A good béchamel sauce needs nothing more than butter, flour, milk and a few spices. It’s made the classic way in a saucepan – without a Thermomix and in about 15 minutes.

This sauce is deliberately kept a little runnier. That way it’s enough for a small lasagne dish (15 × 20 cm) and also makes dry lasagne sheets nice and soft as they bake.

Béchamel Sauce – Basic Recipe

Classic béchamel sauce made with butter, flour and milk, cooked in a saucepan. Makes about 340 g – enough for a small lasagne dish.

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Prep Time 2 minutes mins

Cook Time 13 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 1 batch (approx. 340 g)

Course: Basics

Ingredients Equipment Instructions Notes

Ingredients

  

For the sauce

• 20 g butter
• 20 g wheat flour or spelt flour
• 300 ml lactose-free milk
• 1 pinch nutmeg freshly grated, optional
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Equipment

• 1 saucepan small
• 1 whisk

Instructions

 

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat without letting it brown.
2. Add the flour and whisk it in thoroughly. Cook for about 1–2 minutes, stirring, without letting the mixture colour.
3. Gradually pour in the milk, whisking vigorously so that no lumps form.
4. Simmer gently over medium-low heat for about 5–8 minutes, stirring regularly.
5. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. The sauce should be lightly thickened but still easy to pour.

Notes

The nutritional values are rough estimates and apply to the whole batch (approx. 340 g), calculated with whole milk. Per 100 g of sauce, that’s about 122 kcal.

Tips & Notes

For dry lasagne sheets: Don’t let the sauce thicken too much. If it has become too thick, stir in 20–30 ml milk. When layering, cover the pasta sheets completely with sauce, right into the corners.

No lumps: Pour in the milk only a little at a time, whisking vigorously as you go.

Goes well with, for example: Butternut and Gorgonzola Lasagne.