13 Tips For Making Béchamel Sauce Like A Pro

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Béchamel sauce is something that every chef needs to master. A "mother sauce" in French cuisine with some pretty royal origins , on its surface it's a simple combination of butter, flour, and milk.

However, under the humble ingredients lies a strong need for solid technique to get this sauce right. Unfortunately, most of us have experience in our béchamel sauces ending up lumpy, chalky, and lacking in body. It's something that might even put you off making it, and relying on pretty unpleasant store-bought alternatives instead.



This is the thing, though: Béchamel sauce doesn't have to be scary. When you know what you're doing, the sauce is actually super easy to nail, time and time again. If you're making it, though, it only makes sense to learn from the best — and for a sauce as daunting as this one, it's a good idea to listen to folks with serious skill.

So, that's what we decided to do. We spoke with Scott Conant, restaurateur and chef at The Americano at InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta , and Renee Guilbault, chef and co-founder of The Open Food Company, the parent company of Harry's Famous , a collection of versatile, premium, restaurant quality sauces. Both chefs have years of experience making béchamel sauce, and they shared how the pros make it.

1. It's important to nail the ratios for your roux One of the most important aspects to any béchamel is starting with the right quantities. The sauce begins with a roux, which is a combination of butter and flour.

The roux cooks gently before your milk is added, which turns it into a béchamel — but get the ratio of butter to flour wrong, and your sauce will be pretty bad. "If you add an uneven amount, your roux will not turn out the way you want it to (too runny or too clumpy) and it will impact the end result of the sauce," warns Renee Guilbault. Instead, Guilbault states that you should "always use equal parts flour and butter to make a perfect roux.

" It's best to work by weight here: You just need to weigh out equal amounts of flour and butter, and you're good to go. Once your roux is ready, you'll then need to make sure your ratio of milk is on point, so that your sauce doesn't get too thick or thin. "An easy way to remember the recipe is "2-2-2" — basically 2 ounces butter to 2 ounces flour and 2 cups milk," says Guilbault.

Alternatively, Scott Conant states that he sticks to "a basic ratio of 1 pound of roux (butter and flour) with 1 gallon of milk." Remember, too, that a roux can take a while , so give yourself time. 2.

Prepare your ingredients in advance Making a béchamel sauce doesn't need to be difficult, but what it does require of you is a fair bit of attention. If your mind is elsewhere, or if you're having to step away from your pot to find and weigh out your ingredients, things can go wrong very quickly. Your roux can scorch and burn on the bottom of your pan or your sauce can thicken too much, and you may be unable to rectify it — leaving you having to throw it out and start again.

The solution? Get organized. "I always measure the ingredients before starting because you have to stay focused on what's happening in the sauce pot," says Renee Guilbault. "It's a really easy recipe to follow (bechamel) but it requires constant attention — so better to have all your ingredients ready to go so you can ensure you are able to whisk continuously without taking your eyes off your sauce.

" Once you've measured your ingredients, place them in separate bowls next to your stove, so that you don't have to turn away from the pot to find and use them. It's also a good idea to get all the utensils you'll need ready too, and any serving dishes you might want. 3.

Your choice of butter is important Butter is the cornerstone of béchamel. It's one half of your roux, it adds a gorgeously creamy note to the sauce, and without it nothing can really happen. Because it's such a central component to the sauce, though, it's vital that you don't cut corners.

You should always use the highest-quality butter you can afford, to ensure that your sauce is smooth, unctuous, and premium-tasting. This is a sentiment that both Scott Conant and Renee Guilbault agree with. "Using a high-quality unsalted butter is the way to go for making a good roux," says Guilbault.

"The butter is the base of the sauce so make it a good one." Conant also points out that a higher-quality butter leads to an easier life in the kitchen. "I use whole butter and when using higher quality ingredients, there is less work that I have to do," he says.

"It's really just incorporating them together, which ultimately yields a better product." Luckily, there are a few key tips you can follow to choose the best butter – like checking out its color and fat content — to avoid making the wrong choice. 4.

For the creamiest sauce, opt for whole milk Look, we get it: Whole milk isn't for everybody. A lot of people prefer to use skim milk to reduce its fat content and make it feel slightly less heavy, as well as healthier. However, if you're making béchamel, there's really no question about which type you should use.

"Always use whole milk for a bechamel to achieve the creamy, rich texture you are looking for," instructs Renee Guilbault. The reason you should use whole milk is simple: Its fat content. Whole milk has a 3.

25% fat content compared to skim milk's 0.5% fat level, and that extra couple of percentage points makes all the difference. That fat provides body and creaminess, and makes the sauce taste way more luxurious, as well as helping it thicken.

