Béchamel sauce or as I (and perhaps you) know it 'white sauce' uses simple ingredients, is extremely versatile and can be used in countless ways in your cooking. In this post I will share with you;
What exactly is béchamel sauce
How to make a béchamel sauce
Smooth and creamy consistency
Additional ingredient options
How to save your sauce from lumps!
Béchamel sauce is one of the recipes that I knew how to make from a really young age
a) because I took domestic science at school - many moons ago. Okay not moons but many decades ago. Let's move on 🙂
The b) would be pure and simple practice.
Everyone needs to have this béchamel sauce recipe. Why? Because it seriously adds creamy deliciousness to whatever you're going to add it to. See in the recipe below for some inspiration.
When I made my Barilla lasagna and posted a video on my YouTube channel I knew then that I needed to post a white sauce recipe. That video now has over 10 000 views if you want to watch it you can do so on this link.
Béchamel Sauce - What is it?
You have to love the French if for anything let it be for their array of fine sauces. This béchamel sauce is one of the 5 French Mother sauces that whether you cook French food or not, you will find 100 other way to use it!
Now, a little birdie told me that béchamel sauce is actually as old in Italy if not older as it is in France. In Italy it's always been known as 'besciamella' but that's not my fight so back to the white sauce.
Mornay Sauce
The addition of cheese takes this Béchamel Sauce to a Mornay Sauce. For the longest time in my life I called béchamel sauce white sauce (and still do) and I called a Mornay sauce a cheese sauce. To me it's a cheese sauce because a Mornay sauce is nothing more than a white sauce with cheese. Who knew, not me apparently but then again I didn't go to culinary school. So if you ever you see Béchamel you know its white sauce and if you see a recipe calling for Mornay sauce simply add cheese. Winner winner.
How to make a béchamel sauce
Let's not complicate this recipe friends, It's a classic, it's easy and it uses the most basic ingredients.
- Butter
- Flour
- Milk
Those are the key ingredients and that is all besides a pinch of salt. Yes you can add spices like nutmeg and herbs but that's optional extra's.
Roux or Béchamel Sauce?
First things first you start by making a roux which simply means equal parts of fat and flour. Melt the fat (in this case butter) and add the flour and as it cooks you stir until you get the desired color that you want depending on what you're going to be using it for. It can be a lighter color roux or a darker color if it cooks for longer and can then be used as a thickening agent. That's a roux.
The trick here to get a sauce and not a lumpy mess is make sure that the stove is low heat!
The second trick is that whisk, whisk and whisk = smooth lump free sauce!
Now for the white sauce you will add milk and make a white sauce which can be used for so many sauces like cheese sauce, mushroom sauce, pepper sauce, onion sauce and so forth.
Can you believe that there just 3 ingredients and these ingredients when well combined and cooked through will elevate bland food. Always wonderful when you can find something simple like this or this turmeric paste that's nothing short of a miracle when transforming food!
Smooth and creamy consistency
The simple techniques in a creamy and smooth béchamel sauce is nothing more than low heat and the secret to a successful sauce? Whisk, whisk and whisk or in this case stir, stir and stir. Either way, that's the idea of this French sauce and that's all I will say on it's origin the rest you can find on Google. Let's move on to additional ingredients!
Additional ingredient options
Keeping it classic nothing more than fresh cracked pepper and a pinch of salt otherwise feel free to add:
- cheese and whatever you favorite cheese type is, you can even mix them up.
- herbs & spices are always such a great fragrant addition
- if you want to maintain a smooth, silky white sauce without speckled of black pepper then use white pepper or leave it out that's your choice. I use freshly ground black but just before serving.
- To make your sauce a thicker or should I say richer you can add half milk and half cream (half and half) or a ¼ to ¾ parts and again it really depends on what you prefer.
- Adding a bit of chicken or vegetable stock adds flavor and makes it lighter however if I would suggest that if the recipe you are adding it to is already rich and flavorful, stick to the basic classic version in the recipe card below.
Your sauce can be thin and pourable as in the first image or you can have a slightly thicker sauce that you spoon over a pasta dish or your veggies before oven baking. Don't beat yourself up because it's slightly thicker it's still useable and it's going to cook in the oven anyway but it does have to be somewhat a sauce 🙂
Garlic and Herb Sauce
Some Recipe Inspiration
A few examples but you can use it for whatever you wish really! It takes 10 minutes to make and you have a really good sauce for a variety of dishes.
Vegetables - Roasted, steamed, sautéed it really doesn't matter.
Fish - Wonderful over salmon or hake
Pasta - That's what these recipes are made of
- Tuna and Spinach Pasta Bake Recipe
- Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo
- Tuna and Spinach Pasta Bake Recipe
- Vegetable Lasagna
- Authentic Italian lasagna
- You can also add into a Fusilli Alfredo and use less of the cream
How to save your sauce from lumps!
Emergency thickening
- Pour a dash of milk and a teaspoon of flour (approximately) into a cup and make a paste.
- Then add about a tablespoon of the white sauce into the paste and pour that back into the white sauce and mix.
If you add the flour directly into the sauce it may create lumps that you can't whisk away.
If the sauce has been standing for a while and thickens simply add a dash of milk and stir it up.
Notes and Suggestions
Notes on White Sauce
The reason that a simple white sauce/béchamel sauce can be a bit intimidating is that you might think there's one way to make it and if doesn't come out right you messed it up? Most times it's fixable.
Points to remember:
You don't have to use full cream milk, you can make it with low fat but I wouldn't advise fat free please.
The heat must be on low and you simply must be patient, period. Understand that you're going to be by the stove for about 10 minutes.
If it's lumpy the flour is not cooking through so add milk and whisk until smooth. Same if you see it's too thick, add milk and stir!
If it's too thin because you didn't add the milk in parts and poured the whole lot in then you need to thicken it.
More Sauce Recipes
I hope that you have enjoyed my Béchamel Sauce Recipe!
If you try this recipe be sure to leave me a comment and rating below! Thank you.
@anosmickitchen #anosmickitchen
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Recipe
How To Make Béchamel Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, unsalted
- ½ cup flour
- 3 cups milk, full cream
- salt, pinch
Sauce Options
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ground or grated
- ½ cup cheese
- ½ teaspoon garlic & herb seasoning - Smell and Taste
- ½ teaspoon vegetable seasoning - Smell and Taste
Instructions
- On medium heat, melt the butter in a non stick saucepan.
- As it melts, add the flour and stir in using a wooden spoon (you can also whisk the ingredients in) It will immediately start to thicken. Pour in the milk, in parts. As you stir gradually add the milk and keep going until you have your desired consistency.
- Once the sauce is smooth and cooked through (no flour taste) remove it from the heat and add cheese and seasoning if using any.
- After you've added the cheese the sauce will no longer be silky smooth but you can go ahead and use it! If you want it extra smooth again, put it back on low heat, add a drop more milk and stir in the cheese.
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