The bechamel is a typical French sauce made with milk, flour, and butter, normally used as a base for other preparations, but we generally use it to fill baked pasta dishes. There are several methods to prepare bechamel, typically starting with a roux of butter and flour.
I use the simple recipe my mom used to make because it’s a slightly different method that allows you to add the butter only at the end of cooking. This lets you add the amount of butter you prefer, and it remains a great bechamel even if you decide to make it in a light version.
Bechamel is also added to vegetables like cabbage to gratinate them in the oven or used to prepare excellent creamy soups.
Among the classic home recipes, I also remind you of
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 600 ml
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 785.25 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 42.94 (g) of which sugars 24.53 (g)
- Proteins 19.77 (g)
- Fat 60.60 (g) of which saturated 38.96 (g)of which unsaturated 21.33 (g)
- Fibers 0.97 (g)
- Sodium 783.73 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 600 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
The basic ingredients of the bechamel sauce are milk, flour, and butter.
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup water
- to taste salt
- 1/4 cup butter
- to taste nutmeg
Tools
To prepare bechamel you don’t need any special tools, just a saucepan, a ladle, and a container to dilute the flour with the water before adding it to the hot milk.
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Ladle
- 1 Pitcher
Preparation
The preparation of this bechamel sauce is really simple and quick, taking about 10 minutes in total.
The first step is to put the milk with a bit of salt on the heat to warm it up. While heating the milk, put the flour in the glass and dilute it with water; it should have a batter-like consistency as shown in the photo.
When the milk is about to boil, you’ll notice bubbles on the edge, add all at once the flour and stir quickly with the ladle, touching the bottom well. To facilitate this operation, you may pour a little hot milk into the flour first to dilute it well, so lumps won’t form during cooking.
Stir the bechamel continuously over the heat, touching the bottom and sides well to prevent it from sticking; you’ll see that in a few minutes, about 2 or 3, it will have reached the right consistency to turn off the heat. You’ll know because when you stir the ladle, it will “write,” meaning you’ll clearly see the circles it forms in the bechamel; turn it off immediately, otherwise, it becomes too thick.
Once the heat is turned off, you can season the bechamel with butter and nutmeg to your taste.
If you are not using the bechamel immediately, you can easily prepare it in advance. However, remember to let it cool covered with plastic wrap that fully touches the bechamel. Otherwise, as it cools, it will create that unsightly film you see in the photo 😂, I photographed it hot, and in the time it took to shoot, it was already solidifying.
NOTES
The bechamel sauce with my recipe allows you to add the butter at the last moment, so you can decide how much to add. I’ve indicated the dose that seems right to me to have a soft, flavorful sauce but not too greasy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use soy milk?
Of course, you can use soy milk to prepare it, and the result will be perfect. If you want to make it vegan, also use margarine instead of butter.
Can I omit the nutmeg?
Of course, you can skip the nutmeg, and the consistency result will not change, but I assure you that for the flavor, it is the perfect combination, so unless there are allergies, I recommend maybe putting less, but do put it.
