Homemade Cheese Sauce is made with 100% real cheese! It’s smooth, creamy, and full of flavor. Use it as a dip for chips, a sauce for pasta, or condiment for vegetables like broccoli!
Mouthwatering cheese sauce coming at ya! This cheesy goodness is as close as you get to liquid gold. It’s a miracle worker too! Drizzle it on top of any vegetable and BOOM! your kids now eat their vegetables!
Cheese Sauce
This homemade sauce is easy to make and uses just a few simple ingredients. From this recipe you’ll also learn how to make a few basic French sauces too!
Ingredients for Cheese Sauce:
- Butter– Salted or unsalted works. Butter gives the best flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour– This is used in equal parts to fat to make a roux to thicken the sauce.
- Milk– The higher the fat, the thicker the sauce. I keep 1% on hand so that is what I use.
- Salt– Feel free to use more or less.
- Ground Mustard– This helps round out the cheesy flavor.
- Cheese– For a classic cheese sauce, use freshly grated cheddar cheese. Switch things up and use a different (or combination) semi-hard cheese.
How to make Cheese Sauce:
Time needed: 15 minutes
- Make a roux
Heat butter in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add flour once it begins to bubble. Cook and whisk for 1 minute.
- Make a Béchamel
Whisk in the milk a little at a time, whisking until smooth before adding more. Stir in the salt and mustard.
Continue to cook and stir until thickened (5-7 minutes) and coats the back of a spoon. - Make a Mornay
Remove pan from heat and whisk in the grated cheese a little at a time until melted and smooth.
- Enjoy!
Serve over broccoli, potatoes, pasta, chips…
FAQs
Any semi-hard cheese will work- Cheddar, Gouda, Gruyère, Harvarti, Swiss, or Monterey Jack. These cheeses melt down nice and smooth. Feel free to use a combination of cheeses!
For a smooth creamy sauce, I highly recommend freshly grated cheese. Pre-grated cheese has preservatives added to it that keep it from clumping together which makes it so they don’t melt down as easily. It is worth the 2 extra minutes to grate your own!
If you want to make this sauce into more of a spicy nacho cheese, sauté some finely diced jalapeños in the butter before adding the flour. Adding crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne peppers works too.
-Grab a bag of your favorite tortilla chips and get dipping! Fries are great with it too!
-Make mac & cheese! Boil the noodles in a separate pot and add them to the cheese sauce after draining.
-Serve it over vegetables! As a kid I would only eat broccoli with this cheese sauce on top. It’s also quite yummy over a baked potatoes.
Yes! Microwave in the microwave at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds. Or heat in a pot on the stovetop over low, stirring often.
As the FDA recommends, leftovers should be stored in the fridge and consumed within 4 days.
TOOLS USED TO MAKE THIS SAUCE:
- Pot & Skillet Set– These are the skillets and pots I use. They have a heavy bottom making them sturdy and cook the food evenly. I use these multiple times a day.
- Scandinavian-Type Whisk– I love this whisk for making sauces because it allows easy contact with the bottom of the pot. This Narrow Balloon Whisk also works great for making sauces.
- Cheese Grater– Freshly grated cheese is so much better and this grater is the best! I love that it has two sides, folds up, and stands sturdy when grating.
LOOKING FOR MORE CHEESY RECIPES? CHECK OUT THESE:
- Baked Jalapeño Poppers
- 5 Cheese Mac & Cheese
- Beer Cheese Soup
- Skillet Lasagna
- 5-Minute Garlic Cheese Bread
Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard seed powder
- 1 1/2 cups freshly grated cheddar cheese, (about 4.5 ounces)
Instructions
- Heat butter in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add flour once it begins to bubble. Cook and whisk for 1 minute.
- Whisk in the milk a little at a time, whisking until smooth before adding more. Stir in the salt and mustard.
- Continue to cook and stir until thickened (5-7 minutes) and coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove pan from heat and whisk in the grated cheese a little at a time until melted and smooth.
- Serve over broccoli, potatoes, pasta, chips… Store leftover in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Love this cheese sauce and so easy to make!