Creative Guest Chef: How to Make A Simple Bechamel Sauce by CopyKat Recipes

Hi!  I’m Stephanie Manley, and I’m the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home.  I have been cooking up recipes on the Internet since 1995.  Have you ever tried a recipe in a restaurant, and wanted to make that dish at home?  I can show you how to recreate your favorite restaurant recipes at home, and in your own kitchen.  You can find many more recipes at http://www.CopyKat.com.

Bechamel sauce is a very versatile sauce that is used in many different types of recipes.  If you can master this sauce, you can create many other recipes by adding an ingredient or two to this recipe.  You could add some cheese to this recipe, and have a delicious cheese sauce, adding some mustard, you can have a fabulous mustard sauce. 

This classic sauce is made with three ingredients and they are butter, flour, and warmed milk.  The ratio for this sauce is 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of flour, and then 1 cup of warmed milk. If you need to scale upward this is the ratio that you want to use.

To make basic bechamel sauce the ratio is very simple, think 1:1:1, one cup of milk, one tablespoon of flour, and one tablespoon of butter.

Bechamel Sauce recipe:

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup of milk (best if milk is at room temperature or warmed slightly)

In a medium sized pan over medium to medium high heat, melt one tablespoon of butter, when the butter is nice and bubbly, add in one tablespoon of flour. Stir and cook for about one minute, you want the flour to cook, otherwise your sauce will be pasty. After one minute you can add 1/3 cup of the milk, and stir until the mixture becomes thick, then add 1/3 cup of milk, stirring until thick, and then finally, add the remaining 1/3 cup of milk, and stir until this becomes thick.

So now you have Bechamel sauce, what should you do?  

You could add 8 ounces of cheese to this sauce along with some dry mustard powder, and have a wonderful bowl of macaroni and cheese.

You could add 8 ounces of cheese to this, along with some salt and pepper and pour over your favorite steamed vegetables. 

Wanting a sauce for chicken or fish?  Add one teaspoon of dry mustard powder to your sauce, and you will have new tasty sauce. 

The possibilities of Bechamel sauce are endless.