Hunter's sauce is a rich creamy mushroom sauce, packed with flavour. Pour it over schnitzels, steaks or chops, or simply mix it with pasta for a delicious meatless Monday meal

Close up of hunter's sauce garnished with parsley in a white serving dish.

Hunter's sauce (often called Jaeger sauce) is a classic German sauce made with cream and mushrooms and normally served poured over schnitzels, steak or roasts.

It is very similar to the classic French chasseur sauce (chasseur means hunter in French). Both the French and German versions have mushrooms as the primary ingredient the main difference being that German hunter's sauce contains cream and has a smoother taste than the more savoury chasseur sauce which relies on reduced stock for flavour.

It is believed that hunter's sauce originated in the Middle Ages in Europe when wild mushrooms were foraged by hunters on their way home after a day of hunting. The mushrooms were used to make a sauce to accompany the wild boar or whatever it was they'd been hunting!

There are a lot of versions of hunter's sauce out there. The one I am sharing today is my interpretation of the popular German jaeger sauce. I love to eat it poured over a schnitzel or a juicy steak, but it is equally good when used as a sauce for pasta.

A plate of steak, chips and peas smothered in hunter's sauce.

If you want a mushroom sauce with a bechamel sauce base, you might like this recipe for crispy chicken schnitzel with creamy mushroom sauce.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Tips for a successful outcome
Serving suggestions
Equipment
Storage
Save for later
Related recipes
📋The recipe

Ingredients

This recipe will make 4 generous servings of hunter's sauce.

Mushrooms - you can use whatever mushrooms you prefer for sauce. I used simple white mushrooms, but you could use any mushrooms really. Chestnut or button mushroom would both be suitable, as would sliced portobello mushrooms.
Onions - use either red or white onions, as long as they are finely sliced. You could substitute these for shallots if you prefer a milder flavour, or leeks for a sweeter sauce.
Tomato puree - to add a touch of colour and extra flavour. Tomato puree is made from highly concentrated tomatoes. You may also know it as tomato paste. Substitute with tomato passata or even tomato ketchup.
Butter - this is for browning the onions and the mushrooms. Mushrooms are like little sponges, and they will soak up all the butter but don't worry - they will release all that flavour back into the sauce once you have added the stock. If you are watching your weight, substitute with olive oil or a low-fat spread.
Cream - I used double cream (or heavy whipping cream). If you are calorie-conscious you could substitute this with either single cream or milk. You may find that you have to thicken the sauce with cornflour if you do this though.
Dried thyme - I love the combination of thyme and mushrooms, but you do need to be careful not to overpower the delicate flavour of the mushrooms. Half a teaspoon of dried thyme or 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves will be more than sufficient. You can leave it out altogether if you don't like the taste of thyme.
Balsamic vinegar - Once again, not too much. You will only need a small amount to balance out the richness of the cream. You can substitute this with Worcestershire sauce.
Stock - the liquid component of the sauce. I used all vegetable stock, but you could use beef or chicken stock instead. If you prefer, you can substitute half of the stock for white wine. If you don't have fresh stock, dissolve one stock cube in one cup of boiling water.
Parsley - this is finely chopped and stirred through right at the end. I used curly parsley but flat-leaf parsley is fine to use.
I haven't included salt and pepper in the photo - but I always taste right at the end and add seasoning if I think it needs it.
Cornflour (or cornstarch) - not pictured and optional. This is used to thicken the sauce if it does not reduce to the right consistency.

**You can find the exact ingredient measurements for making hunter's sauce on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**

Instructions

Step 1: Melt half the butter in a large saucepan or frying pan and add the sliced mushrooms. Cook them on moderate heat for 3 to 4 minutes until they soften and release their juices. Transfer the mushrooms (with any juice) to a dish and set aside while you fry the onions.

Step 2: Add the remaining butter to the same pan and add the sliced onions and thyme.

Step 3: Stir the onions on moderate heat for 5 to 6 minutes until they have softened and are starting to brown slightly.

Step 4: Add the mushrooms (and any juices) back to the pan and stir in the tomato puree and the balsamic vinegar.

Mushroom sauce in a pan after the addition of stock and cream.

Step 5: Stir in the cream and stock and bring to a boil.

Step 6: Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 7 to 8 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Stir occasionally. Taste for seasoning and add salt and ground black pepper to your own taste, then stir in the chopped parsley.

A pan of thickened hunter's sauce with a spoon drawing a trail.

Step 7: This is the consistency you are looking for. The sauce should leave a trail that closes up quite quickly when you draw a spoon through it. If you need to thicken the sauce, stir in a teaspoon of cornflour or cornstarch which has been dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water.

Transfer the mushroom sauce to a bowl or a gravy boat and serve it poured over a schnitzel or a steak.

Tips for a successful outcome

Here are my top tips to ensure your hunter's sauce always turns out perfectly:

Fry the mushrooms slowly so they release their juices without the juices evaporating. The juice from the mushrooms adds an amazing flavour back to the sauce.
Take your time with the onions so they soften and almost caramelise without browning too much.
Simmering the sauce for a few minutes (at the end) gives the flavours time to come together and the sauce to thicken.
As I mentioned above, if the sauce isn't thick enough (perhaps you used milk instead of cream) you can thicken it with a slurry of cornflour or cornstarch mixed with a little water. Take care not to thicken it too much and stir the cornflour in slowly over moderate heat. The sauce should leave a trail that closes up quite quickly when you draw a spoon through it. You may not need all the cornflour mixture.

Serving suggestions

Apart from pouring it over schnitzels or steak, this hunter's sauce can be used in a variety of ways:

Boil a pan of your favourite pasta shapes and combine them with the sauce for a quick and easy meatless lunch or supper.
Use extra mushrooms and add extra cornflour to thicken the sauce so that it holds its shape. Once cool, use the sauce as a filling for little mushroom pies. See this recipe for chicken and mushroom puff pastry bakes for details on forming the pies and baking them.
Brown lightly seasoned pieces of chicken breasts in butter and mix them into the sauce. Serve over rice or pasta with a fresh green salad for an easy light supper. This would also work well with thinly sliced steak!

A spoonful of mushroom sauce being lifted from a serving dish.

Equipment

You won't need much by way of equipment! I like to make this sauce in a large frying pan, but you could just as easily make it in a saucepan.

You will need a sharp knife and a chopping board for cutting up the mushrooms and onions, and a spatula for stirring the sauce as it's cooking.

Storage

Any leftover sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and reheated in the microwave or on the stove.

The sauce can also be frozen in a plastic bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it defrost in the refrigerator and then reheat it in the microwave or transfer it to a saucepan and reheat it on the stove.

Save for later

If you would like to make this hunter's sauce, why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it later? Just click on the image below.

Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Visit my sauces, dips and marinade recipes page for other delicious sauces. In the meantime here are a few that you might enjoy.

Hunter's sauce (creamy mushroom sauce)