White Sauce
Servings: 4 cups (1 lt)
- 7 tablespoons (3½ ounces) (100 grams) butter
- ⅔ cup (3½ ounces) (100 grams) all-purpose flour
- 4 cups (1 liter) milk any
- ¼ teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) salt or more to taste
- 2 twists (2 twists) black pepper
- 1 pinch (1 pinch) grated nutmeg add more or less to taste
- Melt 7 tablespoons (3½ ounces) butter in a saucepan.Remove from the heat, sift in ⅔ cup (3½ ounces) all-purpose flour, and whisk until combined.Return to the heat and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes while stirring.
- Pour in 4 cups milk slowly, while stirring, and cook until the sauce is smooth and creamy – about 5 minutes.When you reach your desired consistency, remove the pan from the heat and season with ¼ teaspoon salt, 2 twists black pepper, and 1 pinch grated nutmeg. Taste and adjust.
Nutrition information is an estimate for 1 cup of white sauce out of 4 cups.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Milk: You can substitute unsweetened non-dairy milk for cow’s milk. Our recommendation is to use unsweetened soy milk.
Butter: You can substitute vegan butter for regular butter. To use olive oil, please refer to our vegan white sauce recipe.
All-purpose flour: To make white sauce gluten-free, you can use a GF all-purpose flour like King Arthur’s or Bob’s Red Mill.
Nutmeg: You can keep it out if you don’t have it.
STORAGE
Make ahead:You can make white sauce in advance, cool it down, and keep it in a bowl covered with plastic wrap touching the sauce for 4 days.
How to cool it: Transfer the sauce to a bowl and let it cool at room temperature, whisking occasionally to prevent a patina from forming on the surface.
To speed things up, you can cool it down in a cold bain-marie.
The sauce thickens as it cools down, so you might want to reheat it before use.
If it is lumpy, blend it with an immersion blender.
If it is too thick, add a splash of milk as it reheats.
