Food

How to make white sauce or bechamel: easy step-by-step guide

how to make white sauce (1)

Step-by-step method for how to make white sauce base, sour cream version, Cordon Bleu bechamel and other variations.

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White sauce – general principles and cooking methods

White sauce is amazing. It can turn any set of ingredients into a magically delicious dish and give them a delicate creamy taste. White sauce – one of the most popular in Europe, thanks to it, many everyday dishes become real masterpieces. For example French béchamel sauce or Georgian dry wine and tarragon sauce. Rich, tasty and tasty sauce is also found in Russian cuisine. The basic recipe is very simple. Many new products are obtained from it by adding additional products and spices, vegetables, seafood, mushrooms and anything the hostess wishes.

White sauce – food preparation

Learning how to make the sauce in a way that is embarrassing even for the guests is easy enough. To do this, simply adapt the correct method of frying flour on butter and diluting it with milk. Usually used for this pan or a thick, thick-walled pan.

Other ingredients for the sauce are sour cream, tomato paste, cloves, hops suneli or white ground pepper. The national cuisines of the peoples of the world also use fried onions, nuts, cheese, flavorful herbs, and other various spices. This sauce is not stored for a long time, it is desirable to prepare it for a specific dish. This is not a burden as it only takes a few minutes.

White Sauce – Best Recipes

Recipe 1: white sauce: base

This is a recipe for a small amount of fish sauce or boiled meat stew. It gives the dish a delicate creamy taste and is a great addition to lunch or dinner. Prepare a small pan and fresh milk.

Ingredients : milk (300 ml), butter (25 g), flour (25 g), salt, pepper to taste.

method

Melt the butter in a saucepan or pan and add flour. Mix and simmer over low heat. It is important to stir constantly so that the flour does not darken around the edges and does not overcook, it remains a beautiful golden color. Remove from heat and slowly pour in milk. Finally add the spices and bring to the boil. Cook for another 3 minutes. Finished! Serve the sauce with all warm dishes – meat, fish, vegetables or side dishes.

This classic method of tying sauces was mentioned in French recipes from the 17th century. Depending on the color of the sauce, they differentiated into a roux blanc, blond or brun:

  • Light sauce or roux blanc – for this you keep the roux quite liquid.
  • For the light brown sauce or roux blond, sweat the flour a little and toast it until light brown.
  • The flour needs to roast even longer for a brown sauce or roux.

1. Fats

  • Butter is suitable for the white sauce. However, butter does not withstand higher temperatures as well. It can burn and is then inedible.
  • For a brown or light brown sauce, it is better to use lard or vegetable oil, such as sunflower oil, as you have to roast the roux at higher temperatures. The smoke point of these oils is much higher than that of butter or olive oil.

2. Flours

  • The classic recipe contains wheat flour, as the strength of the flour makes the sauce more binding. But you can also use spelled or whole wheat flour .
  • It is more difficult to make roux from corn flour or other  gluten-free flour . But you can stir some starch into the flour and reduce the fat content.

3. Liquids

  • Water,
  • Vegetable broth,
  • Meatsoup,
  • Milk – the roux with milk is the basis for the béchamel sauce . You also add parmesan – the bechamel sauce is ready.

4. Soup

  • You can also cook a soup from the recipe. To do this, stir in a little more liquid or use vegetable water. For example, for a creamy asparagus soup or a vegetable soup made from broccoli or root vegetables.

Recipe 2: white sauce with sour cream

This type is more nutritious and differs from the milky one by having a thicker consistency and fullness. Instead of sour cream, you can also use thick, heavy cream.

Ingredients : flour (50 g, sour cream (1 cup) or thick cream, butter (50 g), salt, spices.

production method

Fry the flour in a dry pan. When the golden color appears, cool slightly and add oil and spices. Cook on low heat for another 5 minutes. Stir well and strain the sauce. Garlic fans can end up crushing a clove of garlic and sprinkling it with greens.

Recipe 3: white bechamel sauce

In the school of classic culinary excellence, Le Cordon Bleu, they teach the preparation of bechamel sauce according to this recipe. Everything else is just a variation. Remember the main thing: if the mix is hot, then pour cold liquid, and vice versa. When it’s cold, pour in hot sour cream or milk with half an onion. Put cloves in last and sweat it out over low heat.

Ingredients : butter (50 grams), flour (50 grams), milk (1 liter), nutmeg, salt, ground black pepper (small pinch), onions (half), cloves (3 ).

method

Cook in a pan with thick walls and a bottom. Melt and heat the butter. Put flour in it, but do not fry a lot, just warm it up. Constantly stirring with the spatula. Pour cold milk into the mix, bring it to a boil and reduce the heat, simmer until thick. Salt, season with pepper and nutmeg, filter through a metal sieve if necessary to achieve a uniform consistency.

Recipe: cooked lamb in white sauce

Lamb is a specific meat. Many are repelled by their characteristic harsh odor. Our white sauce, which feeds lamb with a creamy flavor and spice, will offset this. So if you have a shoulder of lamb or a brisket, go ahead.

Ingredients : lamb (500 grams), potatoes (600 grams), onions (2 pieces), carrots (2 pieces), spices, flour and butter (1 tablespoon each).

method

Wash the beef, pour in a little water, cook over low heat. Remove the foam in time, cover it and wait about an hour and a half. Half an hour after the start of cooking, add vegetables and season with salt. Boil the potatoes. Broth is used to make a white sauce – put flour on butter and dilute with broth, add sour cream. Cut the lamb into flat pieces. Sit on a side dish of boiled potatoes and pour the white sauce.

Useful tips from experienced chefs

There are many variations of white sauce

  • Cheese. Pour the grated cheese (100 grams) into the hot sauce, melt over low heat and serve immediately.
  • Sauce with herbs. Finely chop the dill or parsley and add to the prepared sauce.
  • Mushroom. Cook finely chopped mushrooms in oil and add with lemon juice to the sauce, stirring with a spoon.
  • Capers. Grind the capers and add them to the main sauce with a spoonful of lemon.
  • Onion. Bake onions or fry in butter. Add before browning and cook for 5 minutes.
  • Prawns. Peel and chop the prawns and add with white pepper.