How To Make Bechamel Sauce Without Butter

How to make Bechamel sauce without butter – it’s creamy, silky smooth and tastes delicious. Use this sauce for many classic comfort food dishes even if you’ve run out of butter.

Bechamel sauce is one of the first, basic sauces most people learn to make when they first start cooking. It’s a base that’s used for many different sauces and recipes and it’s definitely one of the most important sauces to learn how to make. But what if you run out of butter or forget to pick it up from the store? This has happened to me far too often so today I’m showing you how to make bechamel sauce without butter.

Ok, so if you love comfort food dishes such as lasagne or macaroni cheese as much as I do then you’ll know how important it is to know how to make a basic bechamel sauce, right?

Bechamel is a base that’s used for a lot of recipes that I personally couldn’t live without. Take pasta bakes, homemade pies or baked cheesy vegetable gratin for example. I don’t know about you but I need those in my life especially at this time of year when it’s all about hearty comfort food.

More Ways To Use Bechamel Sauce

• Baked cauliflower cheese
• Macaroni cheese
• Cheesy leeks
• Lasagne
• Cannelloni
• Souffle (savoury)
• Croque Madame
• Mix with vegetables/meat/herbs/spices for hearty homemade pies + more!

There have been many occasions when I’ve forgotten to buy butter and I need to make bechamel sauce. Instead of rushing back out to the shops or changing the meal plan, there is a very simple, easy solution that almost all of you (especially those who love Italian food) will have in your kitchen.

Olive oil

Yes, you can make a silky, smooth, thick and creamy bechamel sauce using olive oil and there’s no compromise on flavour either. It’s that simple!

The Ratios For Making Bechamel Sauce (white sauce)

The basic ratio for making a classic bechamel sauce is 1:1 fat to flour. Choose a fat such as butter or oil and use the same amount of flour to form a thick paste. This recipe uses 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 heaped tablespoon of flour which will thicken around 2 cups/1/2 litre of milk. You can adjust the milk measurements for a thicker or thinner sauce by adding less or more to your liking.

How To Make Bechamel Sauce Without Butter

Add the olive oil to a saucepan and warm it for a couple of seconds before adding the flour (photo 1).

Once the flour has been added mix it together with a whisk or wooden spoon to form a paste and let it cook for one minute (this cooks the flour so you don’t have a floury taste in your sauce) photo 2.

Add a little milk and whisk constantly to remove any lumps. Once it has started to thicken add a little more milk (around 1/4 at a time) until you have used up all the milk (photo 3).

Once it’s thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, take it off the heat and add nutmeg, salt and pepper and cheese if making a cheese sauce (photo 4).

The best cheese to add to bechamel sauce is something that melts well such as parmesan, gruyere, fontina or cheddar.

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5 from 7 votes

How to make bechamel sauce without butter

How to make Bechamel sauce without butter - it's creamy, silky smooth and so delicious. Use this sauce for many classic comfort food dishes even if you've run out of butter.

Course sauces and dressings

Cuisine French

Keyword Bechamel No Butter, White Sauce No Butter

Prep Time 2 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 12 minutes

Servings 2 cups

Calories 400kcal

Author Emily Kemp

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 heaped tbsp flour all-purpose
• 2 cups (500ml) full fat milk
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg grated
• salt and pepper to season
• 1 tbsp parmesan grated (optional)
• 2.8 oz (80g) gruyere cheese grated (optional)

Instructions

• Add the olive oil to a saucepan and warm it for a couple of seconds before adding the flour.
• Once the flour has been added mix it together with a whisk or wooden spoon to form a paste and let it cook for one minute (this cooks the flour so you don't have a floury taste in your sauce).
• Add 1/4 of the milk and whisk constantly to remove any lumps. Once it has started to thicken add a little more milk (around 1/4 at a time) until you have used up all the milk.
• Continue to heat the sauce whilst stirring until thick. Once it's thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, take it off the heat and add nutmeg, salt and pepper and cheese if making a cheese sauce.
• If making a cheese sauce stir the sauce until the cheese has melted. You may need to put it back on the heat for a few seconds. If it thickens too much add another splash of milk.

Notes

• The best cheese to add to bechamel sauce is something that melts well such as parmesan, gruyere, fontina or cheddar.
• Cals 400 without cheese 700 with cheese

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

How to make bechamel sauce without butter

Amount Per Serving

Calories 400 Calories from Fat 252

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 28g 43%

Saturated Fat 13g 65%

Cholesterol 69mg 23%

Sodium 278mg 12%

Potassium 354mg 10%

Total Carbohydrates 15g 5%

Sugars 12g

Protein 20g 40%

Vitamin A 15.4%

Calcium 70.7%

Iron 1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Helpful Info For All Recipes 

• I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
• When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use this brand for the best results and flavour
• All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
• All recipes are tested and developed using a fan oven
• Read more about how the nutritional information is calculated here

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