How To Make Your White Wine Sauce Creamy Without Curdling

There are many ways to use white wine in your cooking, but creating a simple sauce has got to be one of the timeless classics. It builds dreamy pasta dishes and pairs incredibly with chicken, especially when you're opting for the creamy version. This type of sauce does require some finesse, though, as it can quickly become chunky and separated. To master the best technique, Tasting Table spoke exclusively to chef Matthew Stowe of Joey Restaurants, who is opening a new location, Joey Valley Fair, in Santa Clara, California, in April 2025. We asked him the best way to prevent creamy white wine sauce from curdling and how to keep it as smooth as can be.

"I would actually add [white wine] at the beginning, [in] a roux or a beurre manie," he said. There's a simple difference between a beurre manie and a roux, but in this case, you're working with the same two ingredients. "So basically flour and butter," Stowe said, "a small amount, and that'll help thicken it and keep it smooth and it won't curdle." 

He notes that curdling is usually caused by over-reducing the cream, which is normally done in an attempt to thicken the sauce — that's why the addition of a roux can be a better path to thicker sauce. That said, Stowe admits to generally staying away from roux-based sauces. "They could be quite heavy," he says, "and a lot of times they kind of dilute flavor."

Chef Stowe also gave us a great tip for making the white wine sauce totally gluten-free. His trick is to replace the traditional roux with a cornstarch slurry, which is a mix of cornstarch and water. It's made by using equal parts of each, starting with one tablespoon and going from there. Chef Stowe also shared how to make the sauce perfectly, "take a bunch of shallots and garlic, and sweat them out" to start your sauce. "Then you add your white wine," he said. 

Reduction is the key to effortlessly elevated wine sauce, and the chef recommends reducing it by about three-quarters. Then, add cream and reduce again by half. If at that point you're still finding the sauce to be too thin, "rather than continuing to reduce the cream, you can always just add a small amount of [cornstarch] slurry," Stowe advised. "Just add a few teaspoons at a time if you will, depending on how much you're making."

In his view, the use of cornstarch slurry has two benefits — "One, your recipe is going to be gluten-free and two, it is a little bit more intense flavor-wise than if you used butter and flour." However, if you're still feeling like the sauce is lacking a little extra something in the flavor department, we can think of at least 14 ingredients to enhance your white wine sauce. You'll be sure to wow your guests.