Best Béchamel Sauce Recipe

A basic white sauce used for making many other sauces as well as an accompaniment on its own.

This classic béchamel white sauce is silky, simple, and essential. Make the best béchamel sauce for lasagne, pasta, and more with step by step instructions, variations, and chef secrets.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Course condiment, Sauces

Cuisine French

Servings cups

Equipment

Sauce pan
Whisk

Ingredients

▢ ¼ cup butter
▢ ⅓ cup plain flour
▢ 1¾ cup milk
▢ Salt and white pepper to taste

Instructions

Melt the butter over medium heat.
Work in the flour with a wooden spoon or whisk (my favorite tool for smooth sauce making), and when the mixture begins to froth, remove the pan from the heat.
Add the milk all at once, stirring steadily to avoid lumps forming.
When the sauce is smooth, return the pan to the heat and bring to simmering point.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, and continue cooking for 10 minutes. [Add a little more milk if the sauce thickens too much.]
Alternative method: warm the milk, and then, once 1 and 2 have been completed, add it little by little, stirring continually and not removing the pan from the heat.
An extra knob of butter, cut into small pieces and added individually, will give the sauce a glossy finish.
If the sauce is made in advance, press a piece of greaseproof paper down onto its surface to prevent a skin from forming.
To keep hot, stand the saucepan on a trivet, or upturned saucer, in a bain-marie.

Notes

Warm the milk first for an ultra-smooth sauce.
Don’t brown the butter; this is a white sauce, not a nutty one.
Whisk like you mean it; confidence prevents lumps.
If lumps appear, strain the sauce through a sieve.
Cook the flour long enough to remove the raw taste, but not so long that it darkens.

6 Daughter Sauces for Béchamel Sauce

With your Béchamel Sauce recipe, you can make the following delicious French sauces:

1.Sauce Aurore (Aurora Sauce): Tomato-Flavoured Béchamel

Add 4 to 6 tablespoons of a good-quality tomato sauce or tomato purée per 500 ml (17 fl oz) of Béchamel base.

2. Sauce Crème (Creamed Béchamel):

Add 3 tablespoons of double cream or crème fraîche to the béchamel sauce, then finish with a few drops of lemon juice. Continue heating the sauce on medium-low heat to reduce the sauce to the desired consistency, stirring with a whisk constantly.

3. Sauce Mornay

Remove your béchamel sauce from the heat and add 6oz parmesan cheese or a mixture of parmesan and Swiss cheese, a little nutmeg, and white pepper.

4. Sauce Soubise: Onion-Flavoured Béchamel

Chop 8oz onions, place in a heated pan with butter, and cook until the onions are softened (do not brown). Add to thick béchamel sauce that has two tablespoons of thick cream and a pinch of nutmeg added to it. Buzz in a blender/liquidizer, or use a hand blender in pan. Adjust the seasoning to your taste and reheat, but do not boil.

5. Avignonnaise Sauce

Chop together very finely, four shallots and two garlic cloves. Fry gently in olive oil. Add two cupfuls of Béchamel Sauce. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat immediately and very gradually mix in the yolks of three eggs, two tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese, and a little minced parsley. It is ready to be served as soon as it thickens. (The best way to mix in the egg yolks without cooking them is to whisk in a couple of spoonsfuls of hot sauce into the beaten eggs, and when they are warm, add slowly to the pot of hot sauce, continuing to whisk until well combined.)

It is also the basis for making a great French soufflé dish, and if you would like to know how to make one of these tasty dishes, there are a few tips and recipes for you on my how to make French soufflé post.

6. Sauce Cresson: Watercress-Flavoured Béchamel

Add 1½ to 2 cups of blanched watercress leaves to my Béchamel base recipe given here. Purée thoroughly with a stick blender.

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Nutrition

Calories: 815kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 19gFat: 60gSaturated Fat: 37gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 173mgSodium: 528mgPotassium: 699mgFiber: 1gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 2110IUCalcium: 545mgIron: 2mg

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