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    Home » Recipes » Dips and Sauces

    Creamy White Béchamel Sauce

    By Lily・Published: Jan 10, 2023・Updated: Feb 23, 2023・Post may have affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    This béchamel sauce recipe is a 10-minute white sauce made with butter, flour, milk, and a pinch of salt. It's a popular sauce used in French and Italian cuisine, like this lasagna with béchamel.

    creamy bechamel in a large pot

    Béchamel sauce is one of the most versatile sauces- you can use it to thicken up crustless chicken pot pie or as a base for truffle mac and cheese. One thing is for sure, you want your béchamel sauce smooth and creamy.

    Béchamel is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine, so I referenced one of my favorite books, Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This sauce turns out perfect every time.

    What You Will Love

    This classic white sauce only takes about 10 minutes, and it's very easy to make. The hardest part of this cream sauce is the continuous whisking involved. Once you've mastered this basic white sauce, you will be pulling it out for many different dishes: sausage gravy, savory soufflés, mac and cheese sauce, and chicken pot pie.

    Ingredient Notes

    Julia child's bechamel sauce ingredients
    • All purpose flour: Just regular all-purpose flour.
    • Regular butter: Use either salted or unsalted butter. Adjust the salt to taste depending on the butter used. I don't recommend using any sort of butter substitute.
    • Milk: I recommend using whole milk (full-fat milk), but 2% milk (reduced-fat milk) can be used.
    • Salt: I prefer a pinch of flaked salt or sea salt.

    See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for quantities.

    Quick Overview

    A quick overview for how to make creamy bechamel sauce.

    Steps 1, 2 & 3: Gather the ingredients. Melt the butter and add the flour.

    Steps 4, 5, & 6: Add the milk continuing to whisk until the sauce thickens up.

    How To Make Creamy Béchamel Sauce

    melt butter in a large pan

    On medium heat, add the butter.

    add the flour to the melted butter on medium heat.

    Once the butter is melted, add the flour.

    cooking the butter and flour together to form a white roux.

    Mix the flour and butter together for about a minute or two to form a white roux.

    adding the milk to the white roux.

    Pour the milk into the flour-butter mixture.

    whisking the bechamel sauce to make it smooth.

    Continuously whisk to avoid a lumpy sauce.

    smooth and thick white sauce

    Keep stirring until the sauce is thick and can coat the back of a wooden spoon (about five to six minutes on medium-high heat).

    Tips and Tricks

    • Stir the entire time. The biggest tip for a smooth sauce is to continuously stir the sauce with a whisk. Once the sauce no longer has clumps, you can continue stirring with a wooden spoon. The total stir time is about five to six minutes of stirring until the sauce thickens up.
    • Traditional bechamel recipes recommend using hot milk. I've made this recipe with hot milk, warm milk, room temperature milk, and cold milk, and this delicious sauce has turned out the same every time.
    • The perfect ratio for this classic béchamel is one tablespoon of butter to one tablespoon of flour to one cup of milk. You can scale this up and down as you like.

    Variations and Substitutions

    • Make this a bechamel cheese sauce for mac and cheese by adding shredded cheese. My favorite mix as of the moment is gruyere cheese and cheddar cheese.
    • Another great option is to add shredded parmesan cheese and convert it to pasta sauce.
    • The easy way for a thinner sauce is to gradually add a little more milk at the end. This helps you control how thick or thin the sauce is.
    • For a thicker sauce, add more flour. Instead of a one-to-one ratio of butter to flour, use a 2:3 ratio which is two tablespoons of butter to three tablespoons of flour. The 2:3 ratio is what Julia Child recommends in her French cookbook.
    • The flavor of the sauce is quite simple. Add ground nutmeg, crushed black peppercorns, or a combination of shredded cheese.

    Storage

    Store this béchamel sauce recipe in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat the sauce on the stovetop or in the microwave. The surface of the sauce might have a film as the sauce cools. You can add a piece of plastic wrap directly in contact with the top of the sauce to prevent the film from forming.

    FAQs

    What are the components of bechamel sauce?

    Bechamel sauce is made up of three main ingredients: milk, flour, and butter.

    What is the difference between white sauce and bechamel?

    Bechamel sauce is a classic white sauce used in many Italian and French dishes.

    What can go wrong with bechamel sauce?

    If you don't continue whisking, it can get lumpy.

    Recipes with Bechamel Sauce

    • Italian 5 layer lasagna with bechamel
      Italian Lasagna With Béchamel (Lasagne Al Forno)
    • crustless chicken pot pie in a pot
      Crustless Chicken Pot Pie
    • close up view of baked mac and cheese.
      Baked White Cheddar Mac and Cheese
    • chicken pot pie casserole with biscuits
      Rotisserie Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

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    📋 Recipe

    bechamel sauce coating a wooden spoon

    Creamy White Bechamel Sauce

    Author: Lily
    Course: Sauce
    Cuisine: French, Italian, Mediterranean
    Prep: 2 minutes mins
    Cook: 8 minutes mins
    Total: 10 minutes mins
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate Email
    Servings 4
    White béchamel sauce is a thick cream sauce made with flour, butter, milk, and salt. This recipe makes the smoothest bechamel in just 10 minutes!

    Ingredients
     
    US Customary - Metric

    • 4 tablespoon butter
    • 4 tablespoon all-purpose flour ** see note 2
    • 4 cups milk whole milk or 2% milk
    • pinch of salt

    Instructions

    • In a pot on medium heat, add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the flour. Whisk the butter and flour continuously for about a minute to two minutes.
    • Add the milk, continuing to whisk the sauce until it thickens up (about 5 to 7 minutes). The sauce is ready to remove from the stovetop when it's thick and can coat the back of a wooden spoon.
    • Add salt to taste.

    Video

    Notes

    1. Store this béchamel sauce recipe in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The sauce might be thicker once cooled down. The top of the sauce might form a layer. 
    2. For a thicker sauce, add more flour. Adjust the butter-to-flour ratio from 1:1 to 2:3. So for every two tablespoons of butter, use three tablespoons of flour.
    3. Enrichments for white sauces: add melted butter or whipping cream. Another option is to add shredded cheese, like sauce Mornay, which has grated Swiss and grated Parmesan.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 260 g | Calories: 270 kcal | Carbohydrates: 17 g | Protein: 9 g | Fat: 19 g | Saturated Fat: 12 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5 g | Trans Fat: 0.5 g | Cholesterol: 59 mg | Sodium: 183 mg | Potassium: 369 mg | Fiber: 1 g | Sugar: 12 g | Vitamin A: 745 IU | Calcium: 308 mg | Iron: 0.3 mg

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    About Lily

    Howdy! My name is Lilian, but my friends call me Lily. I'm the founder and one of the recipe authors here at The Matbakh. I enjoy sunsets, long walks to the fridge, meaningful relationships, and anything related to food. I'm so happy you are here!

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    lily at the matbakh

    I'm Lily

    I'm an American Lebanese living in Texas. My kitchen, or matbakh, is a hodgepodge of recipes from the U.S. and Mediterranean region.

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