This Bechamel Sauce is a basic cooking staple made with butter, flour, milk, salt, and pepper! It’s a simple, versatile, and customizable white sauce that’s ready in just 10 minutes.
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This Bechamel Sauce recipe is my version of a French cooking staple. Bechamel is one of the five “mother sauces” which are sauces designed to be a starting point for other sauces or that are used to accompany other dishes.
This sauce can be served as-is or customized with aromatics, spices, herbs, cheeses, broth, you name it. It’s often used as a base for Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, Baked Mac and Cheese and even included in many Lasagna recipes instead of a ricotta layer.
It can also be served with your favorite pasta, sandwich, protein, veggie, etc. The possibilities are pretty much endless! See lots of variations down below.
This white sauce recipe is a simple, 5-ingredient recipe that is ready in just 10 minutes.
Ingredients Needed:
This white sauce recipe requires just a few super simple ingredients!
- Unsalted Butter: I like to start with unsalted butter so I can control the saltiness of the finished sauce.
- All-Purpose Flour: flour is used to thicken the sauce.
- Milk: any type of milk, or even light cream, will work in this recipe. The richer the milk, the richer the sauce.
- Salt and Pepper: keep it simple with salt and pepper or get creative with your seasonings.
How to Make Bechamel Sauce
Bechamel sauce is rich, delicious, versatile, and ready in just 10 minutes!
- Make a roux: Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then whisk in flour until smooth.
- Add the milk: Gradually add in the milk, whisking constantly, then cook until thickened.
- Season: Season to taste with salt and pepper, then customize to your liking!
Bechamel Sauce FAQs
Bechamel is a simple white sauce that consists of a butter/flour roux, milk, salt, and pepper. It’s a staple in French cuisine because not only is it a sauce all on its own, but it also acts as a base sauce that can be used in other recipes or to create other sauces.
No. While Bechamel Sauce and Alfredo are both white sauces they are slightly different. Bechamel is simpler with butter, milk, flour, and a couple of seasonings. Alfredo is made with the same basic ingredients, but also includes heavy cream, garlic, herbs, and parmesan cheese.
This Bechamel Sauce will last in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. To reheat, warm on low on the stove until warmed through. Add a splash of milk or broth to thin if necessary.
Bechamel Sauce Recipe Variations
This recipe is basic and versatile enough that it can be customized in a number of different ways!
- Add aromatics: Add flavor by sautéing minced onion and garlic with the butter
- Make it creamy: Mix in a splash heavy cream or use heavy cream or half-and-half in place of the milk for a richer, creamier sauce.
- Spice it up: take the flavor up a notch with a sprinkle of Italian seasoning, mustard powder, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, you name it. If you add extra seasonings, toast them for a minute or two with the butter before adding the flour.
- Make it cheesy: Make a cheese sauce by mixing in parmesan, gruyere, cheddar, you name it.
- Add tomato sauce: Try mixing this Bechamel into a batch of Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce for another layer of flavor.
- Mix in fresh herbs: Add a bit of freshness with chopped cilantro, parsley, basil, green onions, rosemary, or chives.
- Lighten it up: Thin the sauce out a bit by using half chicken broth and half milk.
Serving Suggestions
- Over pasta. Use it as a stand-alone sauce over cooked pasta or add it into any other pasta dish to add richness and flavor. I love it mixed into Homemade Mac and Cheese!
- On pizza. Use it as a sauce on French Bread Pizza or in place of the Alfredo in Chicken Alfredo Pizza.
- In lasagna. Try it in my White Chicken Skillet Lasagna recipe or add it into my classic One-Pot Skillet Lasagna.
- On a sandwich. Layer it on a grilled cheese sandwich or use it as a sauce on Ham and Cheese Sliders.
- As a gravy. Drizzle it over a pile of Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Air Fryer Broccoli, Roasted Green Beans, or Roasted Veggies.
- As a sauce. Use it as a sauce for Baked Chicken Breast, Baked Tilapia, Air Fryer Pork Chops, you name it.
More Homemade Sauces to Try
Bechamel Sauce recipe
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 60 grams
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour 63 grams
- 1 3/4 cups milk (any kind)*
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Whisk in flour until smooth, then gradually whisk in the milk.
- Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Add additional milk for a thinner sauce if desired.
- Season with salt and pepper.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Steve L. says
Knowing how to make a roux and a simple bechamel is key to many dishes, just as knowing how to sauté is.
Substitute bacon grease or sausage grease for the butter, and you have the traditional southern cream gravy used on biscuits, mashed potatoes, chicken fried steak, and more. Add crumbled cooked sausage to that and you have southern sausage gravy. 🙂
The Recipe Rebel says
Agreed!