How to make a creamy, melty cheese sauce for topping pasta, potatoes, and more

• Cheese sauce can be used on everything from pasta to vegetable casseroles and roasted potatoes.
• All cheese sauces have a béchamel base, which includes flour, butter, and milk.
• Some of the best cheeses to use are cheddar, gruyère, muenster, fontina, havarti, and provolone.

One of the easiest ways to make any dish taste more indulgent is by adding a rich, velvety cheese sauce. Simple yet supremely versatile, cheese sauce can be drizzled onto everything from vegetables and potatoes to pasta dishes.

According to professional chef Yasmeen AlSawwaf, there are many different kinds of cheese sauces, but most are based on the classic béchamel. Béchamel is a French white sauce, which combines butter and flour — a mixture that's also known as a roux — with milk.

The ultimate complement to comfort food, cheese sauce is one recipe you'll definitely want to keep in your back pocket. Here's how to make it.

What you need

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup salted or unsalted butter
• 1 ½ cups shredded cheese: AlSawwaf says it's perfectly fine to mix different cheeses together in your sauce, but make sure they share a similar flavor profile.
  
  For example, parmesan and gruyère are a classic pairing, because they both have a delicately nutty quality. Cheeses like gruyère, fontina, cheddar, and havarti are best for meltability. Other ideal options, according to AlSawwaf, include provolone, Colby, Swiss, Monterey jack, and muenster. Camembert and brie also melt well but don't forget to remove the rind.
• 2 cups milk: The higher the fat content, the creamier your sauce will be. AlSawwaf advises using heavy cream or half and half for an extra rich dish, whole milk for most recipes, and 2% milk for a lower-fat alternative.
• Salt and ground white pepper to taste
• Optional spices: AlSawwaf uses ¼ teaspoon nutmeg for a traditional cheese sauce. For an extra kick, private chef Michael Johnson suggests adding English mustard powder.

Quick tip: Always opt to shred the cheese yourself. Pre-shredded cheeses often contain anti-clumping agents like starch to prevent them from sticking together in the bag. This added starch can interfere with the melting process, preventing you from getting a smooth sauce.

How to make cheese sauce

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
2. Whisk in the flour and stir until well combined.
3. Stir this mixture for three to four minutes over medium heat. This helps to eliminate the raw flour taste, says AlSawwaf.
4. Pour the milk slowly into the roux, whisking constantly until it thickens and there are no lumps. The consistency should be moist but not runny, thick but not so viscous that it doesn't flow.
5. Season with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg (optional) to taste.
6. Add the cheese. Remove the saucepan from heat and slowly incorporate the cheese, whisking constantly. According to AlSawwaf, adding the cheese over heat can cause the fats and milk solids to separate, resulting in a lumpy sauce with a curdled texture — so always take the pan off the burner first.

Quick tip: Cheese melts better if it's already at room temperature, says AlSawwaf, so consider taking it out of the fridge 20 to 30 minutes before making your sauce.

Common issues when making cheese sauce

Here are some common issues you might run into while making cheese sauce — and how to overcome them.

• The béchamel is too thick: Your sauce will thicken further when you add cheese at the end, so you don't want the béchamel to be too thick. If it is, AlSawwaf recommends adding more milk.
• The béchamel is too thin: Adding more flour, or making some additional roux to add, will help to thicken your sauce.
• The cheese sauce is too runny: You can easily thicken up your sauce simply by adding more cheese, says AlSawwaf.
• The cheese sauce looks grainy: AlSawwaf advises vigorously whisking in a teaspoon or two of lemon juice, since acidity can break down the molecules in the sauce, helping it to smooth out. Note that pre-grated parmesan and other cheeses often contain preservatives to keep them from clumping, which can compromise their meltability and give the sauce a gritty texture.
• The béchamel sauce has lumps: This often happens when the milk is added too quickly to the roux and not incorporated properly, says Johnson. Reduce the heat and allow it to continue cooking while continuously stirring until the lumps are gone.
• The sauce sticks to the bottom of the pan and burns: In this case, the heat is probably too high or the saucepan is not sturdy enough. Johnson suggests pouring the sauce into a new pan with a heavy-duty base, reducing the heat slightly, and avoiding scraping the bottom of the pan while stirring.
• The sauce develops a skin: This can happen when the sauce is left unattended for too long, says Johnson. Simply lift the skin off with a spatula and discard it, and remember to keep stirring the sauce until it's ready to serve.

How to use cheese sauce

Cheese sauce can be served with a wide variety of dishes, but here are our experts' top recommendations.

• With poached or grilled fish: AlSawwaf says mornay sauce, a béchamel-based sauce with gruyère and parmesan, is best for this purpose.
• As a fondue: Serve your cheese sauce with cubes of fresh bread, roasted potatoes, veggies, or chopped apples for dipping.
• With roasted potatoes: Try pouring cheddar cheese sauce over roasted potatoes, or serving it on the side for dipping. Note that cheese sauce also works well in au gratin potatoes.
• On casseroles: According to AlSawwaf, cheese sauce is an excellent addition to vegetable-based casserole dishes, especially those with roasted broccoli or brussels sprouts.
• With pasta: Mac and cheese is a no-brainer, but you can also try mixing a four-cheese sauce with spaghetti and mixed vegetables for a fun twist on pasta primavera. A cheddar- or Monterey jack-based sauce is also a spectacular pairing with bacon-studded pasta dishes.
• With eggs: Cheese sauce can instantly elevate your breakfast — drizzle it over poached eggs or inside a stuffed omelet or strata.
• In broccoli cheddar soup: All you need is broccoli, onion, stock, and some extra milk to turn your cheese sauce into a hearty meal.
• In dips: A cheddar cheese sauce lends itself well to refried and black bean dips, whereas a mornay sauce works nicely in an artichoke dip.
• On Welsh rarebit: This classic British snack, which consists of hot cheese sauce poured over toasted bread, is one of Johnson's favorite uses.

How to store leftover cheese sauce

Leftover cheese sauce can be stored for up to five days in the fridge in an airtight container, says AlSawwaf. In order to avoid skin from forming on the top, Johnson recommends placing a piece of parchment paper on top of the sauce before closing the lid.

Once you're ready to use the sauce, Johnson recommends heating it up slowly in a saucepan and adding some milk to the pan to achieve the desired consistency. It will thicken up in the fridge, so it will need to be thinned out a bit.

You can also freeze cheese sauce in an airtight container if you don't expect to use it within a few days. AlSawwaf advises labeling and dating the container, and using it within three months. Reheating it from a frozen state can cause the cheese sauce to separate — but rest assured it'll revert back to the ideal consistency if you keep it on low heat and continuously stir it.

Insider's takeaway

Cheese sauce is surprisingly versatile — and what you pair it with will help inform which cheeses you use.

You can never go wrong with a classic mornay sauce, as the combination of parmesan and gruyère adds just enough flavor to fish, chicken, and vegetables without overwhelming the dish.

All cheese sauces start with a roux, and if you want your sauce to be thicker, use milk with a higher fat percentage and larger quantities of cheese.