Gluten Free White Sauce (Gluten Free Bechamel)

When you think of gluten free, vegetarian food, a French food doesn’t necessarily spring to mind, but this gluten free white sauce (AKA gluten free bechamel) really is a versatile beast.

Bechamel is a French ‘mother sauce’. Mother sauces are the foundational building blocks of French cooking.

There are five such sauces – hollandaise, velouté, espagnole, and sauce tomate make up the other four. Together, they are the basis of french cooking. Through the addition of other ingredients, they make a whole host of other dishes.

What that translates to for us, is that this gluten free white sauce is incredibly versatile. Done well, it opens up a range of different possibilities and can be used in a variety of dishes.

That’s why I’ve kept this recipe separate to other recipes that will use it – such as this gluten free lasagne If you can master this, a whole world of other dishes opens up.

Make the butter and flour base into a vegan sauce by using oil, then use that roux alongside stock in dishes like katsu curry and gumbo.

The bechamel by itself is an essential ingredient in lasagne, but can also be used to top moussaka or even croque monsieur. I use it in this gluten free lasagne recipe.

Adding cheese to this sauce is the foundation for cauliflower cheese and mac and cheese recipes. 

Gluten Free Bechamel Recipe with Cornstarch

Making gluten free white sauce with store-bought gluten free flour blends can give a grainy end result. This is especially the case when baked (as in lasagne or baked mac and cheese). 

Instead, I prefer to use cornflour (AKA cornstarch) to thicken this sauce as it gives it a silkier end product. 

This is a basic gluten free bechamel. However, depending on what you use it for you may need a larger quantity. If that’s the case double or triple as appropriate as this is easily scalable.

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Yield: 1

Gluten Free White Sauce (Bechamel)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

This silky smooth bechamel will enhance any lasagne, mac and cheese or cauliflower cheese. It can also be scaled depending on the recipe you need it for.

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Ingredients

• 25g butter
• 25g cornflour (AKA corn starch)
• 300ml milk

Instructions

1. Take the butter and melt it in a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium heat.
2. When the butter has melted and has started to foam slightly, add the cornflour and stir in,
3. Allow to cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes, allowing the mixture to bubble slightly. Be careful not to burn it!
4. Next, add a splash of milk and whisk it in. The mixture should clump up, but constant whisking should incorporate it all into a thick paste-like sauce.
5. When the milk is fully incorporated, add another splash and repeat the process until half the milk is in the sauce, whisking constantly.
6. When you get halfway through the milk, you add can larger quantities each time. Make sure to continue whisking constantly.
7. When the milk is incorporated you should have a perfectly smooth, silky sauce that is thick but not lumpy. If the sauce is too thick add more milk to loosen. If it is lumpy, pass through a fine mesh strainer.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 167Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 153mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 0gSugar: 8gProtein: 5g