Creamy Cheese Sauce
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A thick, smooth, creamy cheese sauce is great on pasta, vegetables, chips, meat… everything! Check out this walkthrough to learn how to make cheese sauce with cheddar cheese, mustard, pepper, and Tabasco for a really rich and irresistible dip or topping in just 15 minutes.
Making the perfect cheese sauce is something of an art — keeping the milk at just the right temperature, starting with a buttery roux, and choosing the right cheese to keep the dip silky smooth are all key.
But learning how to make a good cheese sauce is the first step toward making basically every delicious appetizer, game day, or potluck dish known to man: queso dip, beef queso dip, nachos, mac and cheese, and more! And it’s great to serve with fries, veggies, and zucchini sticks as a dip all on its own.
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I’ll even drizzle it over omelets in the morning when I want a little extra creamy, cheesy flavor!
I usually make it with sharp cheddar cheese, but you can make it with any cheese you like or even combine a few different types. Experiment and learn how to make a sauce that perfectly suits your tastes!
A perfect roux – How to Avoid Lumps!
To prevent lumps when adding liquids to a roux, the rule is to always add a cold liquid (milk, chicken stock, wine, etc.) to hot roux (cooked flour in equal parts butter).
If using a cold roux straight from the refrigerator, whisk it into hot liquids (chicken, beef or vegetable stocks).
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese – Cheddar is my go-to, but this is an adaptable cheese sauce recipe you can use with all varieties.
- Butter & All-Purpose Flour – Cooking flour with butter creates a roux, which is the first step toward a smooth, creamy cheese sauce. All-purpose flour is just fine, but you can use any kind of wheat flour. Additionally, butter can be substituted with oil or fat drippings.
- Milk – I find that whole milk makes this recipe just a bit too sweet, so I recommend 2%.
- Dry Mustard – Once it’s mixed in with a liquid, this seasoning becomes sharp, tangy, and just a little earthy. To substitute with regular prepared mustard, use ½ tablespoon.
- White Pepper – This pepper has a lingering, back-of-your-throat heat that’s more intense than black pepper. Black pepper is fine to use, too!
- Tabasco – You can omit the Tabasco if preferred, but I like to add a few (well, more like several) dashes to introduce some acidity and real depth. Feel free to use any other hot sauce you like.
- Salt
- Heat the Milk. Warm the milk either in the microwave or over low heat in a saucepan. I prefer using a low temperature on the stovetop to slowly bring it to temperature, reducing the threat that it might overheat and denature.
- Make the Roux. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the flour. Whisk and simmer at a low temperature for a few minutes to cook the flour. You’ll know it’s cooked when it starts to turn white and slightly puffy.
- Add the Milk. Slowly pour the warmed milk into the saucepan with the roux, whisking all the while, until it’s smooth. Cook for several minutes, whisking every so often, as the liquid thickens.
- Add Remaining Ingredients. Add the dry mustard, shredded cheese, and Tabasco to the sauce. Whisk until a smooth sauce forms.
- Use or Store. Serve your creamy, cheesy sauce right away or refrigerate in an airtight container for later use.
Recommended Tools
- Cheese Grater – The most important thing to remember when learning how to make cheese sauce is that you absolutely need to shred the cheese fresh off the block! Bagged, pre-shredded cheese is coated with starch or some other preservative to prevent it from clumping in the bag, and it won’t melt smoothly no matter what you do.
- Medium Saucepan
Storing and Reheating
Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container. This will prevent bacteria (which can cause food-borne illness) from growing on the sauce. Stored properly, it will last for up to 4 days.
Reheat back on the stovetop at a low temperature until it’s thinner and warmed through.
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You can make this recipe with any cheese! Cheddar is sort of an all-purpose choice, but I’ve also used Swiss, Gruyere, mozzarella, and Monterey Jack.
Harder cheeses, like parmesan or pecorino romano, should be combined with a smoother, melty cheese for a cohesive result.
Of course, it’s always nice to cater your homemade cheese sauce recipe to whatever it is you’re applying it to! Sometimes you’ll want a tangy goat cheese, whereas other dishes will taste better with a mild Swiss.
The roux thickens this cheese sauce recipe.
It’s made with flour, which will naturally thicken the mixture, that has been cooked down with butter. So in addition to being an extremely effective thickener, it has also been modified and softened to more readily absorb the milk in the sauce. This makes it silky smooth! See my video on how to make one here.
On the other hand, if your sauce is too thick to start, you can add small amounts of (warmed!) milk, stirring it in, until the consistency is a little more manageable. The ideal consistency is thick but pourable — see the video in this article for a visual example!
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How to Make Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter or oil, fat drippings
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 3 cups milk
- 4 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded (See Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- Tabasco (or hot sauce of choice)
Instructions
- Warm the milk in a saucepan or microwave in measuring cup for 1 minute on high.
- In a medium sauce pan melt the butter and then add the flour.
- Whisk the flour and butter together and allow to simmer on low to cook the flour 1-2 minutes. The lightest (white color) roux will be slightly puffed.
- Gradually add the warm milk and whisk to incorporate until a smooth sauce forms on low heat. Cook several minutes, sauce will thicken.
- Add a little more milk if too thick and whisk in the dry mustard, cheese and Tabasco (several dashes or more to your liking), until smooth sauce forms. Do not overheat the cheese, or it can become grainy in texture.
- Serve immediately or cool and store in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 4 days.
Video
Notes
- You can substitute any cheese you prefer to suit your needs.
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 4 days.
- Do not overheat the cheese, or it can become grainy in texture.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Sorry but I don’t understand this part
“Step 2: In a medium sauce pan melt equal parts butter and then add the flour.”
Equal parts of butter and ?
I have been wanting a simple cheese sauce recipe to make instead of something like Velveeta so I’m excited to try this!
I believe it is equal parts butter and flour. This recipe calls for 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup flour. Melt the butter first. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and mix well to make the roux.
Actually, shredded cheese in a bag works perfectly every time. I’ve never had a lumpy sauce in making a cheese sauce that way.
Good to hear that worked for you Stephen!
I kinda want to put this on everything!
I could put it on almost anything!
This is such a great idea! love the added mustard and pepper tho this cheese sauce! So good!
Thank you! You have to try it!
YUM!!! I love this delicious version!!!
Thank you! I hope you give it a try!
wow! I am drooling over this sauce! It’s so delicious!
Thank you! I could eat it by the spoonful!
I love this cheese sauce! Used it on some nachos and it tasted great
That is great! I might have to have that for lunch!
You make it look so easy. I am going to make this on Sunday for some nachos for the hubby and I. Thank you!
You bet! Thanks Beth. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do. Add some chopped jalapeños to it if you like a little kick, too. 🙂
Is there a way to turn this into a beer cheese?
I’d have to play around with it so I can’t comment at this time. I would start with less milk and test with how much beer and go from there. I’ll put it on the recipe list to develop!