How to Make Bechamel Sauce
This white sauce is one of the most basic of the five mother sauces. It is very simple to make and doesn’t take too much time either.
Ingredients
- 4 oz. white roux recipe and thickening agent explanation can be found below in the notes
- 1 qt. milk
- 1/4 onion with the skin peeled off
- 1 whole clove
- 1 whole bay leaf
- Salt white pepper, nutmeg to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the roux in a sauce pan. Set that aside. Heat milk to simmer in a separate pan.
- Add the roux to the simmering milk. Whisk roux and milk together. Make sure the mixture does not get too hot. Add the bayleaf, onion, and clove. Let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes.
- The sauce should be at least thick enough to easily coat the spoon. If you think it is too thick, you can thin the sauce out by adding more milk. If it isn’t thick enough, just let it continue to simmer. You can also add your own preference of spices to the mixture. Strain.
- This sauce is a great base for biscuits and gravy. Adding cheese to the sauce makes for a great cheddar cheese sauce, as well.
Notes
Roux: Using a saute pan, equal amounts of clarified butter and flour are placed in the pan. A ratio of this thickening agent to the sauce you are making is 4 ounces of roux for every quart of liquid. There are two different rouxs: light and dark. The difference is that the dark sauce is cooked until it turns brown. This thickening agent is good for liquids like gravies.