This basic cooking sauce recipe is also called bechamel sauce or white sauce. It can be made with cream, milk, or non-dairy milks.
Table of Contents
🗝️ Key takeaways
- The delicious sauce base is extremely versatile. You can make any flavor to go with your favorite casseroles and pasta dishes.
- Depending on how you flavor your cream sauce (aka white sauce) you can use it in casseroles, over vegetables, as a base for soups...
- (techniques they'll learn or some other informative fact from the post)
What's better than a steaming hot meal served with a luscious, creamy sauce?
Answer: being able to make that slurp-worthy sauce yourself!
This basic white sauce is anything but basic when you add it to your favorite pasta dish or casserole. Plus, the best part? Anyone can follow the easy recipe steps—and I mean anyone!
🧾 Ingredients
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
📖 Cream sauce variations
Recipes call for white sauce in various consistencies. For example, a cream soup might have a thin cream sauce as a base while a sauce for vegetables might call for a thick one.
| Type | Milk | Butter | Flour | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thin | 1 cup | 1 Tbs | 1 Tbs | Cream soups |
| Medium | 1 cup | 2 Tbs | 2 Tbs | Sauce for vegetables |
| Thick | 1 cup | 3 Tbs | 3 Tbs | Binder for souffles/ casseroles |
Cream sauce flavor variations
- Cheese sauce: stir in ¾ cup of cheese. Cheddar cheese is always a good option.
- Garlic cream sauce: saute 1 clove of garlic in the butter and remove it before adding the flour.
- Herb sauce: add 1 teaspoonful of fresh chopped herbs.
- Mustard sauce: stir in 1 tablespoon dijon mustard at the end of cooking.
- Mornay sauce: stir in ¼ cup Swiss cheese and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.
- Curry sauce: add ½ teaspoon curry powder.
- Soubise sauce: sounds fancy, but it's just white sauce with cooked pureed onions stirred in.
- Dairy-free white sauce: substitute dairy-free milk and olive oil for the milk and butter. Use 1 extra tablespoon of olive oil than the amount of butter called for.
- Mushroom sauce: add ¼ cup chopped, sauteed mushrooms.
- Celery sauce: add ¼ cup finely chopped, sauteed celery.
- Cream of chicken: add 1 teaspoon of chicken bouillon paste (Better than Bouillon). You could use a splash of chicken broth, but will likely need a little more flour to thicken it up—and the flavor won't be as strong as with bouillon.)
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low to medium heat.
- Blend in all-purpose flour using a whisk.
- Add your milk or heavy cream slowly to the pan.
- Cook, stirring until thickened.
🥫 How to store leftover cream sauce
So, you've made a delicious, creamy sauce—and you have some extra. Now what?
Refrigerate
Carefully pour the leftover white cream sauce into an airtight container. Refrigerate it for four to seven days.
For best results, reheat the sauce in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, just until it's warmed again. Don't bring it to a full boil. If it's gotten a little too thick, add a splash of milk to thin it out a little bit.
Freeze
A lot of people are surprised to learn that homemade white sauce recipes actually freeze well, too. They'll last in the freezer for around three months.
Let the sauce thaw in the fridge, first. It won't look normal at this point—but don't worry. Dump it in a pan over low heat and whisk it until it becomes the beautiful, smooth, creamy white sauce you've been daydreaming about all afternoon.
Marye's tip
Use a good wire whisk. Look for one that is less flimsy with more wire loops.
💭 Things to know
- Avoid non-stick-coated whisks. They are generally flimsier and not tough enough to break up stubborn clumps of flour. Sometimes the vinyl flakes off - ewww.
- One of the easiest ways to check if your sauce is thick enough is to give it a stir with a wooden spoon. If it coats the spoon instead of immediately running off, you're getting there!
- Generally, white pepper is better than black pepper in this sauce because it doesn't show. Black pepper adds black spots.
- Add salt and pepper sparingly at first, especially if you're serving the simple sauce with other well-seasoned items. You can always add more spice later, but you can't take it away!
- Whole milk or evaporated milk are the best options.
- Thinner milks (like dairy free versions, skim milk, or low-fat milks) may create a thinner sauce. Add a little extra flour to thicken it more.
- There are plenty of dairy-free milk options—including coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, rice milk, and macadamia nut milk. They all have different flavors, so experiment to find your favorite.
- Often, Italian recipes will have you reserve some of the pasta water before straining the noodles. Mixing about a half cup of this starchy pasta water into your white sauce helps the white pasta sauce stick better to your noodles.
👩🍳 FAQs
You can! However, though similar, alfredo sauces aren't traditionally considered a bechamel sauce. You can still use this base (with heavy cream) to make an easy alfredo sauce recipe. Add parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and parsley. (Or try this fettuccine alfredo—it's better than Olive Garden's!)
