The white mother sauce, and probably the most underrated. Milk, butter and flour, that’s all, and yet the way you work separates the velvety version from the sticky one. The base under lasagne, croquettes, gratins and the cheese sauce that goes on top of them.
Béchamel
Sauce béchamel
Béchamel
Sauce béchamel
Method
01
Flavour the milk
Heat the milk with the onion, bay leaf and cloves to just below boiling and leave to infuse for 10 minutes off the heat. Strain.
02
Roux
Melt the butter over a gentle heat until the foam subsides. Add the flour all at once and cook the roux for 2 minutes, stirring, until it smells of biscuit but is still pale.
03
Thicken
Let the roux cool for a minute and pour the warm milk into the roux in batches and whisk smooth after each addition before continuing. That way you are guaranteed no lumps.
04
Cook
Leave the sauce to simmer gently for 10 minutes over the lowest heat, stirring now and then, until the floury taste has gone. Season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg.
Tips & notes
Warm milk into a slightly cooled roux, or cold milk into a warm roux, gives the fewest lumps: never pour hot milk into a hot roux. Skin on the sauce? Lay cling film directly on the surface. Stir 100 g of grated Gruyère and a spoonful of mustard through the warm sauce and you have sauce Mornay, the cheese sauce for gratins and chicory with ham. Keeps for 3–4 days in the fridge, and freezes very well (up to 3 months); the flavour often deepens further the next day.
Chef's tip
Béchamel looks simple, but the nutmeg, the cooking time of the roux and the patient adding of the milk together determine whether it turns out velvety or tastes of raw flour.
Variations
- Sauce Mornay – With Gruyère and Parmesan, for gratinating.
- Sauce Soubise – With a purée of braised onion.
- Sauce crème – With extra cream, light and fresh.
Contains:
Gluten
Milk
Serve with
- Lasagne
- Chicory with ham
- Cauliflower gratin
- Croque monsieur
- Croquette filling
| Calories | 172 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 12 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Fibre | 0 g |
Estimated values, calculated from standard nutritional values per ingredient.
