sauce

/sɔs/

/sɔs/

Other forms: sauces; sauced; saucing

A sauce is a nearly-liquid or soft topping or condiment for food. You might prefer your spaghetti with tomato sauce and your broccoli with cheese sauce.

The cuisine of every country and region has its own sauces, from chutney served with Indian dosas to Hollandaise sauce on eggs Benedict and caramel sauce dolloped on sticky toffee pudding. You can even use sauce as a fancy verb: "Shall I sauce the beef?" Figuratively, to sauce someone is to speak in an impudent or cheeky way.

Definitions of sauce

1. noun

   flavorful relish or dressing or topping served as an accompaniment to food
   types:

   anchovy sauce

   made of white sauce and mashed anchovies

   hot sauce

   a pungent peppery sauce

   hard sauce

   butter and sugar creamed together with brandy or other flavoring and served with rich puddings

   horseradish sauce, sauce Albert

   creamy white sauce with horseradish and mustard

   tartar sauce, tartare sauce

   mayonnaise with chopped pickles and sometimes capers and shallots and parsley and hard-cooked egg; sauce for seafood especially fried fish

   wine sauce

   white or veloute sauce with wine and stock variously seasoned with onions and herbs; for fish or meat

   marchand de vin, mushroom wine sauce

   brown sauce with mushrooms and red wine or Madeira

   bread sauce

   creamy white sauce made with bread instead of flour and seasoned with cloves and onion

   plum sauce

   for Chinese dishes: plum preserves and chutney

   peach sauce

   for Chinese dishes: peach preserves and chutney

   apricot sauce

   for Chinese dishes: apricot preserves and chutney

   pesto

   a sauce typically served with pasta; contains crushed basil leaves and garlic and pine nuts and Parmesan cheese in olive oil

   ravigote, ravigotte

   veloute sauce seasoned with chopped chervil, chives, tarragon, shallots and capers

   remoulade sauce

   a mayonnaise sauce flavored with herbs and mustard and capers; served with e.g. salad and cold meat

   dressing, salad dressing

   savory dressings for salads; basically of two kinds: either the thin French or vinaigrette type or the creamy mayonnaise type

   aioli, aioli sauce, garlic sauce

   garlic mayonnaise

   barbecue sauce

   spicy sweet and sour sauce usually based on catsup or chili sauce

   Hollandaise sauce, hollandaise, hollandaise sauce

   a sauce made from melted butter, egg yolks, and lemon juice

   bearnaise

   a sauce like hollandaise but made with white wine and tarragon and shallots instead of lemon juice

   Bercy, Bercy butter

   butter creamed with white wine and shallots and parsley

   bordelaise

   brown sauce with beef marrow and red wine

   Burgundy sauce, bourguignon, bourguignon sauce

   reduced red wine with onions and parsley and thyme and butter

   brown sauce, sauce Espagnole

   bouillon or beef stock thickened with butter and flour roux and variously seasoned with herbs or Worcestershire etc.

   Espagnole, sauce Espagnole

   brown sauce with tomatoes and a caramelized mixture of minced carrots and onions and celery seasoned with Madeira

   Chinese brown sauce, brown sauce

   a sauce based on soy sauce

   chocolate sauce, chocolate syrup

   sauce made with unsweetened chocolate or cocoa and sugar and water

   cocktail sauce, seafood sauce

   usually catsup with horseradish and lemon juice

   Colbert, Colbert butter

   butter creamed with parsley and tarragon and beef extract

   bechamel, bechamel sauce, white sauce

   milk thickened with a butter and flour roux

   demi-glaze, demiglace

   sauce Espagnole with extra beef stock simmered down and seasoned with dry wine or sherry

   gravy

   a sauce made by adding stock, flour, or other ingredients to the juice and fat that drips from cooking meats

   pasta sauce, spaghetti sauce

   any of numerous sauces for spaghetti or other kinds of pasta

   mole

   spicy sauce often containing chocolate

   hunter's sauce, sauce chausseur

   brown sauce and tomato puree with onions and mushrooms and dry white wine

   mushroom sauce

   brown sauce and sauteed mushrooms

   mustard sauce

   sauce of prepared mustard thinned with vinegar and vegetable oil with sugar and seasonings

