Basic Béchamel Sauce

I was comparing Bechamel Sauce Recipes and this is similar to the one I found on Food Network by Mario Batali which I've made before with the exception of an increase in the nutmeg by 1/4 tsp. This recipe is fabulous and I have added a splash of white wine as I used the sauce for Spinach Lasagna. Decreased the salt to 1 tsp. due to the parm and romano I used with the Ricotta in the filling. Wow and Excellent!!

This turned out perfectly but you have to be patient and cook it the recommended time. Next time, I might put in a little less salt.

Excellent instruction for those new to this kind of home made sauce base and the taste of this recipe is very good while also easy to spice in different ways. However, still like our family recipe a bit better. I puree a sweet onion until it's literally pulped, then saute the onion in a bit of butter and olive oil or coconut oil (the oil keeps the butter from burning). After the onion has cooked down and out for a good five minutes or so, we add the nutmeg. We put nutmeg is almost everything and the 1/4 tsp called for here is a good amount. Also helps the "onion" flavor to mellow for those who aren't fond of onion (like my boyfriend before I started cooking for him; I began pureeing the onion simply because he does not like the texture of onion and thought he didn't like the taste - now he knows better). After the onion is pureed we add the amount of butter called for in this recipe, or thereabouts, and begin incorporating the flour straight into the onion, all the while mixing and mashing like it up together. The flour and onion mixture will begin to smell a bit nutty and turn slightly golden - this is what ya want. Then whisk in your milk or cream and there ya have it. Excellent rendition of this simple bechamel sauce with a bit more panache.

Excellent instruction for those new to this kind of home made sauce base and the taste of this recipe is very good while also easy to spice in different ways. However, still like our family recipe a bit better. I puree a sweet onion until it's literally pulped, then saute the onion in a bit of butter and olive oil or coconut oil (the oil keeps the butter from burning). After the onion has cooked down and out for a good five minutes or so, we add the nutmeg. We put nutmeg is almost everything and the 1/4 tsp called for here is a good amount. Also helps the "onion" flavor to mellow for those who aren't fond of onion (like my boyfriend before I started cooking for him; I began pureeing the onion simply because he does not like the texture of onion and thought he didn't like the taste - now he knows better). After the onion is pureed we add the amount of butter called for in this recipe, or thereabouts, and begin incorporating the flour straight into the onion, all the while mixing and mashing like it up together. The flour and onion mixture will begin to smell a bit nutty and turn slightly golden - this is what ya want. Then whisk in your milk or cream and there ya have it. Excellent rendition of this simple bechamel sauce with a bit more panache.

This turned out wonderful. Simple recipe and great results! I made it for a party of 2 with only one cup of milk and it thickened faster than I expected. Really watch it on the stove if you make a smaller portion. Seemed much faster than 20 minutes to thicken.

Wow, this is great. This is what I expect from a bechamel sauce recipe! I think the user who thought it was too water maybe didn't give it time to thicken up, because mine was perfect!

Your patience will be rewarded with this one.

I thought this was a great recipe! I have made many attempts at making white sauce and this so far has been the best. The only thing I did was add 1/2 an Onion to it during the simmering part. It absorbs alot of the onion flavor. Then I removed it. Thanks for a good recipe.

I found this bechamel sauce too watery.

This was a cinch to make. I stirred in fresh basil and grated parmesan to the sauce after cooking (did not add salt due to the parmesan and omitted the nutmeg). Tossed it with gnocci pasta, chopped ham and peas. My family loved it. Thanks!!

This recipe is very good.

I used this instead of a more complicated Bechamel Sauce reciepe that I normally use....THIS IS A WONDERFUL RECIEPE!!! The last time I made it, I used heavy cream instead of milk which made it very rich.

This recipe was great for lasagne. I thought it was helpful in explaining how to actually prepare the sauce. Easy, but does take some time. Well worth the effort!

I wasn't paying attention and it boiled over once. Otherwise, I followed the directions exactly (except that I only made 2 servings-which was more than enough for 2 people). I also added some grated Parmesan cheese and a dash of garlic powder. My husband (the more advanced cook) said it turned out better than his sauces.

Great stuff. In addition to salt and pepper, added some cinnamon for a nice touch of flavor.

simple and excellent

This sauce is truly AMAZING! So simple to make with such a wonderful result!Mine thickened up beautifully! this is a great base recipe! I added some parmesan cheese,I finely grated some onion and fresh garlic and I had a small amout of cream cheese leftover so I through that in! Delicious!

