How to Make Cream Sauce

This basic cooking sauce recipe is also called bechamel sauce or white sauce. It can be made with cream, milk, or non-dairy milks.

🗝️ Key takeaways

• The delicious sauce base is extremely versatile. You can make any flavor to go with your favorite casseroles and pasta dishes.
• Depending on how you flavor your cream sauce (aka white sauce) you can use it in casseroles, over vegetables, as a base for soups...
• (techniques they'll learn or some other informative fact from the post)

What's better than a steaming hot meal served with a luscious, creamy sauce?

Answer: being able to make that slurp-worthy sauce yourself!

This basic white sauce is anything but basic when you add it to your favorite pasta dish or casserole. Plus, the best part? Anyone can follow the easy recipe steps—and I mean anyone!

🧾 Ingredients

This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.

📖 Variations

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 might call for a thick one.

Flavor 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.)

🔪 Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low to medium heat.
2. Blend in all-purpose flour using a whisk.
3. Add your milk or heavy cream slowly to the pan.
4. Cook, stirring until thickened.

🥫 Storage

So, you've made a delicious, creamy pasta sauce—and you have some extra. Now what?

Refrigerate

Carefully pour the leftover white cream sauce into an airtight container. Refrigerate it for four to seven days.

For best results, reheat the sauce in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, just until it's warmed again. Don't bring it to a full boil. If it's gotten a little too thick, add a splash of milk to thin it out a little bit.

Freeze

A lot of people are surprised to learn that homemade white sauce recipes actually freeze well, too. They'll last in the freezer for around three months.

Let the sauce thaw in the fridge, first. 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 the beautiful, smooth, creamy white sauce you've been daydreaming about all afternoon.

💭 Things to know

Expert Tip: Use a good wire whisk. Look for one that is less flimsy with more wire loops.

• 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!
• Generally, white pepper is better than black pepper in this sauce because it doesn't show. Black pepper adds black spots.
• Add salt and pepper sparingly at first, especially if you're serving the simple sauce with other well-seasoned items. You can always add more spice later, but you can't take it away!
• Whole milk is a great option if it's your first time making white sauce and you are trying to pick a good milk.
• Thinner milks (like dairy free versions, skim milk, or low-fat milks) may create a thinner sauce. Add a little extra flour to thicken it more.
• There are plenty of dairy-free milk options—including coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, rice milk, and macadamia nut milk. They all have different flavors, so experiment to find your favorite.
• Often, Italian recipes will have you reserve some of the pasta water before straining the noodles. Mixing about a half cup of this starchy pasta water into your white sauce helps the white pasta sauce stick better to your noodles.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

📚 Related recipes

• Mole Sauce is an authentic Mexican sauce, perfect in everything from tacos to tostadas and burritos to beef—spicy, rich, and muy delicioso.
• Take French aioli up a notch with this Homemade Spicy Chipotle Aioli. Made with Chipotle in adobo—if you like Tex-Mex, you'll LOVE this.
• Creamy Vodka Sauce is a red sauce Italian staple, and so good over your favorite type of pasta. Make extra garlic bread so you can shovel all the addicting sauce straight into your mouth.

🍽️ Serve with...

Homemade white sauce is so versatile, you can serve it (or variations of it) in/with these delicious recipes:

• Chicken Enchiladas
• Alfredo Lasagna with Chicken
• Chicken Pot Pie Skillet
• Old-Fashioned Potato Soup

📞 The last word

We don't always have time to make homemade cream sauces for pastas or casseroles but it's definitely good to know how in case you ever need or want to!

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

4.95 from 17 votes

Basic Cream Sauce

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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 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 12 minutes minutes

Servings:8

Calories:50

Author:Marye Audet-White

Ingredients

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• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 2 tablespoons flour
• ▢ 1 cup milk
• ▢ pinch salt

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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 for 2 minutes.
• Pour 1 cup of milk slowly into the butter-flour mixture and continue stirring, making sure there are no lumps.
• It will start thickening.
• Continue to cook and stir until thickened.
• Remove from heat.

Notes

Storage:

Pour the leftover white cream sauce into a canning jar with a lid or other airtight container. Refrigerate it for four to seven days.

A lot of people are surprised to learn that homemade white sauce recipes actually freeze well, too. They'll last in the freezer for around three months.

Let the sauce thaw in the fridge, first. 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!
• Add salt and black pepper sparingly at first, especially if you're serving the simple sauce with other well-seasoned items. You can always add more spice later, but you can't take it away!
• Whole milk is a great option if it's your first time making white sauce and you are trying to pick a good milk.
• Thinner milks (like dairy free versions, skim milk, or low-fat milks) may create a thinner sauce. Add a little extra flour to thicken it more.
• There are plenty of dairy-free milk options—including coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, rice milk, and macadamia nut milk. They all have different flavors, so experiment to find your favorite.
• Often, Italian recipes will have you reserve some of the pasta water before straining the noodles. Mixing about a half cup of this starchy pasta water into your white sauce helps the white pasta sauce stick better to your noodles.

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

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 50kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 34mg | Potassium: 48mg | Fiber: 0.04g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 137IU | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 0.02mg

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.

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First published September 13, 2022. Last updated September 8, 2023, for more helpful tips and information and editorial improvements.