Remember that we did NOT add any salt to this recipe as the cheese is already salty. Add little milk if necessary to adjust the thickness of the sauce. Keep mixing until it all comes together into a smooth sauce. Add a couple of minutes to the cooking time when doubling or tripling.Add in the milk and the cheese. To change the recipe yield, in the recipe card below, hover over the number of servings (or click if you are on mobile) and slide the slider. More Cheesy RecipesĪs written, this recipe makes about 1 cup of cheese sauce, which generously serves 2. It won’t be quite as smooth and creamy after refrigeration and reheating. Sauce can be stored in the refrigerator and reheated gently on the stove or in the microwave, but it is best eaten right after cooking. Next time, cook the butter and flour mixture until it begins to turn golden. If your sauce tastes like flour, it’s probably because the roux was not cooked long enough before adding the milk. Remove the sauce from heat before you stir in the cheese.Let the shredded cheese sit at room temperature for a short time so you’re not putting cold cheese into hot liquid.
Use full-fat cheese that you grate yourself as bagged cheese has additives that can prevent it from melting smoothly. To get the smoothest cheese sauce possible, follow these golden rules: (If you’d like to make this cheese sauce for fries, go check out my Cheese Fries post, which has instructions for making homemade fries to go along with the cheese sauce.) Vegetables, especially broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. But here are my recommendations to get you started: The answer to this is: whatever you want!! If you can dream of drizzling cheese sauce over it, you can do it. Make it spicy: Use pepper jack cheese and/or stir in extra cayenne pepper to taste for an extra spicy kick. Give monterey jack, gouda, gruyere, or asiago cheese a try. Switch up the cheese: Any good melting cheese will work in this recipe. While I love a good cheddar cheese sauce, this recipe is endlessly customizable. Perfect cheese sauce ready to tasty up whatever you’re going to pour it over. Add salt, pepper, and optional cayenne to taste, and voilà. Once the sauce is thickened, turn off the heat and stir in the cheese a handful at a time. Then slowly pour in the milk, being careful to whisk out any lumps as they form, and stir until you have a nice bubbly, creamy sauce. Cooking the flour with butter first cooks the raw flour taste out of the mixture. You start with a roux made by melting the butter in a small pot and whisking in the flour until you get a lightly golden paste. I prefer to use sharp cheddar, but mild to extra sharp will all work. The anti-caking additives in bagged, pre-shredded cheese can make your sauce lumpy. Cheddar cheese: Be sure to use full-fat cheese and start with a block of cheese that you shred yourself. Milk: You can use any percentage milk you’d like in this recipe, but the higher fat the milk, the smoother and creamier your sauce will be. All-purpose flour: Using equal parts (by volume) of flour to butter helps thicken the cheese sauce. You can use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe. Butter: The base of this cheese sauce is a roux made with butter and flour. If you have a couple of minutes and some cheddar cheese, you could probably make this sauce right this second. Baked potato feeling a little sad? CHEESE SAUCE IT. Need a quick lunch? Steam some broccoli in the microwave and top with cheese sauce. You’ll be so glad to have this little recipe in your back pocket because it’s so useful and versatile. It’s perfect for dipping broccoli and other veggies or drizzling over baked potatoes, nachos, or french fries. This fabulous creamy homemade cheese sauce is one of the quickest, easiest sauces to make.