Easy, common ingredients (no rush to the store for that strange thing you'll never need again). I used this in a vegetable lasagna, worked great.

This is a good basic recipe. Take your time making it. Rushing it ruins it. So does the salt!!! I followed the recipe exactly and what a mistake!!! Do NOT...do NOT....use 2 teaspoons of salt!! One is plenty. Also, if you aren't too fond of nutmeg, add maybe 1/8tsp. The 1/4 was fine for me. Used this to put over shrimp and crab omelet for a special brunch. Just tell everyone not to salt anything if you are going to use the sauce. ( after finishing it, I added some swiss cheese and a pinch of dill to complement my seafood omelete. it was pretty good). Would definitely use this same recipe again.....minus all the salt!

I would start with 1 tsp. salt and go from there because I found 2 a bit overly salty for my palette.

Excellent and easy. I used this to teach my Home Ec class, reworking the quantities for 16 servings and it turned out fabulously - they even ran through a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors to see who would get to "lick the pot" LOL. A perfect beginner's sauce.

This bechamel recipe was easy enough and worked well for what I needed it for, BUT I found 2 tsps to be too much salt. I think 1 maybe 1 1/2 would have been just right. Just goes to show, ALWAYS taste before salting.

Above is the basic recipe, but for the two of us I used 1/4 cup butter, 3 tbsp. flour, 1 small onion studded with 2 cloves (or use 1/8 tsp. onion powder and 2 cloves,) dash dried thyme, salt & white pepper to taste, nutmeg to taste. Make basic white sauce with these ingredients, remove onion & cloves after thick, about 15 min. This is delicious with the addition of chunked leftover chicken or salmon and served over spinach pasta. FLB

I gave this recipe four stars because it was good, with HALF the salt. If I had put in the full amount of salt, it would have been awful. I used it for traditional Manicotti and it went over great!

Easy, easy; just remember to whisk well and often. I only added a pinch of salt instead of 2 teaspoons, but otherwise a great recipe. Threw in a handful of grated hot pepper jack after I took it off the heat - my husband ate the leftover sauce and licked the pan! Definitely making this again.

Takes time but is worth it. I used this recipe as a base for mac and cheese.

I believe i am reaching an age of incompetence when it comes to tech stuff as trying to figure out how to alter my recipe and cant so here is a side note for this recipe... When using Salt I did not use table salt hence why so many upset over the saltiness.... trust me i am not looking to turn you guys in preserved fish.... Always add to taste and adjust for different salt variety. For the watery part all I can imagine is you need to make a good Roux before adding liquid and let it cook at proper temperature since if one really wanted could make this as thick as block of butter if determined too... And finally yes this is only a foot in a door to many other variations to recipes add or take away as much as you want personally I always add a "onion cloute" basically a halved onion spiked with whole cloves. but to each their own. thank you very much for the positive reviews on it. Hopefully it entices people to do more home cooking then K.D. cooking :-) Sincerely Matt,

This was what I used tonight to prepare lasagna. The bechamel turned out absolutely lovely,smooth,thick and creamy. Because bechamel is a delicately flavored sauce I needed to heighten the flavor for use in such a robust dish as a lasagna. Another reviewer JodieNMain advised sauteeing a pureed sweet onion down and adding a generous 1/4 tsp nutmeg before adding the flour so that's what I did and the result was delightsome!

This makes a great basic sauce. I used it over buttered thin spaghetti. I didn't need that much so I used 2 tbls butter 2 tbls flour and 1 1/2 cups milk. The cooking directions are prefect, but I did warm my milk up in a saucepan while the butter was melting.

This is great and I use it in place of Ricotta in my lasagna recipe.

Does this only work with whole milk? I used reduced fat milk and whipped butter and made 1/2 recipe. It never really thickened up. What made matters worse is it tasted like a mouth full of salt. I can't believe I actually put the full tsp of salt in this. Strange, as I was making this to doctor up potatoes that didn't turn out. Guess, I need to stay out of the kitchen today. :-(

I had to use an electric range and cut the heat back for the first 10 mins to about 3-4 out of 10 and about 6-7 for the next 15 minutes. I cut back on the salt because I was putting into a white, 4-cheese lasagna with Romano cheese. The sauce was perfect for my application. Thanks.

Thanks for the recipe, great taste and easy!!

very delicious and creamy I omitted the nutmeg and it was still fantastic! I used it for pasta. easy, simple and a great basic recipe to keep on hand.

Very good! I recommend cutting back the salt, especially if using a salty cheese to make cheese sauce, but otherwise simple and very good!

