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My easy Béchamel Sauce uses just 4 ingredients and is ready in 10 minutes! This classic French white sauce recipe makes the creamiest sauces, perfect for pasta, savory pie fillings, casseroles, and so much more. Armed with this recipe for bechamel sauce, you can make so many more sauces and meals!
Jump to:
- What is béchamel sauce?
- Bechamel Sauce
- Easy Bechamel Sauce Ingredients
- Bechamel Sauce Recipe
- Sauce Bechamel Tips
- How to Freeze Béchamel Sauce
- Bechamel FAQs
- What is the difference between béchamel and a roux?
- How to Reheat Béchamel
- How to Use Béchamel
- Béchamel Cheese Sauce
- Creamy Sauce Recipes
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- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Reviews
What is béchamel sauce?
Bechamel sauce is the combination of a roux (flour and butter cooked together to form a paste) and milk. It is a creamy white sauce typically used as a base for other sauces, such as cheese sauce.
Bechamel Sauce
One of my favorite sauce recipes to make is easier than you might think: it's bechamel! This simple white sauce recipe comes together quickly and uses simple ingredients you most likely already have on hand.
Mastering how to make bechamel will change your kitchen game completely! This sauce, also known as "white sauce", is one of the five French "mother sauces" that acts as a starting base for other, more complex sauces.
Add a little cheese, for example, and you have a cheese sauce you can use for macaroni or lasagna, or just as a dip for your favorite foods! But, bechamel is really delicious on its own, too. It has a delicate, creamy flavor that's easy to love!
I love using this easy bechamel sauce to make a silky, cheesy, and buttery Mornay sauce for macaroni and cheese, as a cheese sauce for lasagna, or even using it to make a savory mustard sauce for pork and chicken. The possibilities are endless!
Easy Bechamel Sauce Ingredients
- Butter
- Flour
- Milk
- Sea salt
- Black Pepper
Bechamel Sauce Recipe
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
- Once the butter melts, sprinkle flour over the butter. Cook for 3-5 minutes to form a paste-like consistency (this is your roux).
- It is ready when it has a slight nutty smell but is still pale in color. Reduce the heat to low. Slowly and gradually add in milk while whisking.
- Whisk now and then as the sauce begins to thicken. When the sauce is ready, it will be thick enough to cling to the back of a spoon or your whisk, about 20 minutes. You can continue to thicken it by cooking it further, if desired. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste, and your béchamel sauce is done.
Sauce Bechamel Tips
- When adding the milk to the roux, be sure to turn down the heat and add your milk slowly! The milk may curdle if it is added too quickly.
- When a roux is finished, it should have a slightly nutty smell. This means the flour has cooked through and the butter has slightly browned.
- Don't let your roux brown too much. For a béchamel, you want a "light" or white roux, which should take about 5 minutes. For more info on cooking a roux, see How to Make a Roux Sauce.
- Béchamel sauce is finished when it perfectly clings to the back of a spoon or whisk. This ensures a nice, thick sauce ready to use!
- Warm the milk before adding it to the roux. This makes it easier to incorporate all the ingredients. I like to do this gently over low heat on the stove or in the microwave.
How to Freeze Béchamel Sauce
Bechamel sauce, although it contains dairy, can be frozen for up to 3 months in an airtight freezer-safe container. Let it cool first, then add it to a container or freezer-safe bag labeled with the date.
Tip: Portion out the béchamel in smaller quantities to freeze it. This is perfect for individual portions or for using only what you need. Plus, it will thaw more quickly! I love freezing it in cup-sized servings so I can easily defrost one at a time for any sauce I'm making.
Bechamel FAQs
By itself, béchamel is a silky cream sauce with a buttery flavor. As a traditional white sauce, it takes on the flavors of whatever is added to it, including cheese, spices, and herbs.
The consistency of béchamel depends on how much milk is added, and you should vary the thickness based on what the sauce is being used for. If the sauce seems too thick for your recipe, simply add more milk. If you need the consistency thicker, cook the sauce for longer to thicken it up.
Traditionally, béchamel sauce recipes are made using whole milk, but other kinds of milk can be used. The milk used in a béchamel adds fat content, so keep that in mind when choosing what to add. For example, 2% milk will create a less rich and thinner sauce than heavy cream.
Béchamel lasts in an airtight, sealed container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
What is the difference between béchamel and a roux?
