Béchamel Recipe
Made by combining a white roux of butter and flour with heated milk.
This base sauce is an essential foundation for classic sauces such as crème sauce,
mustard sauce and many cheese sauces.
Béchamel is quite bland, so is usually cooked with other ingredients and not used as a finishing sauce e.g. macaroni and cheese, lasagne, chicken pot pie
Derivatives of Sauce Béchamel
- Aurora sauce: Béchamel with tomato sauce.
- Mornay sauce: Béchamel with egg yolk and grated cheese.
- Nantua sauce: Béchamel with cream and crab meat.
- Soubisse sauce: Béchamel with poached onion.
- English sauce: Béchamel with lemon juice, parsley and boiled egg.
How to make a roux
Equal parts:
- Flour (white wheat flour)
- Butter or other type of fat like meat drippings
How do you make a roux?
Regardless of what type you choose, it only takes three easy steps to make a roux.
- Start with equal quantities of plain flour and butter. Measure out one cup of hot liquid for every 20g of butter and flour to make a medium thick sauce. For example, if you have 40g of butter and 40g of flour, you’ll need four cups of liquid.
- To make a white roux, melt the butter, before stirring in the flour and stirring continuously for three minutes. If you’re making a blonde or brown roux, keep stirring until the flour takes on an even nut-brown colour.
- Gradually add the hot liquid, stirring constantly. Bring to a simmer, continuing to stir, then reduce the heat to its lowest point and cook for another 5-10 minutes. This will ensure all the flour is cooked out of the sauce and the butter is well incorporated.