Smooth Cheese Sauce
Cheese sauce is built on a light white sauce — butter, flour and milk — with grated cheese stirred in off the heat. Boiled cheese separates and goes grainy, so the heat has to stop before the cheese goes in.
- Prep
- 4 min
- Cook
- 8 min
- Total
- 12 min
- Calories
- 175
Photo: chee.hong from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Jarred cheese sauce tastes synthetic and costs a lot; the homemade version takes eight minutes from things you already have. The one problem people hit is a grainy sauce, and it has a single cause: the cheese went in while the sauce was still bubbling.
Method
-
1
The roux
Melt the butter over medium heat, add the flour and stir for two minutes until the raw flour smell goes.
⏱ 3 min -
2
The milk
Pour in the warm milk in stages, whisking constantly, until the mixture is smooth and slightly thickened.
⏱ 4 min -
3
Off the heat
This is the step everything depends on. Take the pan right off and wait half a minute before the cheese.
⏱ 1 min -
4
The cheese
Add the cheese a handful at a time, stirring until each handful melts before the next. The residual heat is more than enough.
⏱ 3 min -
5
Season
Add the mustard, paprika, salt and pepper. The mustard doesn't read as mustard — it stabilises the emulsion and stops the sauce splitting.
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Tips that actually matter
- Grate the cheese yourself. Pre-grated is coated in starch that prevents melting and makes the sauce grainy.
- Mozzarella gives the stretch and cheddar gives the flavour — the two together beat either alone.
- It thickens as it cools. Reheat very gently with a spoon of milk, stirring.
- A teaspoon of lemon juice lifts the flavour and cuts the sense of richness.
People also ask
Why does the sauce go grainy?
The cheese went in with the pan still on the heat. Cheese protein clumps and separates from its fat above a certain temperature. Take it off the heat first.
Can I make it without flour?
Yes — add the cheese straight to hot (not boiling) cream. Richer and faster, but higher in calories.
What do I serve it with?
Nachos, fries, burgers, steamed broccoli and chicken sandwiches.
Cook mode
Smooth Cheese Sauce
-
1
The roux
Melt the butter over medium heat, add the flour and stir for two minutes until the raw flour smell goes.
-
2
The milk
Pour in the warm milk in stages, whisking constantly, until the mixture is smooth and slightly thickened.
-
3
Off the heat
This is the step everything depends on. Take the pan right off and wait half a minute before the cheese.
-
4
The cheese
Add the cheese a handful at a time, stirring until each handful melts before the next. The residual heat is more than enough.
-
5
Season
Add the mustard, paprika, salt and pepper. The mustard doesn't read as mustard — it stabilises the emulsion and stops the sauce splitting.
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