Basic Cheese Sauce Recipe

Learn how to make a basic cheese sauce in just 10 minutes with butter, flour, milk, and your favorite shredded cheese. Smooth, creamy, and perfect for mac and cheese, veggies, fries, and more.

Course Condiment

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Total Time 15

Servings

Calories 139kcal

Author Karly Campbell

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
Pinch of mustard powder
1 ½ cups whole milk
6 ounces freshly shredded cheese such as cheddar, Gruyere, havarti, swiss, monterey jack, smoked gouda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cracked pepper

Instructions

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Once the butter has melted, add the flour and mustard powder and whisk to combine the two. The mixture will be fairly thick and come together into a thick paste. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add the milk, whisking constantly as you pour. Continue cooking and whisking for 4-5 minutes until the mixture thickens up into the consistency of a thin gravy. The longer you cook, the thicker the mixture will get, but keep in mind that it will thicken more once you add the cheese. The timing of this will vary a bit depending on how high the heat is.
Once the mixture is the consistency you’d like, remove the pan from the heat and begin adding the cheese a handful at a time. Stir well after each addition to melt the cheese into the sauce. Doing this off the heat prevents the cheese sauce from getting grainy.
Once the sauce is done, add in the salt and pepper. Stir well, taste, and add additional salt or pepper to taste.

Notes

Cheese: You can really use any variety of cheese here, depending on what you’re using the sauce for and what flavor you’re looking for. Cheddar makes a great sauce for macaroni. Havarti is very mellow and creamy and makes a rich sauce. Gruyere is very nutty. Use a combination of cheese for the best flavor. Smoked gouda + cheddar is a favorite of mine for a smoky mac & cheese situation. Shredding your own cheese is key here. Pre-shredded is coated in starch and doesn’t melt as nicely.

Sauce: This makes enough cheese sauce to coat 8 ounces of macaroni generously. You can easily increase the amount of sauce to coat more pasta. Thin it out with a splash of extra milk or make it thicker by melting in even more cheese. This really is quite forgiving and can be adjusted pretty easily either direction.

Uses: Use this sauce to coat around 8 ounces of macaroni for a simple stove top mac & cheese. Pour it over roasted or steamed veggies. Drizzle it on french fries. Use it as a dip for pretzels or chips.

Additions: I’ll often add 1-2 cloves of minced garlic to the melted butter and let that cook for 30 seconds or so before adding the flour. It gives the cheese sauce a nice garlic flavor. You can also add in a couple of dashes of Frank’s Red Hot. This doesn’t make the sauce spicy, but does give it a nice depth of flavor.

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