There is a lot of discussion between famous chefs about whether you should stir hot milk, warm milk, or cold milk into a bechamel. Personally, I choose warm or room-temperature milk. It's not cold enough that the sauce will splatter, but it's also not so hot that the sauce will boil before it has time to thicken.
So, perhaps you've heard that bechamel is one of the mother sauces. These are the five most important, basic sauce recipes according to French cuisine. They are essentially the "mothers" of all other sauces out there, meaning, if you know how to make them, you can make any sauce you want! Nifty, huh?
📚 Related recipes
- Mole Sauce is an authentic Mexican sauce, perfect in everything from tacos to tostadas and burritos to beef—spicy, rich, and muy delicioso.
- Take French aioli up a notch with this Homemade Spicy Chipotle Aioli. Made with Chipotle in adobo—if you like Tex-Mex, you'll LOVE this.
- Creamy Vodka Sauce is a red sauce Italian staple, and so good over your favorite type of pasta. Make extra garlic bread so you can shovel all the addicting sauce straight into your mouth.
🍽️ Serve with...
Homemade white sauce is so versatile, you can serve it (or variations of it) in/with these delicious recipes:
📞 The last word
We don't always have time to make homemade cream sauces for pastas or casseroles but it's definitely good to know how in case you ever need or want to!
I love it on vegetables like this old-fashioned creamed peas and potatoes dish!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Basic Cream Sauce
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeInstructions
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat.
- Add 2 tablespoons of flour to melted butter and stir with a whisk to prevent any lumps.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.
- Pour 1 cup of milk slowly into the butter-flour mixture and continue stirring, making sure there are no lumps.
- It will start thickening.
- Continue to cook and stir until thickened.
- Remove from heat.
Notes
- Avoid non-stick-coated whisks. They are generally flimsier and not tough enough to break up stubborn clumps of flour.
- One of the easiest ways to check if your sauce is thick enough is to give it a stir with a wooden spoon. If it coats the spoon instead of immediately running off, you're getting there!
- Add salt and black pepper sparingly at first, especially if you're serving the simple sauce with other well-seasoned items. You can always add more spice later, but you can't take it away!
- Whole milk is a great option if it's your first time making white sauce and you are trying to pick a good milk.
- Thinner milks (like dairy free versions, skim milk, or low-fat milks) may create a thinner sauce. Add a little extra flour to thicken it more.
- There are plenty of dairy-free milk options—including coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, rice milk, and macadamia nut milk. They all have different flavors, so experiment to find your favorite.
- Often, Italian recipes will have you reserve some of the pasta water before straining the noodles. Mixing about a half cup of this starchy pasta water into your white sauce helps the white pasta sauce stick better to your noodles.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
First published September 13, 2022. Last updated September 8, 2023, for more helpful tips and information and editorial improvements.
Renee says
This looks very easy to make! I am wondering if shredded cheese could be added to make a sauce for nachos or for dipping soft pretzels.
Marye says
yes but you might like using this queso better. https://www.restlesschipotle.com/easy-velveeta-queso-with-rotel/
Pat says
I just made the above cream sauce. Very easy, but make sure you keep on wisking or your sauce will have lumps. I made this for creamed cauliflower.
Cindy says
Totally up-leveled my cooking knowledge with this one - thank you!
Camden says
Cream sauce is so versatile! I find myself adding it to many different recipes!
One Crazy House says
Do you think a vegan version of this cream sauce might turn out alright?
Marye says
yes but use a non dairy milk that has a lot of fat.
Cynthia says
I can't get over the fact that this cream sauce is ready in just 12 minutes!!!
Cyndy says
Thank you for this tutorial on making a cream sauce base. I especially appreciate how versatile the recipe is.
Sharon says
Annnnd now I'm craving cream sauce late at night, haha! YUM!!!
Holly says
I'm saving this cream sauce recipe for our next at-home dinner date night! Looks so indulgent!
Kristen says
YUM! I always just eyeball it when I make this, but it never tastes quite right. I'm excited to try making your cream sauce recipe!
Rita Joy says
Marye, you have the best cream sauce recipes I've ever used! Thank you so much for this handy dandy resource so I can refer back to it over and over again whenever I need a cream sauce base.
Alyssa says
I love all the different uses for this cream sauce. It is also so easy to make!
Cynthia says
You've given so many variations to the cream sauce recipe. I can't wait to utilize what I've learned!
Brandi says
Learning how to make a cream sauce is a rite of passage in my family. We make a cheesy cream sauce for homemade mac and cheese, and it's one of the things that's been passed down from generation to generation. I love how you've broken it down and made it easy here!
Brittany says
Being unable to eat tomatoes, I use a cream sauce base all of the time! I often add a bit of cream cheese to it as well...delicious!
Terri says
This was a delicious base I used to create my green chili sauce for enchiladas😘