Basic White Sauce or Béchamel

Every cook needs to be able to make her own basic white sauce.   Use the thick white sauce instead of canned cream soup; it makes a sauce of the same consistency; one recipe will make the same amount as a 10 ½ ounce can.  Add your own seasonings. Thin white sauce is the consistency for soups, and medium white sauce is the all-purpose gravy-like consistency for sauces on vegetables or with sausage, creamed chicken and the like. 
White sauce costs just pennies, takes just a few minutes, and you control the ingredients.
 White Sauce
THIN
MEDIUM
THICK
1 Tablespoons butter
2-3 Tablespoons butter
3-4 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoons flour
¼ Teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2-3 Tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
4 Tablespoons flour
¼ Teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Melt butter in saucepan; blend in flour and salt and let bubble up together.  Take off heat, add milk all at once; cook over low to medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
36¢ per cup for medium white sauce
Per Cup: 410 Calories; 31g Fat (68.0% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 95mg Cholesterol; 887mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain (Starch); 1 Non-Fat Milk; 6 Fat.
Cheese Sauce:  Add ½ cup grated American cheese to 1 cup medium white sauce.
Egg Sauce:  Add 2 cut-up hard cooked eggs.  Season.
Quick Mustard Sauce:  Add 1 tablespoon prepared mustard.
Sausage Gravy:  Add 1/4 # cooked pork sausage, chopped onion.











6 comments:

  1. Excellent post! I gave up cream soups ages ago because the basic white sauce is so simple and I know what's in it! I also keep dehydrated celery and mushrooms on hand to pulverize into a powder and stir into the sauce. Such a great fresh flavor!

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  2. Nice... I will have to try this, I use alot of cream of... soups.

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  3. Great minds think alike! I did this a few weeks ago when I ran out of a can of mushroom soup (my husband likes, I don't) and I just did this with a small can of mushrooms. It didn't taste the same, granted, but it was much healthier and economical. (Daughter of Bussey, Iowa, farmers)

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  4. Would you consider adding this post to my blog's homestead hop? http://littlefarminthebigcity.blogspot.com/2012/04/homestead-helps-wednesday-homestead-hop_11.html

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  5. Hmmmmm. Is that cooked peas added to the creamed eggs in picture 4? Do you cook those peas separately then drain and add to the cream sauce with the chopped eggs? I have a super good creamed peas recipe that uses real cream.

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    1. I usually just cook mine in the cream sauce right after I add the peas, as we don't like ours cooked very much.
      I do like real cream for creamed peas...but of course, then it's not bechamel! Many people do not seem to realize that cream thickens nicely on its own when heated.

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