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My easy Cheese Sauce recipe is the best cheese sauce for everything from making macaroni and cheese, to use as a dip, and even baking it over vegetables! It's simple to make with 4 ingredients in 6 minutes in a saucepan and is so creamy.
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Cheese Sauce Recipe
I love cheese, my family loves cheese, and I'm going to take a wild guess... you probably love cheese, too! My quick cheese sauce recipe is perfect for cheese lovers like us. It's creamy, cheesy (the most important part!), and so easy to make.
Let me tell you, this creamy cheese sauce is good on everything. I make homemade macaroni and cheese with it, top nachos with it, dip french fries in it, and bake it over roasted vegetables. You really can't go wrong with this melted cheese sauce.
It's a perfect, easy cheese sauce for pasta, and the best-ever cheese dipping sauce. Trust me, you will want to make this recipe again!
Easy Cheese Sauce Ingredients
- unsalted butter
- flour
- milk
- grated white cheddar or gruyere cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
How to Make Cheese Sauce
The key to this amazingly quick cheese sauce is to start by making a perfect roux. You can follow my step-by-step instructions on how to make a roux.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour, and whisk for 2-3 minutes until slightly golden.
- Gradually add milk while stirring. The sauce will begin to thicken as you add the milk. Cook for 2-3 minutes and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Once added, return the saucepan to the stove over the lowest heat. Stir the sauce constantly until the cheese melts and it has a bit of a thick texture. Season with salt and pepper again to taste. If the sauce is too thick, add more milk.
Simple Cheese Sauce Tips
- Store for up to one week in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Add more milk if the sauce is too thick for your liking.
- Reheat on the stove over medium heat, adding more milk, or in the microwave on a low power setting.
- Pre-shredded cheese is very convenient to use when making this recipe quickly.
Quick Cheese Sauce Recipe Variations
- Add additional spices: ground cloves, allspice, cayenne pepper, and even hot sauce making fun additions to the homemade cheese sauce.
- Use different cheeses: sharp cheddar cheese and gruyere cheese make the best melting cheese for cheese sauce, but as long as your cheese melts it will work well for this recipe. Colby Jack and gouda cheese work well.
- Add onion or bacon: cook onion or bacon in the butter before adding flour for a more flavorful base for your homemade cheese sauce.
- Add a kick of spice: add a ½ teaspoon of chili powder and use pepper jack cheese.
Cheese Sauce FAQs
Cheese that melts easily, like grated cheddar and shredded gruyere cheese, makes the best cheese for a cheese sauce. I use grated cheddar or shredded gruyere depending on what I have on hand and what I'm serving my homemade cheese sauce with.
The homemade cheese sauce is thickened by creating a roux. A roux is a mixture of butter and flour cooked together until slightly golden and is the base for cheese sauce. For a thick cheese sauce, I use 3 tablespoons each of flour and butter. If the sauce is too thick after adding the cheese, add more milk.
Gradually add milk to a roux base in a saucepan to create a thick sauce. Add the cheese off the heat and stir, then add back over low heat and continue to cook until the cheese melts slowly. This will give you the creamiest cheese sauce.
Store creamy cheese sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Reheat at low heat in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between intervals, or in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove, with added milk.
Simple Cheese Sauce for Pasta
All my macaroni and cheese recipes start with this easy cheese sauce roux. It makes the absolute best Mac and cheese you will ever taste! I love to also use it as a dip for fries, soft pretzels, and more!
Uses for Cheese Sauce
- Baked Potatoes are amazing with cheese sauce on top
- Elevate your broccoli with some homemade cheese sauce
- This homemade nacho cheese sauce recipe is perfect for dipping tortilla chips
Cheese Sauce Recipes
- Blue Cheese Dressing
- Creamy Parmesan Sauce
- Homemade Alfredo Sauce
- Bechamel Sauce
- Next, try more of my Dipping Sauce Recipes!
Check out my all-time favorite sauce recipes here: Easy Sauce Recipes.
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Cheese Sauce
Equipment
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk up to 3 cups
- 1 cup grated cheddar or gruyere cheese, shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour, and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly golden.3 Tablespoons butter, 3 Tablespoons flour
- Gradually add milk while stirring. The sauce will begin to thicken as you add the milk. Cook for 2-3 minutes and season with salt and pepper to taste.2 cups milk, salt and pepper
- Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Once added, return the saucepan to the stove over the lowest heat. Stir the sauce constantly until the cheese melts. Season with salt and pepper again to taste. If the sauce is too thick, add more milk.1 cup grated cheddar, salt and pepper
Notes
- Store for up to one week in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Add more milk if the sauce is too thick for your liking.
- Reheat on the stove over medium heat, adding more milk, or in the microwave on a low power setting.
Nutrition
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steve rawlings says
the first time i have ever made a cheese sauce but not shy of cooking so i added at the beginning bacon and mushrooms with garlick, than i put some blue stilton and chedder at the end mixed it all in added a bit more milk what a super super sause it was, thanks for the basic recipe in the begging easy to follow 10 out of 10.
steve R
em says
So glad you enjoyed it, Steve! Those sound like incredible additions!
Deanna says
Can this be made with heavy whipping cream?
Isabel Laessig says
Hi Deanna! Yes, you could definitely use heavy cream instead. Just keep in mind it will have a much richer flavor than it would using milk and may also be a bit thicker. Enjoy!