Easy-to-follow recipe turned out rich, creamy and delectable. Perfect (with added seasonings) to make up for not having cream of mushroom soup in tuna casserole.

What a lovely sauce! Perfect over the spinach and prociutto tortellini I had on hand. I messed up slightly by adding all the milk all at once, which made the cooking process much longer, but it did thicken eventually. I had no nutmeg on hand, but I added some shaved gruyere and loved the result.

For the life of me I could not remember basic proportions and this was just what I needed. I did simmer some chopped shallot and a bay leaf in the milk and strained before adding to roux

For those that found it to be too much salt..the type of salt used can make a difference. Not sure what kind the recipe intended, but if using regular table salt, it takes much less than if using kosher salt.

Perfect. i changed milk with SOY MILK and it was awesome too.

I used a cup of heavy cream and three cups of skim milk.

This was so easy to make and absolutely delicious!! I only needed 4 servings, so it cut the cooking time by half. Will make this again and again. Thank You!

It's too runny, it ruined my Pastistio dish.

The best bechamel I've ever made! I used it for a croque-monsieur recipe, and it was awesome!

I used this basic sauce and turned it into an alfredo cheese sauce without any heavy cream or sour cream. This recipe provided the building blocks so I could make what I did, and it was perfect!

Made this to moisten up some chicken drumstick baby food I was making. It came out creamy and delicious, and my little one loved it.

Perfect bechemel; it’s a great base that can go in many directions. I made a large batch and used with various modifications in multiple meals (poached eggs and polenta topped with bechemel; then added garlic, onion and shallot and used as a white pizza sauce; added parm, garlic and a ton of white pepper to make a pasta sauce to go with a pancetta, onion, pea, zucchini pasta). It’s basic and flexible, and this recipe is exactly what a good bechemel should be.

OMG!! The salt level was through the roof! Other than that it is a great quick Bechamel Sauce. I only looked up the recipe bc it has been so long since I made it and I thought the recipe I remembered had to much sauce, so I tried this one. Could be my taste buds, but Wow so salty

The best béchamel sauce I've ever did thank u

I used this as a base recipe to make Macaroni Gratine. I added the spices necessary to make the complete dish and it turned out wonderful

Turned out perfectly, just takes patience. I will use this again for my vegetable lasagna and try it over angel hair pasta.

a great basic, reliable bechamel, went great with butternut squash raviolis and some bleu cheese..... walnuts or toasted pine nuts would be nice too.

just perfect!

I have a gas stove so I turned the heat down more when melting the butter and added a half cup of flour total to balance out the quart of milk. Once the quart was added it was thinking so I turned the heat up to medium high & it finally thickened up nicely. A good recipe that I will go back to. Don't be intimidated by the name, it's the same type of base you make for cream chip beef or sausage gravy but omitting the meat.

It's easy and delicious. I managed to sub the butter with coconut oil and the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour. Still tastes just as good! :)

I thought this was an excellent recipe. I used to be able to make Bechamel without even thinking about it, but too many years out of practice and I needed a bit of reminding on proportions. Made the perfect Croque Monsieur. To person who thought it was "too watery," I'd have to ask if you cooked it long enough. You do need to stick to the times given or perhaps adjust your cooking temperature.

very quick,easy and delicious recipe for bechamel...Excellent as well for lasagne bolognese.

Good stuff, I topped it over some lasagna I made. I will use this again. I love all the variations that can be done too.

This sauce worked out great just perfect thickness and lovely taste.

I couldn't believe how simple it was to make this sauce! First time I had ever tried and it turned out perfect. However, I can't say I'm a nutmeg fan so next time I'll either put in much less or omit it altogether.

Very cream and real nice, the only thing is I added herbs and some garlic to give it taste, best ever

Quick and easy! I followed directions as is and added salt to taste based on the other reviews.

Very good - my family loved it, and the hint of nutmeg just adds so much!

Great if you're patient. But I used only 1/4 tsp of salt and I would reduce that too. Pros manly just a big pinch next time.

I think this was mainly due to user error, but my bechamel sauce became incredibly thick. Like, not even a sauce thick. I had to add more milk.

Easy to prepare and family loved the sauce

Perfect!

Nice and simple. Thank you.

I made this recipe to use in 'Creamy Potato Lasagna' from AR, rather than using jarred Alfredo sauce. It worked great, and I would do so again. Patience is the key to this recipe, cook it too fast or too high of temperature and you will have a scorched pan. You can add cheese to the finished sauce and get a nice cheesy sauce for veggies or to use in another recipe. This is a great recipe to have in my recipe box.

