Steak Pan Sauce
- Stop a little thinner than you want. Flour-thickened sauces set more once they reach the plate.
- Check the thickness by dragging a spoon through the sauce. If it leaves a trail, you are there.
- Cut the onion as small as you can so it softens in a minute.
- Keep the heat off while you stir in the flour, so it does not scorch.
Steak Pan Sauce with Mushrooms (No Wine, No Cream)
Equipment
- Heatproof container / Dish
- Chef’s knife
- Chopping board
- Measuring jug
- Measuring spoons
- Frying pan
- Plate / Tray
- Spoon (table, dessert, tea)
- Wooden / Stirring spoon
Ingredients
- 1/4 of a red onion finely diced
- 1 clove of garlic peeled, cut in half and lightly crushed
- 3 mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon of flour heaped
- 300 ml beef stock hot
- 1 teaspoon redcurrant jelly
Instructions
- Drain the excess fat from the pan, and place the pan onto a medium to low heat.
- Add your finely diced red onion, and halved garlic, gently sauté for 1 minute then add the mushroom, turn the heat up and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat, add the heaped teaspoon of flour and stir until you have a paste. Return to a low heat and cook out for about 30 seconds, taking care not to burn the flour.
- Add a splash of the hot stock and stir until you have a thick, smooth paste, then add the rest in 2 or 3 stages, stirring each time to prevent lumps.
- Turn the heat up, bring to a boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until you’re at your desired thickness.
- Add the redcurrant jelly at the end, stir it in, taste for seasoning and serve.
Video
Nutrition
[bg-nutrition-label id=”8795″]
What to Serve With This
Spoon it over the rested steak with potatoes. If you want help with the steak itself, my steak secrets post covers turning a cheap, tough cut juicy and tender, and boulangère potatoes make a proper French-style side. Cooking pork or chicken instead? My pork chop pan sauce uses cider, leek and mustard, and my chicken pan sauce uses white wine and cold butter.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to make steak pan sauce without wine?
Skip the alcohol and use hot beef stock as the liquid, then add something acidic at the end: a dash of vinegar or a teaspoon of redcurrant jelly, as in this recipe. The acidity does the job the wine would have done and lifts the other flavours.
How to thicken steak pan sauce?
Stir a heaped teaspoon of flour into the pan to make a paste and cook it for about 30 seconds. Then add the hot stock in two or three stages, stirring each time, and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Stop while it is slightly thinner than you want, because it sets on the plate.
How to make a quick steak pan sauce?
Rest the steak and use the same pan. This sauce is six ingredients and about 9 minutes, with 3 minutes of prep and 6 of cooking. It needs no cream, no wine and no homemade stock.
