Bechamel Sauce

Bechamel Sauce

Béchamel is one of those sauces that is a must have in the colder months. Perfect for a creamy lasagna, to enhance a savory pasta, or even use as a base sauce to add melty cheeses into.
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Bechamel Sauce Recipe

By Chris Becker
Prep time: 5 m
Cook time: 20 m
Servings: 1 cup of sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon AP flour
  • 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
  • Whole nutmeg, just freshly grated on a microplane to taste
  • Kosher salt, to taste

Pots, Pans, and Tools Needed

  • Small saucepan
  • Small whisk
  • Wire mesh sieve

Make the Sauce

  • In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat, and add the flour and mix together with the whisk. Keep whisking over low heat until the paste cooks and bubbles, about 2 to 3 minutes. The aroma should be light and pleasant- if it smells like uncooked flour continue cooking until the aroma is reached.
  • Add a splash of milk and whisk together quickly to keep the pan hot. Repeat this step until all the milk is added. The "trick" is to keep the pot hot and quickly whisk small amounts of the milk into the base at a time.
  • Bring the mix to a simmer while whisking; turn the heat to low and gently cook for about 3 to 4 minutes; being careful to whisk and make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Cover and turn off the heat.
  • Strain through the sieve which will remove any bits and produce a smoother sauce (you don't *have* to do this step, it just makes it nicer).
  • This can be made in advance, just store it in a container for later use.

Substitutions

  • FLAVOR PROFILE: For a nuttier flavor, cook the flour and butter to a darker golden, or until the aroma is pleasantly butty. Just keep in mind the color tone of the sauce will also become golden.
  • VEGETARIAN: Good to go!
  • VEGAN: Honestly, I haven't tried to make this vegan, but.. if I did, I'd start with a vegan butter and use unsweetened oat milk and see how that works. Coconut milk is too distinct a flavor in my opinion.

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STORY TIME: BECHAMEL

Béchamel sauce is a wonderful sauce that is fairly easy to make and is endlessly customizable. It has a short list of ingredients but requires some technique and attention at critical moments to yield a velvety smooth texture and lusciousness. But that really just highlights the need to pay attention to the small things while cooking, aka "nuance".

NOTES, TIPS, AND TRICKS

While I learned how to make this in restaurants, there are variations to make it to your preference. Here are a few tips I think are important to keep in mind:
Always use equal parts of butter to all-purpose flour; melt the butter first and then stir in the flour.

Take your time to “cook” the flour in the butter and stir every so often. The “cooked” flour should have a pleasant aroma, like freshly baked bread with butter.

  • You can control how thick the sauce is easily. The recipe I wrote for bechamel is based on my preference, which allows for a little cooking and reducing later with the rest of the sauce.
  1. If you prefer a thicker sauce, add less milk.
  2. If you prefer a thinner sauce, add a little more milk.
  • Don’t rush adding in the milk; do it incrementally and fully combine with each addition. This helps yield a smoother sauce without clumps.
  • SALT- ok, so add the salt after the sauce is made. It will have a smoother texture than if you add the salt during the cooking process.

    YIELD: just scale the recipe accordingly, but this is the minimum amount I'd suggest making- sometimes you just have to make enough to bring a sauce together.
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