How to Make Cream Sauce (Basic White Sauce)

This easy cream sauce is also called white sauce or bechamel. It's the base for cream gravy, cream soups, and even creamy pasta sauces. It's so versatile you'll be using it often.

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 10

Total Time 12

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First published September 13, 2022. Last updated Aprile 24,2025 for editorial improvements.

A white gravy boat with cream sauce in it.

Table of Contents

🧾 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions: How to make basic cream sauce
📖 Recipe
👩‍🍳 FAQs
📖 Cream sauce variations
💬 Comments

Reader Review
This was a delicious base I used to create my green chili sauce for enchiladas😘

Terri

This creamy sauce may be called “basic,” but there’s nothing plain about it once you know how to make it your own. Whether you're drizzling it over vegetables, stirring it into casseroles, or using it as the base for a rich soup or pasta dish, the flavor possibilities are endless. You'll learn how to build a smooth, velvety white sauce from scratch— a cream sauce base — and how to tweak it to suit whatever you’re cookin’ up. Check below the recipe card for plenty of flavor ideas.

🧾 Ingredients

You can substitute alternative milks in this cream sauce but you'll lose the richness and texture - it will be a bit thin and watery.

Recipes call for white sauce in various consistencies. For example, a cream soup might have a thin cream sauce as a base while a sauce for vegetables ( like this old-fashioned creamed peas and potatoes ) might call for a thick one.

Type	Milk	Butter	Flour	Used for
Thin	1 cup	1 Tbs	1 Tbs	Cream soups
Medium	1 cup	2 Tbs	2 Tbs	Sauce for vegetables
Thick	1 cup	3 Tbs	3 Tbs	Binder for souffles/ casseroles

Measurements for cream sauce consistencies

🔪 Instructions: How to make basic cream sauce

Step by step images showing how to make cream sauce.

Use a good wire whisk. Look for one that is less flimsy with more wire loops but avoid non-stick-coated whisks. They are generally flimsier and not tough enough to break up stubborn clumps of flour. Sometimes the vinyl flakes off - ewww.

You'll know your sauce is thick enough when it coats a spoon without running off. You can run your finger down the spoon and it will leave a track in the sauce coating.

And, finally, heavy cream, whole milk, or evaporated milk are the very best options for this sauce.

📖 Recipe

Cream sauce being added to a gravy boat.

Basic Cream Sauce

4.86 from 21 votes

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This easy cream sauce is also called white sauce or bechamel. It's the base for cream gravy, cream soups, and even creamy pasta sauces. It's so versatile you'll be using it often.

Course Sauce

Cuisine American - Vintage

Prep Time: 2

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 12

Servings:

Calories:50

Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

▢ 2 tablespoons butter
▢ 2 tablespoons flour
▢ 1 cup milk, whole milk or evaporated milk is best
▢ pinch salt

Instructions

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat.
Add 2 tablespoons of flour to melted butter and stir with a whisk to prevent any lumps.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan to keep it from sticking for 2 minutes.
Pour 1 cup of milk slowly into the butter-flour mixture while whisking constantly, making sure there are no lumps.
It will start thickening.
Continue to simmer and stir until thickened.
Remove from heat and use as desired.

Notes

Storage:

Refrigerate up to 7 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Let frozen sauce thaw in the fridge overnight. It won't look normal at this point—but don't worry. Dump it in a pan over low heat and whisk it until it becomes smooth and creamy.

Tips:

Avoid non-stick-coated whisks. They are generally flimsier and not tough enough to break up stubborn clumps of flour.
One of the easiest ways to check if your sauce is thick enough is to give it a stir with a wooden spoon. If it coats the spoon instead of immediately running off, you're getting there!

You'll find more helpful tips and variations in the body of the post.

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.

Overhead view of the cream sauce in an iron skillet.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

Can I use this for creamy alfredo sauce?

You can! However, though similar, alfredo sauces aren't traditionally considered a bechamel sauce. You can still use this base (with heavy cream) to make an easy alfredo sauce recipe. Add parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and parsley. (Or try this fettuccine alfredo—it's better than Olive Garden's!)

Okay—what's the deal with the temperature of the milk?

There is a lot of discussion between famous chefs about whether you should stir hot milk, warm milk, or cold milk into a bechamel. Personally, I choose warm or room-temperature milk. It's not cold enough that the sauce will splatter, but it's also not so hot that the sauce will boil before it has time to thicken.

📖 Cream sauce variations

Cheese sauce: stir in ¾ cup of cheese. Cheddar cheese is always a good option.
Garlic cream sauce: saute 1 clove of garlic in the butter and remove it before adding the flour.
Herb sauce: add 1 teaspoonful of fresh chopped herbs.
Mustard sauce: stir in 1 tablespoon dijon mustard at the end of cooking.
Mornay sauce: stir in ¼ cup Swiss cheese and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.
Curry sauce: add ½ teaspoon curry powder.
Soubise sauce: sounds fancy, but it's just white sauce with cooked pureed onions stirred in.
Dairy-free white sauce: substitute dairy-free milk and olive oil for the milk and butter. Use 1 extra tablespoon of olive oil than the amount of butter called for.
Mushroom sauce: add ¼ cup chopped, sauteed mushrooms.
Celery sauce: add ¼ cup finely chopped, sauteed celery.
Cream of chicken: add 1 teaspoon of chicken bouillon paste (Better than Bouillon). You could use a splash of chicken broth, but will likely need a little more flour to thicken it up—and the flavor won't be as strong as with bouillon.)