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How to make mignonette sauce for fresh, raw oysters

Fresh raw oysters topped with fresh mignonette sauce
Fresh raw oysters are a wonderful experience, drizzled with freshly squeezed lemon they are even more delicious. But for those times when you really want to savor the incredible taste and eating sensation of raw oysters, having oysters with a wonderful mignonette sauce is the pinnacle of decadent dining.

The good news is that you don’t have to rely on a restaurant to enjoy that wonderful taste, because you can make it at home and enjoy your raw oysters with mignonette sauce thanks to our easy to prepare recipe. All you need are a few ingredients, including vinegar, shallots and black pepper, some lemon wedges and a shucking knife for your raw oysters.

A Classic Mignonette Sauce Recipe

We are going to focus on the classic recipe here, for the traditional experience. That means your choice of red or white wine vinegar, fresh black pepper and chopped shallots. A little sea salt adds an extra touch of flavor if you prefer, but really, that is all you need. Aside from your lovely fresh raw oysters of course!

Quantities:
  • 2 Tablespoons of minced shallots
  • ½ Cup of your wine vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon of black pepper
Once you have everything you need, we can get started. First peel and chop the shallots, then either finely chop by hand or for brevity put them in a food processor and pulse until they are finely minced. You don’t want them to turn into a paste but maintain small but distinct individual pieces.

Next take your shallots and place them in a bowl, it needs to be non-reactive because of the vinegar, glass is the perfect choice. Add in your wine vinegar and fresh black pepper, then stir with a fork or whisk together. If you wish, you can add your salt to taste.

It really is that easy to make.

Once prepared, leave your mignonette sauce to rest at room temperature for at least 2 hours, the longer you leave it, the more intense the flavors. If you wish to store it for later use, mignonette can be kept refrigerated for a couple months, perfect for the next time you order fresh raw oysters.

Try Mignonette Your Way

This recipe is great, providing an easy way to get that traditional mignonette sauce flavor with simple ingredients and a little effort. But if you are the sort of person who loves to experiment with taste, you can use it as a base to add in other ingredients and find your own personal favorite flavors.

If you love spicy food, try adding chopped chili to the base sauce, Jalapenos are a great option, but you can use whatever you have. If you are eating fresh raw oysters on a summers evening, you can add freshness with slices or chopped cucumber, or sweeten the taste with apple.

The key to adding extra flavors is that you want to add a hint of flavor, don’t overdo it and lose the wonderful ray oyster taste. Aside from the ingredients we mention, you could add a variety of fruits, or things like garlic and ginger for an Asian cuisine feel, the possibilities are endless to really make a mignonette sauce of your own.

Eating Raw Oysters

Once you have your sauce, shuck your oysters and make sure each one is loose from the shell. Then you simply spoon a small amount of the mignonette sauce onto the oyster before eating. You don’t need much, less than a ¼ of a teaspoon is plenty.

So that’s it! You are ready to enjoy your raw oysters with mignonette sauce, made easily with just a few simple ingredients.