Bechamel Sauce

This creamy béchamel sauce is a classic white sauce made with simple ingredients including flour, milk and butter. Perfect to use in pasta dishes like lasagna or casseroles!

Creamy Béchamel Sauce

Béchamel sauce is a basic, creamy white sauce that’s a great recipe to have in your back pocket! It’s considered one of the five mother sauces of French cuisine, and it also has Italian roots. 

This versatile milk sauce is thickened with a roux of flour and butter and has a smooth creamy texture that can be used as a base for a cheese sauce, in homemade lasagna, chicken crepes or to serve over Swedish meatballs.

Ingredients

This classic bechamel sauce recipe uses just 5 simple ingredients, and you likely have most of them in your kitchen already!

• Unsalted butter: I always use unsalted butter in mine so I can control the level of saltiness. If you only have salted butter, go ahead and use it, just reduce the amount of salt you add at the end.
• All-purpose flour: The flour thickens the mixture. It’s cooked with butter for a couple of minutes, so the raw floury taste disappears.
• Milk: You can use any percentage of milk here. The richer the milk, the richer your sauce will be. Make sure the milk is at room temperature. This helps to reduce the risk of lumps in your final sauce.
• Nutmeg: Adds some warmth and spice to the flavor but can be omitted.
• Salt and Pepper: This recipe keeps it simple with just salt and pepper for seasoning.

How to Make a Béchamel Sauce

• Melt butter. Start by melting the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.
• Make a roux. Then whisk in the flour until smooth and blended nicely with the melted butter. Cook the roux until it has turned a light golden color. It’s important to whisk constantly at this stage to prevent the roux from burning.
• Add milk. Slowly pour the warm milk into the pan while continuing to whisk and bring to a light simmer. You don’t want it to boil. Let the sauce simmer until it has thickened and is no longer gritty. This usually takes about 10 minutes.
• Season. Add salt during the last minute of cooking along with a pinch of nutmeg. Season to taste with pepper and more salt if needed.

Tips and Variations

Here are a couple of tips to help you make the perfect béchamel sauce.

• Make it creamy.  For an extra rich bechamel sauce, substitute half a cup of milk for half and half or even heavy cream.
• Milk at room temperature. Make sure your milk is at room temperature before slowly adding it to your roux. Pouring cold milk into a hot roux will usually result in a lumpy sauce.
• Keep whisking. The goal is to achieve a smooth and creamy consistency. Keep whisking your roux so it doesn’t brown and then whisk to ensure there are no lumps. The result will be silky and delicious!
• Add cheese. To turn this into a bechamel cheese sauce, stir in some shredded cheese during the last couple of minutes of cooking and allow it to melt. Gruyere is a great choice because it melts so well. You could also try cheddar or parmesan cheese. 
• Herbs and seasonings. Sprinkle in some cayenne pepper, mustard powder, or red pepper flakes at the same time you’re melting the butter, so it infuses the flavor. Add some freshness to your sauce by throwing in some chopped parsley, chives, or basil.
• Add onion and garlic. Grating in some onion or fresh garlic will make the sauce more aromatic.

How to Use Classic Béchamel Sauce

One of the best things about it is that you can use it in so many different ways. Here are a few suggestions:

• As a gravy on top of homemade biscuits or homemade meatballs.
• Add cheddar cheese and serve it over broccoli.
• Served over cooked pasta or use to make the cheesy sauce for homemade mac and cheese.
• Use in your favorite recipes in place of cream of chicken soup.
• Add to soups and chowders to thicken. 
• Use it in a grilled cheese sandwich.
• Make creamy scalloped potatoes or cheesy scalloped potatoes and ham.

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