Best cheese sauce recipe

[VioIetMoon]

Cheese sauce specifically for cauliflower cheese.
Any recipes which you recommend on how to make this.

Works with creme fraiche as well (I was being lazy and had no cream!)

As above but I add a teaspoon of mustard and a pinch of nutmeg to mine

I can’t get the texture right with roux or the cheese and cream version.
This never goes wrong: roughly equal weights cream cheese and Parmesan (add black pepper, dry mustard, smoked paprika or whatever), add to cauliflower or pasta with a knob of butter or glug of olive oil if you like.

I use a double sauce making pan always makes perfect sauce. I can’t be bothered grating cheese so just cut it into cubes. For cauliflower cheese I add an egg at the end before pouring it so the sauce sets and doesn’t all run off the cauliflower. It gives the sauce body.
If we are having it as a whole meal I also add bacon cut into thin strips and cooked before adding to the sauce.

For my money, Delia doesn’t put nearly enough cheese in her sauce. If you’re making it for cauliflower cheese, add some mustard - a little made English mustard is best, but if you like Dijon, you can use that. A good grinding of black pepper, too. Add salt sparingly - cheese is quite salty especially if you‘ve used a good strong cheddar and Parmesan. If you add an egg yolk as well, your sauce sets and is a good colour, too. Then when you’ve put the cauliflower cheese together, add a mix of grated cheese and breadcrumbs over the top for a crispy topping (if you like that. I wouldn’t do it if it were an accompaniment for Sunday dinner, but if you’re having cauliflower cheese and chips for dinner, it’s good!)

I do it the roux way but I don’t measure anything as I eyeball it every time. As well as some mustard try adding a bit of marmite too. Do it before adding any salt to avoid it becoming too salty but even marmite haters like my DH like the sauce when it’s added. I use white pepper in the sauce because I have an autistic DC who won’t touch the sauce if it has “black bits” in it but I always add black pepper to my serving afterwards as I do think it’s better with that too.

I put grated garlic into my roux, and paprika.

And I only ever make it with odds and sods of cheese. It’s key, to me, to have different types as you get a richer and deeper flavour. I normally have a cheddar, a blue cheese, a jalapeño/other chili cheese, a Swiss cheese, some cream cheese - just whatever I’ve got left. Cauliflower needs all the help it can get given how bland it is!

Absolutely does! & cream cheese! I'm not messing about with a roux.

Delia Smith!

I don’t make a roux, I mix flour with water til smooth and add to the slowly warming milk with a sauce whisk. Add butter if needed afterward then lots of cheese.
This way you can keep it low fat by using reduced fat cheese and omit the butter.

Sod that! OP wants the best cheese sauce recipe not a low fat one, and the cauliflower is low fat.

I always add Colmans mustard powder and a shake of ground nutmeg to the sauce for macaroni cheese, might omit the nutmeg if it’s a sauce to go with fish.

I have never measured my cheese sauce but it is good - roux, cheese, more cheese. Possibly more cheese. 🧀

Delia’s. Or, butter, melt in pan add plain flour to get a roux then add milk gradually until it thickens then add grated cheese.

The more cheese the better!

Nice additions are a bit of whole grain mustard, a little paprika, some Worcester sauce, or a little bbq sauce. Not all of them at once! If you add mozzarella it makes the sauce nice and stretchy.

Another one who doesn't measure but my secret ingredient is Air! I kid you not. I blend in the food processor to make it fluffy. First discovered this when the sauce stuck and I had lumps and overcooked bits.....blending then adding cheddar was a revelation. And white pepper

I make a roux with plain flour and lots of butter. After this stage use a whisk and gradually at the whole milk as it cooks. Add a bit of mustard, and pepper. Stir until gently bubbling to cook the flour out. Lots of grated Sussex Charmer cheese (or good quality strong cheddar). More grated cheese on top (usually a combination of Parmesan and cheddar). Use for macaroni cheese or cauliflower cheese. Then oven bake until bubbly and golden brown on top. I don’t use measured quantities.

Loads of cheese, Gruyère, Parmesan and extra mature Cheddar. With mustard.

large lump of butter, couple of heaped dessert spoons plain flour for the roux
Whisk in the milk or milk/water/veg water.
season with freshly grated nutmeg, English mustard, salt and pepper.
add a handful or two of mature cheddar
That’s it. Add cream or any other cheese if it needs using up.
the whisk is the secret weapon to avoiding lumps, and add the liquid gradually.
Start with a basic recipe, practice makes perfect.

No need to make a roux. I have been using Delia Smith's all in one method for about 20 years and it is quick and easy. I am not faffing about making a roux

I am not faffing about making a roux It's not a faff - it's how I learnt to make a basic sauce.
If the all-in-one method works for you, do that.

Speedy cheese sauce for feeding macaroni cheese -obsessed offspring quickly. Makes a standard base but you could of course pretty it up a bit with mustard powder/ whole grain mustard, cayenne, pepper, different cheeses etc to taste.

Pyrex jug. One heaped tablespoon SR flour, one heaped tablespoon butter / Lurpak. Top it up to 2-300mls of milk, and a big handful of grated cheese. Microwave for 2-3 min, stirring with a balloon whisk every 30/45 seconds. First couple of pauses, you'll think it's not working, but by the end of the time, it's magically cheese sauce. Sounds like it shouldn't work but it does.

I find it a faff as it takes quite a bit longer than the all in one method. I originally learnt by making a roux but once I discovered Delia's recipe I have used that ever since.

I love cooking but see no need to take longer to do something than necessary

I guess I'm just lucky in that I got the knack straight away and don't find it tricky.
Both work.

I make cheese sauce maybe two or three times a month. I don't weigh anything, no need.

Melt butter (roughly a quarter of a standard block) on a low-to-medium heat.
Add three or four heaped tablespoons of plain flour to the melted butter and combine well with a wooden spoon. Allow the roux to come to a nice golden brown.

Add in the milk gradually, mixing well with the roux as you go. I usually use about 250ml (a standard small UK carton) but play it by eye to get the consistency you want. Here is the crucial bit. The milk must be warm before adding it, otherwise there is a high likelihood of lumpy sauce. If you do get lumps you can always sort that out with a wand blender but I've never had lumpy sauce since I started prewarming the milk.

Add in your grated cheese and anything else you want to enhance the flavour (mustard, nutmeg, pepper etc) and continue to stir until the cheese has completely melted in.

Job done.