{"id":1987744,"date":"2024-05-01T18:20:28","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T18:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=1987744"},"modified":"2024-05-23T13:58:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T18:58:01","slug":"gluten-free-bechamel-recipe","status":"publish","type":"recipe","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/recipes\/gluten-free-bechamel-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Gluten-Free Bechamel"},"content":{"rendered":"
When I learned to make gluten-free bechamel, I felt like I’d found the key that unlocked myriad comfort foods I hadn’t been able to eat in years. After all, bechamel is the base for everything from fancy lasagna to basic mac and cheese!<\/p>\n
With its fancy name, this sauce seems complicated, but it’s fairly simple to make. It takes only 10 or 15 minutes and uses ingredients you probably already have on hand. Here’s everything you need to know about gluten-free bechamel, including troubleshooting tips and alternate ingredients and flavors.<\/p>\n
Bechamel sauce is a rich, creamy white sauce made with flour, butter and milk or cream. The base of bechamel is a roux<\/a>, a simple combination of equal parts flour and fat. This simple mixture is kind of magical, forming a silky, thick base for everything from gravy to chowder and stews to cheese sauces. Roux is the base of almost all of the mother sauces<\/a>, five simple sauces that make up the basis of all French cooking (and of many other cuisines, too). Bechamel is one of the simplest of the mother sauces, a simple foundation for building a variety of flavors.<\/p>\n In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, salt and pepper and stir until a smooth, paste-like combination forms. Cook the paste for about two minutes, until it’s bubbly and thick. This takes away the “raw flour” flavor that would otherwise be present if you immediately added milk.<\/p>\n Gradually, whisk in the milk. If you pour it all at once, the roux won’t distribute as evenly, the pan will cool off too much, and the sauce will take longer to come together.<\/p>\n Editor’s Tip:<\/em> We like to use a flat whisk<\/a> for this task.<\/p>\n Bring the sauce to a boil, uncovered. Stir continuously until thickened, one to two minutes. The sauce should continue to thicken a bit after being removed from the heat.<\/p>\n As a mother sauce, bechamel is a sturdy foundation for many variations. You can season and flavor bechamel with just about any spice, but here are a few of our favorites. (Just double-check that anything you’re adding says “gluten-free” on the label.)<\/p>\n It’s best to serve bechamel sauce immediately. If you need to save leftovers, reheat them in a pot on the stove, stirring constantly as the sauce loosens up.<\/p>\n If your bechamel sauce seems too thin, put it back on the stove to boil for another few minutes. If it’s still too thin, scoop a few spoonfuls of hot sauce into a small dish. Add a spoonful of flour mix and whisk well, then slowly whisk the slurry back into the sauce pot. This prevents added flour from curdling or clumping in the sauce.<\/p>\n If your bechamel sauce has split, you can rescue it with an egg yolk.<\/p>\n Bechamel’s rich, creamy, savory flavor is the perfect partner for simple foods like roasted asparagus<\/a>, baked chicken<\/a>, grilled fish<\/a> or roasted vegetables. Stir bechamel into mashed potatoes or rice for an instant upgrade. Use bechamel to make mac and cheese (substituting gluten-free elbow noodles or another small shape, like fusilli), or lasagna<\/a> (again, swapping in gluten-free noodles). Bechamel is also the base of many classic dishes, like biscuits and gravy<\/a>, using gluten-free biscuits<\/a>.<\/p>\n The bechamel recipe is fairly forgiving to substitutions, as long as you keep the ratios the same. Substitute your favorite homemade GF flour mix<\/a> (add a pinch of xanthan gum to the roux), or a store-bought GF mix<\/a>. Replace the dairy milk with your favorite non-dairy milk<\/a> and the butter with vegan butter<\/a>. The butter can even be replaced with olive oil, though this will change the flavor profile of the sauce.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Making gluten-free bechamel might sound intimidating, but the process is actually quite simple. (And it’s a breeze if you’ve made the traditional recipe.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7022,"featured_media":1972633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"tags":[304032,304328,305487,304338,303966,305003,304988,303887,306297,306327,304350,324623,304016,304005,303883],"categories-v2":[308623,308988,308984,308481,310796,308992,308495,308949,308935,308478,312156,312187,309001,309177,308579,308549,308476],"coauthors":[152278],"recommended_recipes":[{"post_title":"How to Make Bechamel Sauce","post_link":"\/article\/how-to-make-bechamel\/","post_image":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/FT21_13884_F_1020_1-white-sauce-TMB-studio.jpg"},{"post_title":"Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies","post_link":"\/recipes\/flourless-peanut-butter-cookies\/","post_image":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/EXPS_TOHD24_6149_SarahTramonte_4.jpg"},{"post_title":"Gluten-Free Banana 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Editor's Tip: We like to use a flat whisk for this task.","image":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/how-to-make-gluten-free-bechamel-sauce-TOHcom23_PU6007_DR_04_20_2b.png?fit=700,467"},{"@type":"HowToStep","name":"Boil until thick","text":"Bring the sauce to a boil, uncovered. Stir continuously until thickened, one to two minutes. The sauce should continue to thicken a bit after being removed from the heat."}],"recipeYield":"1-1\/2 cups","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kelsey Dimberg"}],"nutrition":{"@type":"NutritionInformation","calories":" 38 calories","fatContent":"3g fat (2g saturated fat)","cholesterolContent":"8mg cholesterol","sodiumContent":"177mg sodium","carbohydrateContent":"3g carbohydrate (1g sugars","fiberContent":"0 fiber)","proteinContent":"1g protein."},"aggregateRating":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"AggregateRating","ratingValue":0,"reviewCount":0,"worstRating":1,"bestRating":5}},"video":{"data":{"status":204},"message":"No shortcode found in recipe"},"rms_legacy_id":"272809","romance_copy_dek":"Making gluten-free bechamel might sound intimidating, but the process is actually quite simple. 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Taste Recipes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n
Directions<\/h2>\n
Step 1: Make a roux<\/h3>\n
Step 2: Add milk<\/h3>\n
Taste Recipes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Step 3: Boil until thick<\/h3>\n
Gluten-Free Bechamel Variations<\/h2>\n
\n
Can you use leftover gluten-free bechamel sauce?<\/h2>\n
Gluten-Free Bechamel Tips<\/h2>\n
Taste Recipes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
How do you thicken gluten-free bechamel?<\/h3>\n
How do you use gluten-free bechamel?<\/h3>\n
What are some gluten-free bechamel substitutions?<\/h3>\n