This is a generic cheese sauce. It can be made with various types of cheese. While the original recipe has a focus on it being a sauce for vegetables, I use it for things like macaroni and cheese, cheesy potatoes, and cheesy chicken pasta. See the notes below for cautions about certain types of cheese and how to get to the desired consistency.
Timing
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 2T butter
- 2T flour
- 1C milk
- 1/4t salt
- 1/4t ground pepper
- 1/4t garlic powder
- 1 1/2 freshly shredded cheese (lightly packed – see notes below)
Steps
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Add flour then whisk for one minute.
- Slowly whisk in milk then season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Increase heat to medium high and cook until thickened.
- Turn off heat and add the cheese. Stir with a spoon until melted and smooth. Add more seasoning as necessary.
Notes
- For a white sauce (not Alfredo) I recommend 3/4 C chunk mozzarella, (not fresh), and 3/4 C other white cheese like Parmesan or Swiss. Mozzarella on its own gets too “gooey”.
- My daughter says this is great with smoked Gouda and some white wine.
- If the sauce is too thick add a little more milk a little bit at a time, apply light heat and stir until incorporated. Milk will take away from the cheese flavor, though, so continue to taste before adding more. Also be careful about burning or cooking the cheese too much.
- According to the original recipe, (linked below), prepackaged shredded cheese has various things added to it to keep it from lumping together. This, according to the article, makes it harder to melt. I don’t use it because of the additional things added to the cheese.