A roux is required to make a béchamel, as it is simply equal parts flour and butter cooked together to create a paste-like consistency acting as the base of the sauce.
A béchamel is what is made when warm milk is added to a white roux to make it have a creamier consistency, forming it into a white sauce.
Learn more about making a roux here: How to Make a Roux
How to Reheat Béchamel
To reheat, pour leftover béchamel sauce into a medium saucepan and heat over low. Or, you can place the sauce in a microwave-safe container and reheat on high using 10-second intervals until heated through.
If the béchamel is stringy while reheating, turn down the heat and whisk vigorously! Low heat is best for this type of sauce.
How to Reheat Frozen Bechamel Sauce
- Remove béchamel from the freezer and gently thaw overnight in the refrigerator. If you do not have time to thaw overnight, make a water bath using a large bowl and lukewarm water. Place the container of béchamel in the bowl.
- Gently reheat in a medium saucepan over low heat.
How to Use Béchamel
Béchamel sauce has a variety of uses - everything from a creamy cheese sauce to a fabulous addition to lasagna. Here are a few ideas!
- As a cheese sauce: Add any of your favorite cheeses for a velvety sauce perfect for fondue, dipping sauce, or sandwich spread.
- Pasta: Béchamel makes a perfect addition to lasagna, in macaroni and cheese. It perfectly coats pasta, making every bite delicious.
- As a filling: Homemade chicken pot pie begins with the perfect béchamel cream sauce. Or, add to any of your favorite casseroles. It is delicious in vegetable bakes, stroganoffs, or as a base for gumbos and chowders!
- Put it on top: Use it to start off a perfect sausage gravy for biscuits, or white sauce served right over top of salmon, pork loin, or chicken!
Béchamel Cheese Sauce
One of my favorite ways to make béchamel is to turn it into a cheese sauce. Seriously, this is the silkiest, creamiest, and absolute best way to make a quick and easy cheese sauce for use in so many recipes! For each variation, make the béchamel according to the recipe instructions, then follow these guides:
- For Mac and Cheese: Add 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, 1 cup smoked gouda, ½ cup parmesan, and ½ cup gruyere to the béchamel sauce, then add to cooked macaroni. Bake together with a crunchy breadcrumb topping for a gorgeous creamy mac and cheese!
- Beer Cheese Sauce: Add 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon cayenne powder, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce to the sauce. Stir in two-thirds of a cup beer (I recommend using a lager). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Mornay Sauce: Mix 2 ounces of grated parmesan cheese, 2 ounces gruyere cheese, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, and a pinch of grated nutmeg into the sauce. Add in 2 bay leaves and allow the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes. Discard bay leaves before serving.
Creamy Sauce Recipes
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Béchamel Sauce
Equipment
- 1 whisk or spoon
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.2 Tablespoons butter, 2 Tablespoons flour
- Once the butter melts, sprinkle flour over the butter. Cook for 3-5 minutes to form a paste-like consistency (this is your roux). It is ready when it has a slight nutty smell but is still pale in color.
- Reduce the heat to low. Slowly and gradually add in milk while whisking. Whisk now and then as the sauce begins to thicken.2 cups milk, sea salt to taste
- When the sauce is ready, it will be thick enough to cling to the back of a spoon or your whisk, about 20 minutes. You can continue to thicken it by cooking it further, if desired. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste, and your béchamel sauce is done.
Video
Notes
- When adding the milk to the roux, be sure to turn down the heat and add your milk slowly! The milk may curdle if it is added too quickly.
- When a roux is finished, it should have a slightly nutty smell. This means the flour has cooked through and the butter has slightly browned.
- Don't let your roux brown too much. For a béchamel you want a "light" or white roux, which should take about 5 minutes.
- Béchamel sauce is finished when it perfectly clings to the back of a spoon or whisk. This ensures a nice, thick sauce ready to use!
- Warm the milk before adding it to the roux. This makes it easier to incorporate all the ingredients. I like to do this gently over low heat on the stove or in the microwave.
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Leslie Mcdowell says
I have been making this for years instead of buying cream soups that have too much salt. Makes any recipe that calls for sauce base so much better and healthier. With cream soups $1.50 a can you can make this for the cost of 2T. margarine, 2 T. flour, 2 c. milk less than $1.
em says
Leslie, thank you for your comment! It really is the best. So handy and tastes amazing!