Plant-Based Béchamel White Sauce
Classic béchamel sauce combines fat (butter) with starch (white flour) and milk, but you will find none of those ingredients in my plant-based kitchen. Instead, we can create a smooth and creamy white sauce with a silky texture and delicate flavor that’s super fast and simple to make.
Without nuts or tofu or avocado either, this sauce is very low in fat. It's my go-to for pasta dishes and to serve over blanched veggies and potatoes.
It’s great on its own, but this plant-based béchamel also is a team player: There are infinite ways to combine it with other puréed veggies to make other delectable variations. The only limitation is our imagination!
Ingredients
- Full ½ cup white whole wheat flour or a whole grain gluten-free flour
- 1-2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg freshly ground
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 1-2 teaspoons shiro white miso or to taste
- 2 cups unsweetened unflavored almond milk or other low-fat plant milk
Instructions
- Combine the flour, nutritional yeast, pepper, nutmeg, miso and almond milk in a high-speed blender and run on high for 1 minute. Pour the sauce into the saucepan, heat over a medium-low flame, stirring with a whisk.
- In a few minutes, the sauce will begin to thicken. Lower heat and cook for a few minutes more or until you achieve the consistency required for your purposes. Taste and correct seasonings if you like. The sauce is ready when the flour tastes cooked, not raw, and your consistency is where you want it. Remove from flame and whisk periodically to dissolve the skins that forms as it cools.
- The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools but will thin again to some degree when you reheat it. If it over thickens for your application, thin it with heated plant-based milk.
Notes
Variations
This plant-based sauce is very versatile and can be flavored to resemble a classic mornay (cheese) sauce by adding a half teaspoon of granulated onion and garlic, a dash of the Indian spice asafetida (a.k.a. hing), additional nutritional yeast and a dash of cider vinegar. Blend as before and heat to thicken as described above.
Or
for a rosé sauce roast a cup of tomatoes with thyme and pepper, blend them, or use strained (puréed) tomatoes.
Or
for a mushroom sauce, stir in few teaspoons or two of freshly ground dried porcini mushrooms and dried thyme or nepitella.
Or
For a beautifully golden sweet pepper cream sauce, roast some yellow peppers, blend them with a bit of water, and add blend with the other ingredients before cooking.
As you’ll discover, any fragrant herb or vegetable, cooked until soft and puréed, can be blended with this plant-based béchamel to create delectable new sauces. Have fun creating your own!
This plant-based sauce is very versatile and can be flavored to resemble a classic mornay (cheese) sauce by adding a half teaspoon of granulated onion and garlic, a dash of the Indian spice asafetida (a.k.a. hing), additional nutritional yeast and a dash of cider vinegar. Blend as before and heat to thicken as described above.
Or
for a rosé sauce roast a cup of tomatoes with thyme and pepper, blend them, or use strained (puréed) tomatoes.
Or
for a mushroom sauce, stir in few teaspoons or two of freshly ground dried porcini mushrooms and dried thyme or nepitella.
Or
For a beautifully golden sweet pepper cream sauce, roast some yellow peppers, blend them with a bit of water, and add blend with the other ingredients before cooking.
As you’ll discover, any fragrant herb or vegetable, cooked until soft and puréed, can be blended with this plant-based béchamel to create delectable new sauces. Have fun creating your own!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!