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This easy au jus sauce is perfect for prime rib, roast beef, and French dip. It’s a simple, flavorful sauce that can be made with or without drippings! All you need are basic ingredients like beef broth, butter, and Worcestershire sauce for a light sauce or gravy that pairs perfectly with any beef, lamb, or chicken recipe.
This au jus recipe is easy to make and ready in just five minutes with simple ingredients that don’t require any drippings! It’s our go-to sauce for prime rib, French dip, and roast beef or chicken, and steak!
What is au jus?
Au jus is a thin sauce or gravy that typically accompanies beef, lamb, or chicken dishes. It’s typically made from the natural drippings or juices that come from cooking meat, hence its origin from the French term “with juice”.
This homemade au jus produces a light, thin, and clear sauce that is made primarily from beef broth, butter and/or drippings, and Worcestershire sauce.
If you’d prefer a slightly thicker sauce, we added an option to the recipe to add flour for a consistency similar to thin gravy. For a thicker, traditional gravy, try our Brown Gravy recipe!
Ingredients
- Beef broth – Use a good quality beef broth. I find beef bone broth to have the best flavor.
- Butter – This gives the au jus a rich, fatty flavor that replaces the drippings. If you happen to have drippings, you can use that as well and supplement it with butter if needed.
- Worcestershire sauce – This adds a salty, slightly tangy, umami flavor to the au jus, adding the perfect balance of flavors.
- Flour – Flour is optional if you’d prefer a thicker consistency, similar to that of a thin gravy. Use all-purpose flour and add it along with the butter or drippings.
- Garlic powder – A pinch of garlic or onion powder adds the flavor you’d get from pan drippings.
How to Make Prime Rib Au Jus
- Add the butter and/or drippings to a pan. If using flour and garlic powder, add that now and let it cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Next, add the beef broth and whisk everything together.
- Add the Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper to taste until well seasoned.
- Bring it to a boil and serve immediately. It should thicken slightly if you added flour.
Au Jus Serving Suggestions
Our favorite way to serve au jus is with prime rib. You can serve it piping hot on a side to dip or pour it over a slice or prime rib to let the meat soak up that delicious sauce.
Other ways to serve this light gravy include ladling over roast beef or chicken, with any cut of steak, or in a small bowl for dipping French dip sandwiches.
Tips
- Use high-quality beef broth or beef bone broth for the best flavor.
- Use drippings if available; otherwise use butter with a pinch of garlic and onion powder to add more flavor.
- Add a tablespoon of flour for a slightly thicker version.
More recipes:
Easy Au Jus (No Drippings Needed)
Ingredients
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 tablespoons butter, and/or beef drippings
- ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, or soy sauce
- salt & pepper, to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic & onion powder, (optional)
- 1 tablespoon flour, (optional) for a thicker au jus
Instructions
- Add butter or drippings: Over medium heat, melt the butter and/or drippings in a saucepan. If using, add the flour and garlic & onion powder and stir together for 1 to 2 minutes.2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon flour, ⅛ teaspoon garlic & onion powder
- Add beef broth: Add the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce, and whisk to combine. Bring it to a boil over high heat. Note: It should thicken slightly if using flour.2 cups beef broth, ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Season and serve: Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve with prime rib, roast beef, or French dip.salt & pepper
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
I never thought I could make au jus without roasting meat, but your instructions were perfect and the jus tasted like it came from a roasting pan!
I love to make a standing rib roast for Christmas Day, but love that this au jus doesn’t need drippings to make it!! Yay!!
Yes! The no drippings part makes this recipe so easy!
Perfectly made au-jus! My friend loved making this recipe yesterday. Yummy!
Excellent. Started with less flour and added more to make it like a gravy and added some dried herbs.
PS
5 star rating.
Long story short I used your as jus for French dip sandwiches. My son gave me some cooked venison from a pot roast, and I shredded it, cooked up some mushrooms in butter then used the butter for the au jus recipe. When everything was done put all together on a toasted onion roll with provolone cheese and mushrooms and dipped away with the au jus.
So good.
That sounds so delicious! Thanks for sharing Richard!
Hi! Haven’t made it yet but heading to the store to buy ingredients now! Planning on using this to substitute au jus packet for a beef pot roast. How much of this should I add to the pot roast? Thanks!
Hi Adley! I would recommend following the amounts in the recipe but replacing the beef broth with this au jus instead. Let me know how it goes!
Used this au jus sauce on top of our roast beef – yum! Can’t wait to try as a sandwich dip.
This is s great addition to a steak or a roast. Going to make it this weekend for a family dinner 😉
Perfect for prime rib or any type of roast beef! I love making a beef sandwich then dipping my bread in it!
Really easy and very tasty. I used extra onion and garlic powder. It was great with leftover pot roast.
I made this au jus over the weekend and it was incredible! So flavorful and easy to make!
For the second time in a week, we were wishing we had pan drippings to make Au Jus. So I did a quick internet search and landed on this recipe. Not sure if it was the organic Worcestershire sauce I had, or the beef bone broth, or just that the proportions of the recipe were not quite to my taste, but I needed to double the onion powder and garlic powder, and the vinegar flavor was a bit too strong. I’ll try this again using less Worcestershire sauce, and further increase the garlic and onion powder to compensate.
This recipe was SO good and easy to boot! I used butter but after warming the deli roast beef in the oven I added some juices from the meat as well. I did the flour with garlic and onion powder option. All I had was beef bouillon so used that in lieu of beef broth. My husband loved it too and he normally doesn’t care about au jus.
This was a great recipe! Very tasty and quick to make! Will definitely make this again! Thanks for the share!
My go-to au jus sauce when I don’t have drippings. I add a bit of soy sauce to make the color dark. Very tasty.
Thanks Kori! Glad you enjoyed it!
This sauce went perfectly for my roasted beef.
I am so excited to make again.
What a great recipe! I use this all the time! I was always intimidated about making au jus, but your simple recipe makes it so easy.
This was amazing! I made Roast Beef on Weck, but used a packaged meat that just needed a sear – no drippings. Tasted okay out of the pot, but my gosh, with the sandwich – I wouldn’t have known it wasn’t beef drippings that roasted all day. And sooo easy to make. Thank you for saving our dinner!
I forget to fill the stars! 5 stars!
Love this homemade au-jus. Its perfect with my french dip recipe. Thank you adding this to my monthly rotation.