How to Make Au Jus

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: October 21, 2019 References Tested

Au jus is French for “in its own juice” and is usually used to describe a beef sauce that people dip beef sandwiches and dishes into. It’s commonly used with French dip sandwiches, prime rib, and tenderloins. If you’ve never made au jus from scratch before, you may be surprised to learn how simple it is. Simply gather up the drippings that come off when you make a roast in the oven, then simmer those drippings with some flour, seasonings, and beef broth!

Ingredients

Around 0.25 cups (59 mL) of roast drippings
Salt and pepper (optional)
1.5 tablespoons (12 grams) of flour
2 teaspoons (9.9 mL) of Worcestershire sauce (optional)
0.5 cups (120 mL) of red wine (optional)
1 teaspoon (4.9 mL) of soy sauce (optional)
2 cups (470 mL) of beef broth

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Making the Roast Drippings

1
Preheat your oven to 350 °F (177 °C) and place your roast in a roasting pan. The oven should take around 10 minutes to fully preheat. If you want the juice to have some extra flavor, season your roast with a little bit of salt and pepper.^{[1]
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- You can add even more flavoring by covering your roast with garlic or a mustard marinade. However, don’t feel like you have to do this; your drippings will still be flavorful if you don’t season the roast at all.
2
Place the roasting pan in the oven and cook the roast for 2 hours. Use a thermometer to check the internal temperature of the roast after about an hour and a half. If the thermometer reads 130 °F (54 °C), go ahead and take the roast out of the oven early.^{[2]
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- If the temperature reaches 130 °F (54 °C) before 2 hours have passed, taking the roast out early will prevent it from becoming overcooked. However, don’t check the temperature too often, since this will lead to too much heat coming out of the oven.
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3
Remove the pan from the oven and place the meat on a cutting board. Wrap the meat in tin foil to keep it warm if you plan to use it later. Be sure to leave all of the drippings that have come out of the roast in the roasting pan when you remove the meat.^{[3]
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- The meat will come in handy later if you decide to make beef sandwiches to dip in your au jus.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Deglazing and Finishing the Mixture

1
Place the roasting pan with the drippings over medium high heat. Medium high heat on a stovetop dial is about halfway between the middle number and the highest number. For example, on a dial that goes from 1 (low) to 10 (high), the medium high heat setting is between 7 and 8.^{[4]
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- If your stovetop dial goes from 1 to 6, medium high heat is around 4.
2
Whisk in flour and your desired seasonings into the juice. Add 1.5 tablespoons (12 grams) of flour for every 0.25 cups (59 mL) of roast drippings in the roasting pan. Mix in the flour around 0.5 tablespoons (4 grams) at a time.^{[5]
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- You most likely will only have about 0.25 cups (59 mL) of drippings in your roasting pan. However, if you happen to have more, you can use the ratio above to determine how much flour you should add.
- Popular seasonings to add to the juice at this point include Worcestershire sauce, red wine, soy sauce, or just salt and pepper.
3
Use a wooden spoon to loosen the cooked bits on the bottom of the pan. The act of scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan and mixing them into the juice is called “deglazing” the pan. These bits are where most of the flavor is, so it’s very important that you thoroughly scrape the pan bottom!^{[6]
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- You can also use a non-abrasive whisk to deglaze the pan. Refrain from using a metallic whisk to do this if your roasting pan is also metallic, as this may scratch the bottom of the pan.
4
Pour 2 cups (470 mL) of beef broth into the mix and bring it to a simmer. Pour the broth in very slowly to avoid having the hot juices splashing out of the pan. Increase the heat to high after you add the beef broth to get the mixture to simmer.^{[7]
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- Try not to use cubed beef bouillon for this step, since it tends to make the au jus too salty.
5
Let the mix boil for 5 minutes, then add salt if needed and serve. After 5 minutes, the mixture should be reduced by about half and will be noticeably thicker. Taste a small amount of the mix on your wooden spoon (after allowing it to cool, of course!) to see if it needs any salt. Finally, serve your au jus in a small bowl with the main meal.^{[8]
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- You can also add some pepper to the au jus at this point if you feel it needs it.
6
Store any leftover au jus in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. To reuse the au jus, simply scrape off any fat that has floated to the top in the refrigerator and heat up the rest of the au jus in the microwave for about 30 seconds. It will stay fresh in the refrigerator for around 2 days, but will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.^{[9]
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Community Q&A

Question

How do I make a strong flavored au jus for poultry/game birds?

Community Answer

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a roasting pan add chicken wings, vegetables, thyme and garlic. Season well with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes until the wings are nice and brown. Remove from the oven and set over medium-high heat on the stove top.