White Sauce

Name: White Sauce
Prep time: 1 min
Cook time: 9 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon butter; 8 fl oz milk; 1 heaped tablespoon plain flour (all purpose flour); salt and pepper

Ready in 10 mins

Recipe by Graham

White sauce (also known as Béchamel sauce), is versatile and has many uses. Pair it with vegetables, turn it into a creamy casserole or ladle it over seafood or sliced chicken. Serve "as is," make it into a cheese sauce or spice it up with mustard, dill or curry. White sauce is used in a variety of dishes and is the base for many sauces. Here are the steps for a basic medium white sauce, with adjustments for other thicknesses.

Preparation Time

1 Minute

Cooking Time

9 Minutes

Ingredients for White Sauce

If you are not familiar with any ingredients, please check our International Cooking Terms page.

Currently displaying quantities in US Imperial Measurements

1 tablespoon butter
8 fl oz milk
1 heaped tablespoon plain flour (all purpose flour)
salt and pepper

How to Cook White Sauce

Slightly warm the milk in a saucepan over a low heat and, in a separate pan, melt the butter. Add the flour to the butter and cook over a medium heat, stirring continuously, for about 3 minutes. Don't allow the flour to brown. Slowly add the warmed milk, beating the mixture with a hand whisk (or fork) as you do so. Continue to whisk the mixture until the sauce thickens, then cook gently for about 2-3 minutes over a low heat stirring occasionally until it reaches a rich and creamy consistency. If it is too thick, you can add a little more milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

GRAHAM'S HOT TIP:
To begin with, you may wish to buy ready-made sauces or the packets of dry powdered sauce to which milk is added. However, there are a few very basic sauces (this is one of them) that are very simple to make and which taste so much better for being home-made.