Béchamel Sauce Recipe (2024)

I have been using the cold milk in small measures method for my entire life (I am 83 years old) and for an entirely foolproof result combine that with my other kitchen hack for béchamel -- use Wondra (by Gold Medal) instead of regular flour in the same amounts. You will never have a lumpy sauce again. Also I mix in an equal amount of grated nutmeg with the salt and pepper when I make béchamel for my lasagna.

Fond memories of my mother showing me how to cook this in the 70's. Two key differences, she called it white sauce, and with every addition of milk, she'd say "take a sip of beer" while she whisked with her other hand.

For a gluten-free sauce, use white or brown rice flour, same quantity. In my experience, it actually makes a nicer sauce, that is more stable upon reheating...

I suppose heating milk in a pan would take some time and require some cleanup, but putting a cup and a half of milk in a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup and microwaving it for a minute is hardly a burden, and avoids the cold milk into the hot roux problem.

I remember this as the basis for a 50s and 60s comfort food favorite: chipped beef on toast.

I'm just a home cook, so these suggestions are probably shocking to actual chefs.I always used heated milk. While the milk heats, I might add flavorings such as garlic or bay leaf to infuse it with some layers of flavor. Nutmeg is great to add if you're making a butternut lasagna which I make a few times a year.

As the sauce must eventually be heated in order to properly thicken and amalgamate, starting with cold milk does not save any time. Sooner or later you must heat it up. Moreover, heating in advance is easier because it isn’t necessary to stir the milk constantly as you must after it’s been added to the roux (to prevent burning).

Use the wrap iff the butter in place of the plastic wrap when saving the sauce - same result, no skin , less plastic

The flour and milk proportion seems like not enough flour. I use Joy of Cooking’s proportions depending on the use. I brown the butter and flour a few minutes longer to cook them. I have not heated the milk in 40 years, but it would do not harm. I like white pepper in the sauce. Sometimes a dried herb depending on its use.

My chef would take a pinky if he caught me putting black pepper into a bechamel. Also cooking the sauce in a heatproof pot and finishing in the oven prevents scorching.

My French-speaking Belgian Mother-in-Law always stirred in a raw egg yolk at the end of making Béchamel, as well as some nutmeg and a couple of drops of fresh lemon juice. The egg yolk immediately cooked, of course, enriching the sauce, the nutmeg and lemon juice added lovely flavor. I have always followed her example. A typical meal using the Béchamel would be a chicken breast sautéed in butter, rice and lots of Béchamel on both, plus fresh string beans.

I've been making bechamel this way - with cold milk - for years and it always works. I have never heated the milk ahead of time!

why not in the microwave? no stirring, no clumps...

One way I love to use this sauce is over steamed cauliflower topped with some crushed saltine crackers sautéed in butter till golden. Heaven.

Heat the milk. I’ve had it clump from using cold, and it’s not worth a few minutes of warming.

Yay- a velvety cheese sauce! I followed the recipe but added 1 tsp sodium citrate. After 8 minutes sauce started to thicken. I added 7 ounces of grated cheddar/gruyere cheese, a handful at a time as I stirred & sauce became thicker... immediately removed from heat. This is a beautiful easy sauce that turned out lovely. Not sure if the sodium citrate helped avoid sauce breaking when cheese added. Experimenting.

Super easy. I used cold milk stirring in between each pour. I used leeks, carrots, mushrooms and peas for veggies. I did add garlic powder, Herbes de Provence and the nutmeg. I added the sauce to a casserole dish of chicken noodle casserole. Off the chart, delicious!!

I always heat my milk in the microwave to make a bechamel. It saves a slew of time stirring to thickness. It’s just chemistry.

It should start with equal weights of butter and flour, not equal volumes.

74 years old & I just made my first bechamel sauce & it came out perfectly! Oh, those wasted years of being afraid of it! Sauce Bernaise here I come!

Add a tsp of Dijon mustard, a pinch of paprika and a dash of Worcestershire Sauce to make it a spectacular sauce for Mac n cheese. Use four types of cheese! One strong, a cheddar, a Jack and maybe a bit o blue. For nacho sauce ad a half tsp each of cumin, chili powder and garlic powder.

This method is more or less correct, but not for time-saving reasons. You must add cold milk to hot roux or hot milk to cold roux, but never hot milk to hot roux as this will make the sauce coagulate too quickly. However, the best method is not to add the milk bit by bit: dump it all in at once, and stir slowly and consistently, taking care to hit the corners. Finally, never pepper! That is anathema and you are then no longer making béchamel.

However you make a smooth sauce, a shot or two of Tabasco will improve it dramatically.Never enough that it provides heat or color. You should never taste it.Allow the Tabasco to do its magic quietly. Skip the black (or white) pepper.

Béchamel is much more than boiled milk thickened with roux. Treated like a stock, simmered with mirepoix and perfumed with bouquet garni, then thickened and strained, it can be an absolutely gorgeous sauce of nuance and complexity. For that small of an amount the mirepoix (diced small) would consist of about ¼ cup Onion; ¼ cup Carrot ; 2 tbsp Celery. Bouquet Garni; Tarragon:1 sprig, Basil: 2 leaves; 1 Bay leaf OR… 2 whole, dried Celery leaves. 2 Cloves. (— from "Sand In Your Shoes" cookbook)

An excellent foundation - especially for an ultra cheesy mac n cheese. Besides the many tips folks have mentioned here (rice flour *does* make great sauces!), I will add a note that I have acquired since this New Yorker moved to California many years ago: add Tapa Tio (or whatever other simple red hot sauce you favor) in lieu of black pepper. It won't make you cough like pepper can, it won't make your sauce a funny color, and it adds some lovely zip to most anything - an ideal pepper product.

For my lasagne verdi alla bolognese I use a large pyrex measuring cup fill it with milk and heat it in the microwave. Adding the hot milk all at once and stirring with a whisk saves a lot of time standing in front of the stove. It only takes seconds to clean the measuring cup. Quick and easy.

This can be made with rice flour. Way less clumping and tastes great

One way I love to use this sauce is over steamed cauliflower topped with some crushed saltine crackers sautéed in butter till golden. Heaven.

This seems right out of my Betty Crocker cookbook from 1985.

I drink lactose-free milk and have used it for bechamel, mac and cheese, etc. It creates an oddly sweet sauce. In case anyone is wondering if there would be a difference...