Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of egg yolk and butter. Lemon juice, salt, and a little white pepper or cayenne pepper are often added as seasoning. Hollandaise light yellow and opaque, smooth and creamy: it tastes rich and buttery, with a mild tang added by the seasonings, but not so strong as to overpower mildly flavoured foods. Hollandaise sauce is well known as a key ingredient of Eggs Benedict, and is often paired with vegetables such as steamed asparagus.

Hollandaise is one of the five mother sauces in French haute cuisine.