Easy Red Wine Jus is a delicious sauce useful to enhance meat based dishes. Ignore the fancy name this Easy Red Wine Jus is actually very simple and goes with most meats as well as some vegetarian dishes.
A jus is just a fancy word for a clear gravy or sauce usually made with meat juices and thickened by reduction (boiling away) which concentrates the flavour and thickens the sauce slightly.
This easy red wine jus uses red wine as the main flavour so it is ideal to make for dishes when you don't have any meat juices to add flavour. Most recently, in my case, I served it with my Pork and Chestnut Wellington. But I have also served it with grilled pork and lamb chops as well as with chicken and turkey.
You could make this in advance, perhaps when you have some wine leftover, and then freeze it after straining. Reheat until piping hot and whisk in as knob of butter to serve.
It is also perfect to serve alongside vegetarian dishes in place of a traditional gravy, so it is a really versatile recipe to have.
The sauce is made by first sautéing some onion and garlic. Then some brown sugar is added to the pan and cooked with the onions for a few minutes, before the red wine is added.
The red wine is boiled until reduced which drives off any alcohol leaving you with an intense concentrated flavour.
Next, some cranberry sauce or redcurrant jelly is added along with the stock and this too is reduced to give a good flavour. Finally, the sauce is strained returned to the heat and a knob of butter is whisked in to give the sauce a lovely shine.
Use a larger pan than you would normally use for this amount of sauce (or even a frying pan). The greater the surface area the quicker the liquid will evaporate and reduce.
Step by step how to make and Easy Red Wine Jus
Sauté the onion then add the sugar. Stir in the red wine and bring to the boil. Boil until wine is reduced. Add stock and cranberry sauce, then reduce again. Strain and return to pan Whisk in knob of butter.
Easy Red Wine Jus
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 50 g light muscovado sugar
- 300 ml red wine
- 300 ml stock beef, chicken or vegetable
- 2 tablespoon cranberry sauce or redcurrant jelly
- small knob of butter
- salt and fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saucepan and add one small chopped onion. Sauté the onion until softened and just beginning to colour. Add one chopped clove of garlic and cook for another minute.
- Stir 50g (2oz) light muscovado sugar and cook for a minute or two, then pour in 300ml (1⅓ cup) red wine.
- Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until the wine is reduced by about three-quarters and is syrupy.
- Stir in 300ml (1⅓ cup) stock and 2tbsp cranberry sauce and return to the boil. Reduce again by about a half or more if you want a thicker more concentrated sauce.
- Strain through a sieve and return to a pan heat stirring Season to taste then whisk in a small knob of butter to give the sauce a lovely shine.
Notes
- The jus is quite sweet which works well with most meats and particularly well with chicken and pork, however, you can reduce the sugar down to just1-2 tablespoon if you prefer a less sweet sauce.
- Use a wide-based pan so that the liquid is quite shallow in the pan. This will allow the liquid to evaporate more quickly. The deeper the liquid the longer it will take to reduce.
Jane Nunn says
Really useful recipe. I needed a jus principally to go with boeuf en croute but also pork pies and vegetarian "sausage" rolls. This worked really well with all. The method was very simple to follow. I used a beef stock pot, halved the sugar (some rather elderly dark muscovado rather than light) and also the cranberry sauce as was anxious about sweetness. Next morning the consistency was perfect - pouring but deliciously viscous - but I felt more might be needed so added red wine, reduced again, and a dash of red wine vinegar. Just what I was looking for. It served five with a tiny bit left. Thank you for saving my day!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Glad to have been of help Jane and thank you for taking time to comment and rate the recipe. Its always appricated.
Nicky says
I made the sauce to go with lamb - absolutely delicious, followed the recipe to the letter (with a little less sugar as I don’t have a sweet tooth) worked perfectly
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Gald you liked it Nicky.
Tony Yates says
i made this and mixed it in with left over slow cooked lamb.. no garlic... but followed the recipe otherwise..it was truly divine! reccomend!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Thank you, Glad you liked it.
Marie says
I made this to go with a beef wellington, It was absolutely perfect and so easy to make.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Glad you liked it Marie. It's what I make to go with beef wellington too.