12.1.20 ... https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/139987/basic-bechamel-sauce/ ... Exactly halved the recipe & it was salty on its own, but fine when mixed with the pasta. 'Really a made-up dinner that E, 23, getting two servings. :o 'Added 3T(?) good Parmesan, a small amount of Thanksgiving ham & a cup(?) of mozzarella with more on top. Easy! ... 5/2021 Made full recipe since I read okay to freeze Béchamel. This one isn’t freezeable. It thinned considerably. Try a one with more fat to freeze? :o

This is an awesome basic sauce! It turned out wonderfully. I advise to cook the full amount of time if you desire a thicker sauce.

Too much salt! It was beautiful until the salt. I'm tossing this batch and will use a bit less than 1 teaspoon next batch.

I made this (1/4 of the batch) to use as a white sauce for a seafood pizza. It was excellent, and I will definitely make it again!

excellent!

I used this as a base recipe and scaled and seasoned it to fit my need.

Wonderful basic bechamel sauce! Before going gluten free, my rule for making this type of sauce was 1 tbsp flour for every tbsp butter. To make it gluten free, I used Better Batter all purpose flour blend and had to add a little more (about 1/8 of a cup more). The end result was a very nice and creamy sauce. Will use this as a base for future bechamel sauces! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

I prefer to use hot milk

Good recipe. I prefer the consistency of this sauce using three cups of milk (instead of four).

Very easy and excellent flavor.

Wonderful basic sauce. I've made this many times and it can be adjusted for different uses. i.e. recently added a little Parmesan Reggiano to the sauce and used on fresh pasta. Delicious.

Really Good Basic Recipe. I added mozzerella cheese and an Epicure Sweet Garlic Chicken spice packet. We then ate it over pasta with grilled chicken. We wanted to lick our plates clean it was soooo good. Definitely experiment and add your own spices to this great basic recipe.

This sauce was very good i used it as a bottom & middle base for lasanga i will be making this again.

Thanks, I'm useless in the kitchen and this sauce came out perfectly!

Very good. Smooth and great taste. I will use it with King crab stroganoff.

This is the first time that I have used these measurements for a basic white sauce. Too salty for me. I will keep this recipe because it is a great reference.

A little basic but a good taste.

Thanks this sauce went perfectly well with a French dinner!

Great recipe, but found that from previous posts to be patient with it, but if you are too patient it tends to get too thick :) It would have been done from bubbling for few minutes then simmer. I also tried with whole wheat flour, it was alright but I am sure would have tasted better with white.

The reviewer who lowered the amount of milk to a cup for serving 2 people needs to lower other ingredients as well. If you start with equal amounts of flour and butter, you will be fine, increasing it or decreasing it, then just add milk as it cooks to the consistancy you want. This is a basic quart recipe----and works well for MANY things!! I like to add cheeses---parmesan and use it in lasagna.

Perfect- thanks. Needed a bechamel sauce for something..... Only thing- I didn't need that much, so I halved everything.

I was afraid to make this because the last bechamel sauce I attempted went in the trash can. So as a newbie, this recipe was VERY easy to follow and l successfully made it! I let it simmer for the full 20 minutes, constantly stirring in fear, but it came out beautifully for my macaroni and cheese. Thanks for sharing this!

MATHIEUDAIGLE I make this sauce a lot. I use it as a base for many sauces. Tomorrow is Easter and I will be using it to make Scalloped Potatoes Au Gratin. I will add cheeses, white pepper and garlic to the sauce to add to the potatoes and onion. WHY? Because my family LOVES my Scalloped Potatoes! Thank you MATHIEUDAIGLE, great sauce base!

I added cayenne pepper , my family likes it spicy .

No, yes.

Great recipe, but found that from previous posts to be patient with it, but if you are too patient it tends to get too thick :) It would have been done from bubbling for few minutes then simmer. I also tried with whole wheat flour, it was alright but I am sure would have tasted better with white.

Wonderful sauce, but I would cut the salt in half and I normally like a lot of salt.

super useful basic. looking forward to earing this as part of my tuna casserole.

Wonderful! This is only the second time I have ever made bechamel but this one is getting bookmarked for keeps. I will echo previous posters who say cut the simmer time when making smaller amounts. I only made 4 servings and 10 minutes was definitely all it needed. I let it go longer and the sauce was a bit too thick for my purposes, but the meal came out delicious anyway!

Just made it to put into a lasagna, EXCELLENT!!! I just added a bit more nutmeg, and some grated gradano padano cheese and i can eat it just like this!! It really did turn out very well!