Sauces
Horseradish Cream
Sharp, creamy horseradish cream for steak and roast beef: grated horseradish with a little vinegar and mustard, folded into softly whipped double cream.
- Serves 6
- Prep 10 min
- Chill 30 min
- British
Method
If using fresh horseradish, peel a piece of root and grate it finely (open a window: it is fierce). Mix the horseradish with the vinegar, mustard, sugar and salt and leave for a few minutes.
Whip the cream to soft peaks: it should just hold its shape.
Fold in the horseradish mixture. Taste and add a little lemon juice or more horseradish to suit. Chill for 30 minutes before serving with steak, roast beef or smoked fish.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
Serve with: Perfect Steak
- Perfect Steak: cuts and cooking guide
- Sirloin Steak (US: New York Strip Steak)
- Rump Steak (US: Top Sirloin Steak)
- Fillet Steak (US: Filet Mignon)
- T-bone Steak (US: T-bone or Porterhouse)
- Rib-eye Steak (US: Ribeye Steak)
More sauces for steak: Peppercorn Sauce, Béarnaise, Diane Sauce, Chimichurri, Steakhouse Sauce, Blue Cheese Sauce, Horseradish Cream, Garlic and Herb Butter, Maître d’Hôtel Butter.
Chef’s notes
- Grated fresh horseradish loses its heat quickly; mixing it with vinegar straight away fixes the flavour.
- For a lighter version, use half crème fraîche or soured cream and half double cream.
- Keeps for 2 days, covered, in the fridge.
About this dish
Horseradish is an old European condiment: John Gerard’s Herball (1597) noted that the Germans ate it pounded with vinegar as a sauce for fish and meat, as the English ate mustard. In Britain it became the classic partner of roast beef.
How this recipe was developed
A composite of the BBC versions with fresh root and double cream, written in our own words.
- Horseradish into vinegar first. both BBC recipes add vinegar to the grated root.
- Whipped double cream. BBC Food’s older recipe uses double cream; BBC Good Food uses crème fraîche (our variation note).
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
- History: John Gerard: The Herball (1597), ch. 7: Of Horse-Radish
- BBC Good Food: Horseradish sauce (3.8/5, 12 ratings)
- BBC Food: Horseradish sauce (3.2/5, 16 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.