Thicken Your Pan Sauce With Sour Cream

I take a pretty minimal approach to pan sauces, especially on weeknights. I take the meat out of the pan, pour the excess fat into a little ramekin, and deglaze the delicious browned bits with something alcoholic. (Recently, that something has been semi-oxidized dry vermouth.) Then I whisk the fat back in, season the sauce if needed, and pour it all over my browned chop, steak, or cutlet.

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But last night, as I was cooking yet another pork tenderloin, I decided I wanted something creamier and thicker to spoon over my meat and potatoes. Typically, I’ll make a beurre manie—aka a “raw roux” or fancy French butter-flour paste—but I didn’t feel like getting out two more ingredients. One ingredient was all I wanted to deal with, and that ingredient was my BFF, sour cream. (You can also use a thick, full-fat yogurt, but the resulting sauce will taste a little different. Do not use low- or no-fat, unless you want your sauce to suck.)

Sour cream, as you probably know, is a cultured dairy product that comes with tons of fat and flavor. When combined with reduced wine and hot pan drippings, it melts into a creamy, slightly tangy, luscious pan sauce, without the need for flour, cornstarch, or any other powdery thickening agent. Just make your pan sauce like you usually would—remove the meat, pour off excess fat, deglaze and reduce some wine, and whisk your fat back in—then take it off the heat and stir in a couple of tablespoons (or more) of sour cream. Give it a taste, season if needed, and spoon over everything that would benefit from a creamy, flavorful gravy.

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