Skim milk, on the other hand, can produce a thin and slightly chalky-tasting sauce that relies too heavily on the butter in it to give it flavor. Crucially, too, when you're making béchamel, you should always use the highest-quality milk you can find. As with your butter and flour, you shouldn't be cutting corners here, as your milk is one of the key flavor components.

Any attempt to save money will be noticed by the people who eat it. 5. Skip the spoon, and use a whisk You can get away with using a spoon for a lot of sauces — but when you're making béchamel, a whisk is a must.

A whisk is the perfect shape to ensure the sauce is properly blended, and that the liquid can move around in the pot enough to incorporate the flour. "Using a whisk ensures that you are thoroughly mixing your roux — which is step one of the recipe, and the critical component of a bechamel (aka the thickening agent of the sauce)," says Renee Guilbault. "If you use a spoon, it is not possible to mix the flour and butter well enough to avoid lumps and cook the flour evenly.

So always start with a whisk." Scott Conant agrees, pointing out that a whisk helps the two textures of your roux and your milk incorporate properly without any inconsistencies. "When you add either the milk to the roux or the roux to the milk, the mixture is really dense and it'll fall to the bottom of the mixing bowl inevitably burning, scalding, or creating lumps," he says.

"Using a whisk ensures the sauce is well incorporated as it boils." You can use either a metal or a silicone whisk here, like this one from Walfos — it's totally up to you — but just make sure you're not using one that will scratch the bottom of your pan. 6.

To make your sauce lump-free, continuous mixing is key Making a roux isn't exactly labor-intensive, but what it does require is some participation. This isn't the kind of sauce that you can get away with mainly leaving alone, with a few stirs for good measure. No, folks, a béchamel requires you to be mixing almost constantly, both when you're making your roux to prevent it from scorching on the bottom of your pan, and when you're adding your milk.

"Slowly pouring milk into the roux while whisking simultaneously," says Renee Guilbault, "allows the roux to take on the liquid evenly and avoid any lumps because you really want to achieve that gorgeous creamy sauce." Crucially, if you just dump the milk into the roux and leave it, the flour-butter mixture will remain largely separate, and you'll end up with a sauce that's partly burned, lumpy, and frankly awful tasting. So, ensure that you're stirring when you're adding your milk.

You won't want to stop once it's all in there, either. "While the sauce is cooking down gently, you want to keep whisking often to ensure no bits are burning on the bottom of the pan." Keep working your whisk into the corners of your pan, skimming the bottom of it continually to ensure that you haven't missed any scraps of roux on the bottom.

7. Keep your heat low and steady One of the biggest mistakes people make when they're preparing a béchamel sauce is trying to rush it. This sauce is something that requires a lot of patience: The thickening process for béchamel takes about 10 to 15 minutes, and it really does need that full amount of time for the roux to properly plump up the sauce.

Additionally, this sauce remains largely unincorporated for the majority of its cooking time, and it requires a slow, gentle heat to combine the roux and the milk. So, you need to keep things slow, and the heat fairly minimal. If not, "it'll scorch and the flavor transfer isn't something you'll be able to get rid of, leaving you the only option of starting again," says Scott Conant.

"It's important to nurture the sauce; it's not difficult but does require close attention." Rene Guilbault agrees. "If the heat is on high, you risk ruining your sauce because you can burn the sauce on the bottom of the pan and scald the milk, so always use medium heat to protect your hard work and give the sauce the time it needs to gently swell into a beautiful, thick sauce," she says.

"Think slow and low for this one." 8. Warm your milk separately to avoid any scorching Heating milk too quickly can cause a few issues.

If you dump ultra-cold milk into a hot pan, you run the risk of curdling it, as it quickly shoots up to a boil, which changes its structure. This can be a real issue when you're making béchamel, as it's super easy for the pan to get to a scorching hot level when making your roux, especially if you're using a metal that conducts and retains heat easily or you've got your flame cranked up a little too high. Thankfully, Renee Guilbault has a top tip to help prevent that happening: Heat up your milk slightly first.

"When I learned how to make this sauce back in the day at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, I was taught to gently warm the milk in a separate saucepot so that once the roux was ready for the milk, the milk was already warmed," she says. "It can help to avoid any temperature mishaps." If your milk is already warm, it'll incorporate with the roux more easily, and you won't have any scorching or curdling.

If you don't have a spare pan to do this, either, don't worry. Perform a quick milk cooking trick with your microwave, and heat it up in no time. 9.

