A white sauce also known as a Béchamel sauce can form the base of many sauces so it is worth mastering. Follow my step by step guide to success.
Ingredients
In its simplest form, you just need three main ingredients:
- Butter – I use lightly salted
- Plain flour (US= all-purpose flour)
- Milk – Whole or semi-skimmed
Plus seasoning – I always like to add a pinch of nutmeg as well as salt and pepper.
Step by Step white sauce
The sauce is easy to make, so long as you give it your full attention. One quick and easy way to spoil your béchamel is to let it go lumpy, so you need to whisk or stir vigilantly. with the butter and flour. Allow it to cook for a minute or two, then slowly add in warm milk, stirring all the time until you have a lump free sauce.
Step 1
Melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook the flour over a low heat for about 1 minute, then remove from the heat. This stage is called making a roux.
Step 2
Add the milk a little at a time mixing well to remove any lumps before adding more. Dont rush this stage if you add too much milk at this point the sauce will be lumpy.
Step 3
Continue adding the milk a little at a time until all the milk has been added. You can use a ballon whisk which although good for beating out lumps I find it is difficult to get right into the corners at the base of the pa. I prefer to use a wooden spoon for this reason.
Step 4
Once all the milk has been added, return the pan to the heat and cook gently, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.
Step 5
Season to taste with salt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg.
Cook's Tip
To salvage a lumpy sauce. Remove from the heat and beat vigorously with a whisk. If the sauce is still lumpy try pushing through a sieve to remove the lumps. It is a bit messy but better than wasting the sauce!
In both cases return to the heat to finish cooking the sauce.
Best to try avoid lumps in the first place by not rushing step 2. Lumps are less likely to form if the milk is hot when adding it to the roux. Try warming in a pan first.
Variations
This basic white sauce can now be transformed into a number of other sauces.
Béchamel
To take your basic white auce up to the next level and more on par with a classic bechamel sauce
First infuse the milk with a few peppercorns, a sprig of parsley, a clove, a bay leaf and a shallot. Warm, but don’t boil the milk. Turn off the heat and leave it for about half an hour. The longer you leave it the more the milk will pick up the botanical flavours.
Cheese sauce
Add 125g (4oz) grated or crumbled hard chees such as Cheddar, Caerphilly, Red Leicester, gouda, gruyere, or Monterey jack.
Or for a mild and creamy cheese sauce use cream cheese.
Cook stirring over a low heat until the cheese has melted. Season to taste after adding the cheese as some cheese are saltier than others
other sauces
- Parsley sauce – Stir in finely chopped parsley.
- Chive – Stir in snipped chives.
- Mustard Sauce – Stir in smooth or whole grain mustard to atste.
- Onion sauce – Gently fry sliced or chopped onions in the butter before adding the flour.
- Mushroom Sauce – Saute some mushrooms in the butter with a splash of love oil to make a mushroom sauce.
Can it be prepared in advance?
The sauce be made ahead and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave stirring frequently. To prevent a skin from forming as the sauce cools cover. with a dampened sheet of baking parchment or greaseproof. Crumble up and open out first so that you can press it down in contact with the surface of the sauce easily.
Basic White Sauce
Ingredients
- 25 g butter
- 25 g plain flour
- 300 ml milk
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- pinch of grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Melt 25g (1oz) butter in a small saucepan and stir in 25g (1oz) flour. Cook the flour over a low heat for about 1 minute, then remove from the heat.
- Add 300ml (½ pt) milk a little at a time mixing well to remove any lumps before adding more.
- Continue adding the milk a little at a time until all the milk has been added.
- Return the pan to the heat and cook gently, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.
- Season to taste with salt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg.
Notes
- Parsley sauce – Stir in finely chopped parsley.
- Chive – Stir in snipped chives.
- Mustard Sauce – Stir in smooth or whole grain mustard to atste.
- Onion sauce – Gently fry sliced or chopped onions in the butter before adding the flour.
- Mushroom Sauce – Saute some mushrooms in the butter with a splash of love oil to make a mushroom sauce.
Martine Froggatt says
Exactly as my mum taught me how to do it at home, in France. She always added a dash of Dijon mustard as well as nutmeg in the basic receipe, which I do too since it gives it a very slight kick.
Just a small thing: ´Béchamel´is spelt correctly before your ´Step by Step Guide’ but not in the ´Variations’ section.
Used to love, and still love, leeks in cheese sauce, sometimes wrapping a nice dice of ham around each leek :). An easy and delicious dish.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine says
My mum used to wrap ham around her leeks sometime too although to be honest, I didn't particularly like them that way.