Krissy says
Hi Jacqui. This sounds delicious and I’m really looking forward to trying it! Can I just ask whether it can be made a day or two in advance - or perhaps even frozen? Many thanks! Krissy x
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Hi Krissy it could certainly be made a day in advance and yes it can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Just leave out the butter and add when reheating. Reheat over a low heat and return to the boil,
Krissy says
Fabulous news - thanks so much for your prompt and informative reply! x
Fiona says
Absolutely delicious! Made this with a pork roast. First time I’ve made a jus, super easy! Thank you for your recipe
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Glad you enjoyed it Fiona
Cheryl says
Just made this evening to accompany some partridge breasts. My husband said it was delicious. Will definitely use this recipe again.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Hi Cheryl, Glad you and your husband like it. I certainly find it a very useful recipe to have up my sleeve 😉
Jess says
Hi Jacqueline, have you made this before using store bought stock? I've never had success with a traditional red wine jus using store bought stock but hoping this sauce might work!
Thanks 🙂
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Yes I have made several times with shop bought stock. I often us a stock cube to make stock just take care when seasoning as stock cubes and bought stock can be a rather salty.
Marya says
Way too sweet. To me it was like a syrup sauce than wine sauce. Very disappointing. The recipe did say add less sugar if you prefer something less sweet - right at the end !!!!! To me it was not a good taste. I was hoping for a delicate wine sauce/gravy. Not a confectionery combination
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
If your sauce ended up like a syrup at the end then it sounds like you may have boiled it down too much. Yes it is a sweet sauce but the acidity of the wine cuts trhough the sweetness and luckily most people who have tried it like it. And as you say I do mention that you can reduce the sweetness if you prefer. It is always worth reading a recipe right through to the end before starting so that you don't miss any important information. It can say disasters.
Claire says
Hi you’re missing the word stock in the step to add stock. Almost added a cup of cranberry sauce instead.
Yum though
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Pleased you liked the jus and thank you Claire for pointing that out. Ive corrected now .
Joanna says
Absolutely fantastic addition to my beef wellington and horseradish gratin! Sweet, silky easy to make and very tasty. I liked it so much I made it again with a rack of lamb and potato fondant, divine. Really added the oomph that was missing. I had no cranberry sauce for my second attempt so I used red plum jam, worked just as well!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Glad you liked this, I certainly find it a very useful recipe as it goes with so many things. Good thinking using the plum jam to add that little bit of sweetness that softens any tannins in the wine.
Ann Hutchings says
Sounds just perfect and as with any recipe can easily be tweaked to suit every person. Haven’t tried this yet but I will thank you
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
I'm sure you will love it when you do so please pop back and let me know what you think.
Bruce Milroy says
Tasty recipe and easy to make- works well with most meat dishes, but be aware that it was waaaaay too sweet for me with 50g of sugar. For me personally, I'd maybe try half the sugar next time.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
Bruce Im glad you found it tasty and easy to make. Of course the degree of sweetness preferred varies from person to person and I deliberately made this a sweet/savoury flavour i this instance as I feel it goes so well with pork and chicken. My son, however, hates the sweet-savoury combination so when I made it this week for his birthday to go with his favourite meal I reduced the sugar right down to suit his tastes and it was still delicious. I shall add a note to the recipe itself about varying the sugar to taste. Thank you for taking the time to rate and comment. It is always useful to get feedback.
Jenny Walters says
What a fabulous recipe. A good sauce/jus is what brings everything together with a meal like this. It looks absolutely and utterly delicious!
Monika Dabrowski says
I've never had this sauce but the combination of wine, sugar and cranberry sauce sounds amazing, must give it a go. Thank you for bringing your recipe to #CookBlogShare
Lesley Garden says
I do like a good jus, I think it really finishes a dish and brings it all together. I love that you've used red wine in this recipe.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
It super handy if there are not meat juices to start with and adds a great flavour.
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
I've not made a proper jus before so this is a great recipe for me to follow. I can just image how delicious the flavours are. I'd pour it on everything!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
This is really tasty so go ahead and pour on anything within reason 🙂