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White Sauce

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White sauce, or bechamel, as it is known in chef's kitchens, is the base of many sauces and dishes. You can add ingredients such as cheese, onion, parsley, watercress along with some appropriate seasoning to make that must have accompaniment for your meals. Simple, quick and easy to make, this is a must to perfect:

  • Cheese Sauce
  • Onion Sauce
  • Parsley Sauce
  • Watercress Sauce

Click the Method tab below to see a step by step guide with pictures.

white sauce

ingredients

Here's what you need :-)

serves 4

  • 50g butter
  • 50g flour
  • 1 pint of whole or semi-skimmed milk

method

Some Do's and Don'ts:

Don't cook the roux for too long, as it can affect the flour's ability to thicken the sauce.

Do cook the roux for long enough to cook the flour

Do allow the sauce to simmer for a couple of minutes to cook out the taste of raw flour

Don't allow the roux or the sauce to catch on the bottom of the pan or it will affect the flavour of the final sauce

  1. Melt the butter in a small - med pan
  2. Add all the flour
  3. Stir with a whisk or spoon to make a roux
make the roux
roux in pan
  1. Add a little milk at a time while whisking

Don't worry about the lumps, keep stirring and whisking as you add the milk and they will melt into the sauce

  1. Stir continuously to form a thick white sauce
  2. When thickened, it should coat the back of a spoon
white sauce
white sauce

You can now add whatever ingredients you like to make the perfect sauce for your meal