Recipe of the day: Creamy white sauce in five ways

A dish that can be used in multiple ways to enhance the richness of many recipes, creamy white sauce or bechamel is versatile, bodied and can be full of flavour.

Creamy white sauce can be added to pasta dishes, a great pairing for steak to chicken fillets and with added cheese and herbs it becomes a great sauce.

Easy creamy white sauce recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup white wine, optional
• 1 pinch kosher salt, more to taste
• 1 pinch white pepper, or black pepper, more to taste
• 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg, optional

Instructions

1. Gather the ingredients.
2. Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbles begin to appear around the edge. Keep warm.
3. Melt the butter in a separate saucepan over medium-low heat.
4. Add the flour and stir until the mixture is well blended to make a roux. Continue cooking, stirring, for 2 minutes. Make sure it does not turn brown.
5. Gradually stir the hot milk into the flour and butter mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to boil and thickens. Simmer, frequently stirring, over very low heat for 5 minutes.
6. Stir in the cream and wine, if using. Season with salt and pepper and add a little nutmeg if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy.

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Recipe Variations

• Garlic Cream Sauce: Sauté 1 clove of pressed or minced garlic in the butter for a minute before adding the flour and proceed with the recipe.
• Shallot Cream Sauce: Sauté 1 tablespoon of minced shallots in the butter until translucent. Add the flour and continue with the recipe. For onion flavour without the texture, add a slice of onion to the milk when heating. Remove the onion slice before you add the hot milk to the roux.
• Herb Cream Sauce: Add 1 teaspoon of fresh chopped herbs or about 1/2 teaspoon of dried herbs at the end. 
• Cheesy Cream Sauce: Add 1/4 cup each of Parmesan cheese and shredded Gruyère along with the salt and pepper. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter.
• Gouda Cream Sauce: Add 1 cup of shredded smoked Gouda cheese (4 ounces) and 1/2 teaspoon of paprika to the sauce along with the salt and pepper. Simmer until the cheese has melted. Use it in macaroni and cheese, over poached eggs, or with steamed vegetables.
• You can also make this white sauce without butter.

This recipe be found on The Spruce Eats website