Bechamel Sauce

This is an American Breakfast I saw and took a picture of while on a trip. This is a Béchamel Suace that has some chicken fat and little chunks of sausage in it. Notice it is slightly off white but not brown in color. Photo by PattyCooks.

This sauce can be used alone, add cheese or add herbs and cover pasta or veggies. It can be the base of other sauces such as: chicken gravy, chicken sausage gravy, or mornay sauce, A versatile sauce that is also high in fat, salt, carbs; basically really tasty.

Diets
[x] Flexitarian + Omnivore
[x] Vegetarian
[x] Pescatarian
[x] Vegan: use oil instead of butter, and use alt milks
[x] Gluten Free: use gluten free AP flour or rice flour
[O] Weight Maint
[O] Keto Diet
[O] Mediterranean Diet
[x] Lectin Avoidance: white rice flour and alt milk
[O] Oxalate Avoidance: ? not sure
[x] Purine Avoidance

Béchamel Sauce

Béchamel sauce, also known as white sauce, is made from a white roux and milk. It is a basic French sauce used with many recipes and as the first step in making other sauces.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Sauces

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Basic French Omelet, French Omelet, Egg Dish, Omelet

Servings: T

Calories: 477kcal

Author: Patty

Equipment

Pot
Measuring Cup
Wish or wooden spatula
Bowl

Ingredients

1.5 oz AP flour
1.5 oz unsalted butter
1-1/4 C warm whole milk
1 t Kosher Salt
1 t White pepper

Instructions

First, gather all the ingredients and measure them out (milk, butter, flour, salt, white peppeand gather the utensils (pot, whisk, spatula). The reason is you do not want to leave the sauce unattended while cooking so put everything within reach.
Warm up the milk in a pan on the oven or in a microwave in a glass measuring cup. ( did it for 2 minutes and it worked okay in a 2C measuring cup.)
Place the heavy-bottomed saucepan on the burner to heat up. Melt the butter in the pot, and whisk in the flour. Stirring constantly, until the paste is a white-to-beige color and you no longer smell the butter or flour, but a combined nutty smell.
Add the warm milk, continuing to whisk as the sauce thickens. Bring it close to a boil, but do not boil. Add a little bit of salt and pepper, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for ~3 minutes more.
Remove from the heat and it will continue to thicken.

Video

Notes

This sauce adds the creamy, silky texture to any dish or gravy. The first time I tried Béchamel sauce in mac-n-cheese I was amazed at the texture, taste, and pure luxuriousness of the sauce. Although in a class, I almost licked the bowl in front of Chef Olive (who is in the video above)! Of course with all that cheese I could not eat a lot of it.

Béchamel Sauce is a basic white sauce that can be turned into a cheesy or creamy sauce, or a gravy. As I add recipes that use this sauce I will expand on the options below.

Mornay Sauce: Once off the heat, stir 1/2C grated Gruyere cheese to 1C sauce, along with a pinch of cayenne pepper and more salt and pepper. (If not on a calorie or carb restriction add more cheese to up the flavor.) Recipe: Mornay Roasted Cauliflower.

Cheese Sauce: Once off the heat add at least ~4C cheese. To make a spectacular cheese sauce add a variety of cheeses. Recipe: Mac and Cheese.

Ricotta replacement: I could use Béchamel instead of ricotta, just add lots of Parmesan Reggiano and salt/pepper to the sauce.

Chicken gravy, I use chicken fat drippings instead of butter. Add 1t salt and lots of black cracked pepper as you want to see some of the black flakes. At this point if you want it thinner just add more chicken drippings. Also you can add chunks of sausage if you want a biscuits and gravy dish.

Nutrition