Easy Ingredients For Creamy Cheese Sauce:
With just 4 simple and familiar ingredients, you can make a cheese sauce that is so tasty you will want to drizzle it on everything! Basic ingredients you most likely already have in your pantry and fridge will combine easily and make a creamy sauce everyone will enjoy.
- Butter: Gives the sauce rich flavor.
- Flour: Thickens the sauce.
- Milk: Thins the sauce out a bit and adds sweet flavor.
- Sharp cheddar cheese: Freshly grated cheese will melt better and give a stronger flavor than the coated shredded cheese you can buy in a bag at the store.
Queso Cheese Dip Ingredients
The three ingredients I used to make this simple cheese dip are:
- plenty of real cheddar cheese
- half and half for richness
- corn starch to thicken
Cant beat that, 3 ingredients that you likely already have on hand!
I used Argo® Corn Starch because its a brand I trust and can always rely on for a consistent result to thicken my soups, sauces, stir-fries, gravies and so forth.
I like to use it here because it skips a step in making a roux with butter and flour and that also equates to little less cooking time too.
How To Make Cheese Sauce
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Tips For Cheese Sauce Success
Here are a few tips to help make sure your nacho cheese sauce is a success:
- Make sure to cook the flour in the butter for one minute. This helps cook out the floury flavor.
- Use medium cheddar for smoother results. Sharp cheddar tends to break or become grainy easier than medium cheddar.
- Remove the pot from the heat before stirring in the cheese. Overheating the sauce once the cheese has been added can cause the sauce to seize up and become thick and/or grainy. If needed, use only low heat to help the cheese fully melt.
- Use block cheese and hand shred it when possible. Pre-shredded cheeses sometimes contain a lot of anti-caking powders, which can cause a powdery flavor in your cheese sauce.
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How To Make Easy Beer Cheese Dip
You can make this beer cheese dip recipe many ways, over a campfire or fire pit, on the grill for a cookout, on the stovetop or in the oven even! So many options so little time!
If using a campfire or fire pit, place a grate over the fire. In a 10 or 12 cast-iron skillet , add cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, garlic, chives and beer be sure to season with a little cayenne and salt.
- Add shredded cheese
- then cream cheese
- and garlic to skillet
I loved making this easy beer cheese dip on our fire pit actually, I just borrowed a grate from our grill and it worked like a charm! The image below is right before I placed the foil on top.
Cover with foil or with a heat safe lid if you have one, take a peek every now and then stirring to combine.
The picture on the right is making this same pretzel cheese dip on our grill, with burners at about medium, which was about 400 degrees.
- Cover skillet with foil
- Stir occasionally until smooth
Once all the cheeses are melted, stir or whisk well to combine until smooth, a few little lumps are just fine. Garnish with extra chives if desired.
If you want the top to have a little browned cheese, place 5-6 inches below broiler for 1 -2 minutes, watching closely! It will brown quickly.
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Cheese Sauce Recipe For Broccoli
You will be shocked how easy making your own homemade cheese sauce for broccoli is.
To get started, melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
Butter can burn easily, so do not walk away on this step as much as its tempting.
Keeping mixture on heat, add flour and whisk well for 1-2 minutes until mixture begins to thicken.
This happens pretty quickly so if you feel like its burning, remove from heat.
You can use a whisk to get the flour really involved with the butter, but I also find a spatula super helpful on this step.
If you pre-measure your spices, you can easily dump all your mixture in at once.
Make sure you mix and blend well so one side of your sauce isnt spice heavy.
Add half and half and whisk well just until mixture begins to boil/bubble around the edges.
You do not want it to get too hot or it will thicken up quickly and you need it for the next step.
Turn off heat and stir in your cheese.
Your cheese should melt pretty quickly, so make sure you are stirring quickly until all the cheese is liquid and melted.
While I typically use a whisk for all steps in the sauce process, cheese does get stuck in the wire ends, so you can just as easily use a fork, spoon, or spatula for this.
How To Make Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Step 1: Grate the cheddar cheese fresh from a block
Step 2: Add the grated cheddar, milk, cornstarch, garlic powder, pepper, and paprika to a medium sized saucepan.
Step 3: Stir over medium heat until cheese sauce is thickened, around 5 10 minutes.
No funny ingredients or junk, just good old homemade cheese sauce.
This is the best sauce to serve over steamed or roasted broccoli.
If you have an air fryer you could air fry frozen broccoli and serve it with this cheese sauce for a simple side dish.