Salt is essential, but when you add it is up to you There's no getting around it: You'll need a bit of salt for your béchamel. Although ingredients for the sauce may have salt in them, which can help to season it as you make it, a pure hit of it can bring the sauce's various flavors together and also intensify it. If you're using salted butter and adding salty cheese later on, you may not need a lot of it, but you'll definitely want a pinch or two.

However, the good news is, when you add it to your sauce is up to you. Scott Conant takes the gradual approach. "Always salt as you go," he says.

"This sauce is so simple and straightforward, it doesn't require a lot but it does need salt." Renee Guilbault, on the other hand, likes to wait until the end, and then add flaky sea salt. "If you add salt too early, during the cooking process, the salt will intensify in flavor and it can ruin your sauce, so as a general practice you can save it for the end and skip any avoidable salt snafus!" Frankly, we see the logic in both approaches, but the most important thing is to err on the side of caution with your salt.

10. Nutmeg is often added, but not required A lot of people assume that nutmeg is non-negotiable when it comes to béchamel. It's certainly true that if you're making a béchamel by the books, it's hard to avoid it.

"For a classic bechamel, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg are tradition," says Renee Guilbault. Nutmeg gives the sauce a warm, spicy undertone and just a touch of savoriness that rounds out its flavor, and a surprising amount of depth in just a tiny amount. Nutmeg also pairs well with dairy flavors, making it a natural fit in this sauce.

However, it's not true by any means that you absolutely have to have this spice in your béchamel. "I'm not a big fan of nutmeg so I'll omit that in my rendition," says Scott Conant. For some people, nutmeg can be utterly overwhelming, and turn a subtle-tasting sauce into something overly woody and unpleasant.

The good news is that while the French chefs of yore might have always added nutmeg, these days things are far more flexible. If you like it, add it, if you don't, leave it out. Or, add in any other spices or seasonings you like — it's your sauce, after all.

11. For seriously smooth sauce, make sure you strain or blend it Getting the consistency of béchamel sauce just right can be a total nightmare. You can do everything right — sift your flour until it's fine and pillowy, use the best whisk money can buy, heat it at just the right temperature, and stir it constantly — and you can still end up with a sauce that has loads of little lumps dotted throughout it.

Unless you're willing to go through your sauce picking each one of these out (which is obviously more trouble than it's worth), you're just gonna have to put up with it. Or are you? Thankfully, there are a few tricks you can use to make your sauce as smooth as possible. The first is to pour it through a cheesecloth, which will catch any minuscule lumps and separate them from your creamy béchamel.

Alternatively, if you're like Scott Conant, you can bust out the appliances. "I prefer using a Vitamix to achieve an aerated, blended texture," Conant states. After cooking his sauce, he "[finishes] the béchamel in the Vitamix for 30-45 seconds at a high speed; it just makes it incredibly silky and that's why I love this particular technique.

" 12. The cheese you add is up to you — but make sure it melts Strictly speaking, a béchamel with cheese added to it is called a Mornay sauce. The addition of cheese takes béchamel in a different direction, adding a tanginess and savoriness to it that makes it more suited for certain dishes, and less suited for others.

In our opinion, though, Mornay sauce rocks, and we're always down for a bit of cheese in our béchamel to make it pop. The good news is that you can kinda add whichever cheese you want to béchamel, and it'll usually taste good (although naturally, certain cheeses will go better with certain meals). However, there's one key rule you need to follow: Your cheese must be able to melt well .

Otherwise, you'll end up with a lumpy sauce that loses all its smoothness. For this reason, we'd avoid adding cheeses like halloumi or paneer, as they'll remain squidgy and chewy. Instead, go for a sharp cheese that incorporates well, adding flavor without altering texture too much.

"I'll add chunks of fontina fonduta or grated Parmigiano-Reggiano by taste, and let it melt to be a cheesy sauce," says Scott Conant. 13. Remember, you can do a lot with a béchamel Béchamel can be the finished product — or it can be the start of a brand new adventure.

While you can do a lot of things with a classic béchamel sauce, it can also serve as the base for other sauces, and a host of other flavors can be incorporated in to make it even more delicious. So our top tip here, really, is to not limit yourself: The world's your oyster. Renee Guilbault has our back on this one.

"A bechamel is considered a "mother sauce" because it can be turned into all sorts of different experiences," she states. "For example, if you add Parmesan cheese and gruyere, it becomes Sauce Mornay. If you add spices and herbs, it becomes Italian, if you add shellfish it becomes Sauce Nantua, and of course Soubise if you add caramelized onions .

" You can even throw in spices like cumin, cinnamon, or saffron, to give it a spicy, aromatic edge. "There are so many things you can add to a bechamel," says Guilbault, "the possibilities are endless!".