Steak au Poivre with a Proper Pan Sauce
The French bistro classic, home for a weeknight. A peppercorn-crusted steak, seared hard, with a silky pan sauce you build right in the pan - and crispy oven fries to catch it. Impressive, but genuinely quick once the fries are in.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Serves
- 4
- Method
- Sear + Pan Sauce
Steak au poivre looks like restaurant cooking, but the pan sauce is just shallot, a splash of brandy, stock, and cream swirled into the seared-steak pan - two minutes, and it is the most impressive thing you make all week. Oven or air-fryer fries keep it a Tuesday.
What actually matters here
- Crack the peppercorns coarse and press them into the steak for the crust.
- Get a hard sear, then rest the steak while you build the sauce in the same pan.
- Oven or air-fryer fries (not deep-fried) keep this weeknight-easy - start them first.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
Steak
- 2steaks (sirloin, strip, or filet, ~12 oz each)
- 2 tbspcoarsely cracked black peppercorns
- 1 tbspoil
- 1 tbspbutter
- salt
Peppercorn Pan Sauce
- 1shallot, minced
- 1/4 cupbrandy or cognac (or extra stock)
- 3/4 cupbeef stock
- 1/2 cupheavy cream
- 1 tbspDijon
- 1 tbspbutter
Crispy Frites
- 2 lbrusset potatoes, cut into fries
- 2 tbspoil
- salt
Before you start
- Heat oven to 425 degrees (or an air fryer).
- Cut the potatoes; toss with oil and salt; roast 30 to 35 minutes, flipping once, until crisp.
- Press cracked pepper and salt into the steaks; let them come to room temperature.
Method
- Sear the steaks in oil and butter over high heat, 3 to 4 minutes a side for medium-rare.
- Rest the steaks on a board.
- In the same pan, soften the shallot; add brandy (off heat, then back on) and reduce.
- Add stock and reduce by half; stir in cream and Dijon; swirl in butter.
- Slice the steaks or serve whole with sauce spooned over.
- Serve with the crispy frites.
How you know it is right
- The steak is peppery, crusted, and rosy inside.
- The sauce is silky and rich.
- The fries are crisp.
- It eats like a bistro.
How to serve it
Serve with a simple green salad or watercress to cut the richness.
If you want it simpler
- Frozen fries baked crisp are a totally legit shortcut.
- Skip the brandy and use all stock - still excellent.
Start the fries, sear the steak hard, build the pan sauce, plate like a bistro.
This dish came from the SEASON plan for July 20 - 26, 2026, alongside nine other dinners and one shopping list.
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Written and tested by Chef Michael Rossi, who has spent thirty years in professional kitchens including Napa Rose, THE RANCH, The Masters at Augusta National, and The Beach Club. Every SEASON recipe is one he has cooked on a real line before it reaches a home kitchen.