For this recipe, I used 2% milk in place of heavy cream or other higher fat milk.
You cant taste the difference and it still gets thick thanks to cornstarch.
Ever since making my 5 minute nacho cheese sauce, I have been using this method to make all of my cheese sauces.
I may never go back to a roux again, this way is just so much easier and tastes delicious!
Im a big fan of using cornstarch and dont see that changing any time soon.
Its just such a time saver!
All you have to do is stir to avoid burning, and use a whisk to get out any clumps of cornstarch or cheese.
You will end up with a velvety smooth cheese sauce!
The color of your cheese sauce will depend on your cheese block.
The paprika is totally optional, and does not make it spicy, but I like that little extra something something it gives.
If you have super picky eaters, just leave it out for a more mild flavor.
Pour over your veggie of choice and call it a win when your kids are eating their veggies without a fight.
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How To Make Cheese Sauce For Pasta With Milk
Making a cheese sauce for pasta with milk is one of the essential steps for a good mac and cheese dish. Cheese is a delicious and versatile ingredient that allows you to add a great finishing touch to your vegetables, pasta and meat dishes. Do you fancy trying our easy and gourmet trick to make a good cheese sauce with milk? Then learn this cheese sauce recipe which will transform any simple meal into a 5-star dish using just a few ingredients. Pay attention, because at oneHOWTO we show you step by step how to make cheese sauce for pasta with milk. It is quick and easy.
- 250g grated cheese of your choice
- 3 tbps. butter
- 1 – 2 cups milk
- Salt and pepper
Making this easy and delicious cheese sauce only takes a few minutes. To begin, choose whatever cheese you like. You could have Cheddar served with nachos and homemade guacamole, or a blue cheese if you want to give your grilled meat a special taste. But today, we’re going to make pasta, so the ideal cheeses to choose are Emmental, Guyère or Cheddar.
Take your chosen cheese and grate it to make it easier to melt. Then melt the butter over a low heat in a pot. Once the butter has melted, add in 3 tablespoons of sifted flour and stir well to avoid lumps.
If you’d like more ideas for pasta sauce and other delicious dishes you can take a look at the following recipes:
How To Thicken Cheese Sauce
The ratio below will create a perfectly thick and cheesy sauce and shouldnt require thickening.
The best way to thicken a cheese sauce would be to add more cheese! Who can resist a thick, creamy, savory cheese sauce perfect for making Homemade Mac and Cheese too!
Another way to thicken a cheese sauce is to add a little bit of cornstarch slurry added a little at a time to hot cheese sauce. This method is less desirable, you do risk the cheese separating if you re-heat it too much when thickening.
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Ingredient Cheese Sauce Recipe
Thats rightIm sharing a 5 INGREDIENT CHEESE SAUCE recipe thats going to change your life! Its sooooo good! How can you go wrong? I like to think of it as updated fonduethat just also happens to be way tastierand goes on basically everything (veggies, enchiladas, burgers, pizza, etc,you name it, this cheese sauce makes it better! And I know a lot of you are thinking that cheese sauce is a lot of work, but I promise you, its so easy!
If youve been following me for awhile and have ever stumbled across my recipe for white peppercorn gravy, this is a very similar process! The line from the gravy recipe that holds so true with the cheese sauce? It was easy as whisking a few ingredients together in a sauce pan and letting it thicken.
Thats really all you have to do to make this sauce as well:
The truth is, you just mostly need to get your muscles ready because you need to whisk quite a bit in this recipe. Thats the hardest part. And the 11 minutes of whisking will be worth every bit when its done!
Ok, do I have you convinced that this is the easiest, most delicious recipe yet? If not, let me share with you all of the ways you can use this sauce:
I used to think making homemade sauces was so hard, but once you make it, youll realize how easy it is!! I hope this 5 ingredient cheese sauce recipe inspires you to make some homemade cheese sauce!
Other recipes you might enjoy:
What To Serve With Cheese Sauce
This is an excellent side dish for many different meals and a great way to get kids interested in the vegetable you serve it with! I can remember many delicious dinners where this cheese sauce was served over cauliflower. I’d imagine it would be a great with any other steamed veggies as well as a quick option for the sauce part of mac and cheese as well. Add some jalapeños or Rotel for a tasty queso or drizzle over baked potatoes. This is always great for dipping soft pretzels!
Also Check: What Cheese Is Best For Keto
Make This Easy Nacho Cheese Sauce
Homemade nacho cheese sauce is super easy and so creamy. I think it tastes better than anything store bought.