   Nantua, shrimp sauce

   white sauce with whipping cream and shrimp butter

   Hungarian sauce, paprika sauce

   veloute sauce with sauteed chopped onion and paprika and cream

   Poivrade, pepper sauce

   for venison: brown sauce with sauteed vegetables and trimmings and marinade and plenty of pepper

   Smitane

   veloute or brown sauce with sauteed chopped onion and dry white wine and sour cream

   Soubise, white onion sauce

   veloute sauce with sauteed chopped onions and whipping cream

   Lyonnaise sauce, brown onion sauce

   brown sauce with sauteed chopped onions and parsley and dry white wine or vinegar

   veloute

   white sauce made with stock instead of milk

   allemande, allemande sauce

   egg-thickened veloute

   caper sauce

   allemande sauce with capers

   poulette

   allemande sauce with chopped parsley

   curry sauce

   allemande sauce with curry powder and coconut milk instead of stock

   Worcester sauce, Worcestershire, Worcestershire sauce

   a savory sauce of vinegar and soy sauce and spices

   snail butter

   for preparing snails: butter seasoned with shallots and garlic and parsley

   Newburg sauce

   lobster butter and cream and egg yolks seasoned with onions and sherry or Madeira

   Tabasco, Tabasco sauce

   very spicy sauce (trade name Tabasco) made from fully-aged red peppers

   bolognese pasta sauce

   sauce for pasta; contains mushrooms and ham and chopped vegetables and beef and tomato paste

   carbonara

   a pasta dish containing eggs, grated cheese, bacon or ham, and sometimes cream

   tomato sauce

   sauce made with a puree of tomatoes (or strained tomatoes) with savory vegetables and other seasonings; can be used on pasta

   sauce Louis

   mayonnaise and heavy cream combined with chopped green pepper and green onion seasoned with chili sauce and Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice

   bleu cheese dressing, blue cheese dressing

   creamy dressing containing crumbled blue cheese

   Roquefort dressing, blue cheese dressing

   vinaigrette containing crumbled Roquefort or blue cheese

   French dressing, sauce vinaigrette, vinaigrette

   oil and vinegar with mustard and garlic

   Lorenzo dressing

   vinaigrette with chili sauce and chopped watercress

   anchovy dressing

   vinaigrette and mashed anchovies

   Italian dressing

   a vinaigrette with garlic and herbs: oregano and basil and dill

   half-and-half dressing

   half mayonnaise and half vinaigrette seasoned with minced garlic and mashed anchovies and grated Parmesan cheese; especially good for combination salads

   mayo, mayonnaise

   egg yolks and oil and vinegar

   Russian dressing, Russian mayonnaise

   mayonnaise with horseradish grated onion and chili sauce or catsup; sometimes with caviar added

   salad cream

   a creamy salad dressing resembling mayonnaise

   Thousand Island dressing

   mayonnaise with chili sauce or catsup and minced olives and peppers and hard-cooked egg

   blanc

   a white sauce of fat, broth, and vegetables (used especially with braised meat)

   cheese sauce

   white sauce with grated cheese

   fudge sauce, hot-fudge sauce

   thick chocolate sauce served hot

   cream sauce

   white sauce made with cream

   marinara

   sauce for pasta; contains tomatoes and garlic and herbs

   type of:

   condiment

   a preparation (a sauce or relish or spice) to enhance flavor or enjoyment
2. verb

   dress (food) with a relish
   type of:

   flavor, flavour, season

   lend flavor to
3. verb

   add zest or flavor to, make more interesting
   “sauce the roast”

   type of:

   alter, change, modify

   cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
4. verb

   behave saucily or impudently towards
   type of:

   act, behave, do

   behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself