Easy Horseradish Sauce Recipe with Fresh Horseradish Root (2024)

We'll share how to make basic horseradish sauce, cream sauce and co*cktail sauce with fresh horseradish root and common pantry ingredients. The kick of homemade sauce knocks the socks off of most store bought sauce!

My first foray into horseradish sauce happened as a result of conversation with my son's piano teacher, Miss Betty. (Some of you may remember her from her rye bread and pickle recipes.)

Betty and her husband have a huge patch of horseradish, but this year her husband said he didn't want to make homemade horseradish sauce because it was too much work. (They are getting up in years, so the digging and cleaning is becoming more of a chore.)

Never one to miss an opportunity to learn to try something new in the kitchen, I told her that we'd be happy to give her a hand.

Digging Horseradish

My youngest and I went over in the morning to dig the roots. Warning – horseradish roots can be deep and strong! While attempting to muscle the roots out of the ground, my son bent the handle of the steel garden fork. (Time to check out whether or not the “Lifetime Warranty” covers horseradish damage…)

We weren't quite sure how much to dig, so we dug quite a few – and ended up with enough horseradish sauce for a small army. 🙂

After digging, we washed the worst of the mud off with a garden hose. Then we went back to our kitchen and did the peeling and chopping.

Because we had so much horseradish, I placed the cubed horseradish in water with citric acid in it to prevent browning. You could also use salt water or water with lemon juice.

Betty and her husband normally work in small batches (1 cup of horseradish, as specified in the recipe), so they skip the anti-browning treatment.

Betty shared her family's two horseradish sauce recipes with me – one basic pickled sauce, and one creamy sauce made with the basic sauce. You can use apple cider vinegar if you prefer, but it will give the sauce a darker color.

Fresh Horseradish Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup horseradish, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor at high speed. Blend until creamy. Put in a jar and store in the refrigerator.

Note: If you don't have a food processor or blender, grate of finely chop the horseradish root and blend with other ingredients. To enhance the “kick” of the horseradish, grate or grind it first, and then wait a few minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients.

There is no USDA approved method for canning horseradish sauce. Store it in the refrigerator or freezer.

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Creamy Horseradish Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish sauce
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a small bowl, blend all ingredients. Makes about 1 cup. Store in refrigerator.

Horseradish co*cktail Sauce

Another simple use of the basic horseradish sauce it to mix it to taste with ketchup for a quick co*cktail sauce. This is my sons' favorite way to eat horseradish.

A Note on Horseradish

Betty and I were talking about how very few people make homemade horseradish sauce anymore, even when they have access to a horseradish patch.

The big batch we did took a couple hours (with digging and cleaning), but we ended up with four quarts of sauce. (I'm gifting out horseradish to local friends and family this fall.) If you were making only a cup, it wouldn't take much time at all.

I think that perhaps our modern palates are spoiled by the abundance of food choices available in the average grocery store, and how much fresh produce is available all year round.

In the olden days, folks were more appreciative of the zip of horseradish when they had to rely on storage foodall winter. The same might be said of heavy spiced cakes and cookies.

I find when baking that spice cakes and cookies are much more appreciated by the older crowd, while young palates more commonly go for chocolate or vanilla.

Watch out for the Horseradish Kick!

Be careful when working with the ground horseradish root! I could smell the vapors as we were chopping, but it wasn't until I leaned over the bowl of the food processor that the full effect hit me.

My eyes started watering, my nose started running – I cleared sinuses that I didn't know I had. I had to step away for a moment and wipe the tears, and when I came back, I made sure to keep the sauce at arms' length.

Horseradish and wasabi are both rooty members of the cabbage family. They release a compound calledallyl isothiocyanate, which is responsible for that pungent burn. The pungency will fade over time as the sauce sits in the fridge, but when it's fresh, watch out!

Using Your Sauce

Horseradish sauce is commonly served with beef, such as roast beef sandwiches, beef tenderloin or standing rib roast. The boys have taken to adding a bit of sauce in all sorts of things, like mac and cheese.

Horseradish is one of those foods that people either love or hate, but if you're on the fence, you may want to give it a chance.

Why?

Though used as a condiment, horseradish contains glucosinolates and isothiocyanates.

Historically, it's been used to fight bacterial and fungal infections, improve breathing issues, detoxify the liver, and more.

If you access to some in the garden or farmers market, give it a try.

More Made From Scratch Recipes

• Grandma Catherine’s Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Church Dinner Chicken
• Pickle Relish Sweetened With Honey

Originally posted in 2016, last updated in 2020.