From movie night to parties, this recipe is my go to nacho cheese recipe. Give it a try and come back and leave a comment letting us know how it turned out for you. I think you will love it.
It is so delicious that you will want to serve it at parties but simple enough for a weeknight snack. Dont you just love recipes like that? I cant wait for you to try it. It is the best!
What Kind Of Cheese Should I Use
There are many options , but here are a few others to get you started:
- Sharp Cheddar for vegetables, a dipping sauce for pretzel bites, or cheese fries
- Gouda cheese sauce for a more adult macaroni and cheese.
- Pepper Jack for spooning over nachos along with this 5 minute Blender Salsa
- Swiss Cheese for any dishes that use ham for a classic combination
Recommended Reading: How Much Salt In Swiss Cheese
How To Thicken A Cheese Sauce Without Flour
If you want to make a cheese sauce thick and that too without using a thickener, you will need milk or cream and a roux to make any cheese sauce. It is very difficult to thicken the sauce without the flour, so the cheese you are using must be thick and should act as a thickener.
The cheese sauce can serve to be a delicious dip to many things, including the following:
The Best Flour For Making A Cheese Sauce
Its easy to make a cheese sauce without making a roux when you have the right flour. And I highly recommend that you use a flour called Wondra.
Most grocery stores sell Wondra flour at an affordable price in the baking aisle. Wondra flour is prepared in a way that pre-cooks, dries, and fine mills the flour so that it dissolves quickly when mixed with hot liquid. Its sometimes referred to as instant flour.
Create a Wondra flour substitute
But what if your grocery store doesnt sell Wondra flour? No problem. You can create a close substitute by mixing all-purpose flour or cake flour with cornstarch and sifting it twice through a mesh strainer.
If you can whirl your mixture for about 30 seconds in a blender or food processor, all the better. Your Wondra flour substitute isnt exactly like Wondra flour, but its a close second and worth trying in recipes.
- Tip: Never use bread flour when making a Wondra flour substitute. Wondra flour is a low protein flour, so you want to stick with all-purpose flour or, even better, cake flour because of its low protein content.
Recommended Reading: Where Can I Buy Mac And Cheese
How To Make Homemade Cheese Sauce
You can make this spicy nacho cheese if you want to add some heat or just keep it mild like we did here. There are a few ways to add heat, my favorites would be to add a squeeze of Sriracha, diced fresh jalapenos or some cayenne pepper. To make the base you will need:
- Pre shredded cheddar cheese sharp cheddar is best
- Non fat dry milk powder
- Powdered gelatine unflavored mix
- Boiling water can be done in the microwave or in a pot over medium heat
If you are just keeping it liquified and dont want to harden it like a copycat Velveeta recipe of sorts then that is all you need. To make it into a log youll do this by pouring it into a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper so it lifts out easily.
The Best Cheese For Making Cheese Sauce
When it comes to making cheese sauce, remember that the milder the cheese, the better the consistency of the sauce. There are ways to boost the flavor, which I share with you in the recipe, but you want to avoid strong-flavored aged cheese.
Why Aged Cheese is a Problem
Although delicious, aged cheese will cause your cheese sauce to become grainy. And that is the last thing you want! Instead, you want to create a lusciously smooth cheese sauce that is perfect for any recipe.
But Mary, you say, can I add just a bit of aged cheese?
Well, Im not going to be a stickler. If you have been with me for a while, you know that I am not a fanatic or a purist when it comes to cooking. If you must add aged cheese for flavor, keep it to a 1/4 cup per 1 cup recipe.
However, if your cheese sauce is grainy, youll know the culprit, so cut back on that aged cheese next time!
Best Cheese Choices for Homemade Cheese Sauce
When it comes to choosing a cheese to make homemade cheese sauce, you have many excellent options. Some of my favorite cheeses for this recipe include:
- Mild or medium cheddar
- Monterey
All these cheeses melt beautifully and make for a creamy cheese sauce.
And the good news is that you dont have to stick to just one cheese. Try out different cheese combinations to see which ones you like the best. For one, Colby cheese mixed with Monterey makes a smooth and tasty cheese sauce.
Grate Your Own Cheese, Please!
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How To Make Easy Cheese Sauce
Learn the best cheese and flour to use to make creamy homemade cheese sauce.
Learn how to make cheese sauce the easy way with this no-roux-required method for the perfect creaminess every time! Plus, Ill show you the best cheese and flour to use for the tastiest cheese sauce.
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