So your basic vegan white sauce has a lot of uses. It’s the basic recipe that with a few additions can turn into a vegan cheese sauce.
Also called a bechamel sauce, this is the white sauce you can use in lasagnas and other dishes that require a white sauce.
It’s usually made with butter, flour and dairy milk. Sometimes oil, flour and dairy milk.
Since this is the vegan version, of course the dairy milk is replaced with plant based milk.
In this case I used soy milk but any plant based milk of your choice will do the trick.
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I tried a version using vegan butter and the butter flavor was pretty strong.
I wasn’t a huge fan but I liked it more than Jaye who thought it was disgusting. He was all like: ‘aarrgggg butter sauce, IÂ just ate a heap of butter in a sauce!’
Well, needless to say, he didn’t! It was just a little butter in a lot of sauce, but whatevs.
So the next time I made it with olive oil and I thought it tasted heaps better, and Jaye agreed.
In fact this one was so delicious that we’ve made it a few times since.
And I used it in a lasagna dish that came out beautifully.
This creamy dreamy white sauce is like a blank canvas that you can add any flavorings to that you choose, like garlic or herbs or whatever you desire!
The basic recipe is just 3 ingredients, and after that it’s up to you how you flavor it.
We’ve just gone with some sea salt and black pepper, but fresh herbs would be great, dried herbs, garlic spice, chilli, mustard, whatever you’re in the mood for.
So let us know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment.
And when you’ve made it, let us know how it went by rating this recipe and leaving a comment. Don’t forget to take a pic too and tag it #lovingitvegan on instagram. Thank you!
- Basic Sauce
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 2 Cups Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- Spices to taste:
- Black Pepper
- Sea Salt
- Add the oil to a pot on the stove and heat it at medium to high heat.
- As the oil heats, sift the flour and add to the pan stirring vigorously.
- Fry the flour in the oil for around 3 minutes, stirring the whole time, don't allow it to get too hot, turn down your heat if it starts to stick at any point.
- Add the soy milk or other non-dairy milk and continue to stir and allow the sauce to gradually thicken.
- You will usually get to the right thickness after it has reached boiling point and boiled for a few minutes.
- When you've reached the desired thickness (keep in mind that the sauce will continue to thicken as it cools), remove from the heat and add any spices you choose, such as some salt and black pepper or garlic spice or whatever you choose.
Love how simple your recipes are and still taste so good.
Easy peasy
Hi, this sounds easy and just what I need!, I was wondering, if I was to make half of that recipe, would it be 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp All purpose flour and 1 cup non-dairy milk? I want to make a vegan lasagna but it’s just for me and my husband and I think half of that amount would be fine… are my proportions correct?
Hi Karen! It would likely work better if you use 2 Tbsp Olive Oil, 1 Tbsp Flour and 1 cup non-dairy milk. I just found that the oil should be 1 more than the flour, even when the recipe is doubled, so I assume it would be the same when it’s halved (have not actually tried this yet). Otherwise it can stick while you are frying the flour in the oil. Hope it works out well! 🙂
Thank you for your prompt response!
I’ll be trying what you suggested in a moment and I’ll let you know how it works
I tried it and it was very good!, I think I could have used 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil considering the size of the casserole I was using and that it was non-stick, thank you so much, this will be the recipe I follow every time I am in need for this sauce!
Awesome! So glad to hear it came out well. And good to know that 1 and a 1/2 Tbsp olive oil would work, that’s useful info. Thanks so much for coming back and posting! 🙂
Turned out perfect! I halved the recipe by using 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 tablespoon of flour, and 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk. Would probably go for soy milk instead next time. Also put a bit of nutritional yeast in it to give it a bit of a cheesy flavour, worked wonderful. Thanks!
Yay! So glad it worked out well! 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve been craving a lasagne for months and your method was simple and delicious (I did finish off the rest of the saucepan’s contents with a spoon!). Perfect, even for a can’t cook shouldn’t cook, like me.
Fabulous! Nothing like a good lasagna! Or a good sauce for that matter! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Will oat milk work as well? 🙂
Hi Nora, I haven’t personally tried it with oat milk but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work out just as well.
Hi great recipe, the only thing missing is the onions. Sautée onions then add flour. For true bechamel flavor also add nutmeg with your choice of milk. Thanks.
Fab recipe. I’m not vegan but am intolerant of dairy. The discovery of a white sauce that I can actually eat is a revelation. I made it with Oat milk and it was spot on. Thanks!!
Fantastic! So glad you liked it Rachel! 🙂
This worked great! It was difficult to get the sauce to thicken, but additional flour helped. I also threw in some thinly sliced fried carrots to act as a substitute for bacon in a carbonara! Delicious.
Glad to hear it worked out Jamie! Thanks for posting! 🙂
Do you need unsweetened unflavored soy milk?
The one I regularly use is sweetened but not sweet. I wouldn’t use a flavored one or a particularly sweet one, but as I say mine is sweetened slightly and you don’t notice that in the final result. So either slightly sweetened or unsweetened. Definitely unflavored.
Would it also work if I used chickpea flower instead of wheat? 🙂
I don’t really know Ilze, it depends on if chickpea flour has the same thickening effect as wheat flour. If it’s just about gluten-free then I’d rather use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend like Bob’s Red Mill and try with that first, which should work out the same.
That answers my question! My daughter has recently been diagnosed with gluten and lactose intolerance, and loves lasagne, so this bechamel recipe is perfect, knowing I can use gluten free flour for the sauce (and I was able to get gluten free lasagne sheets also)! Thanks so much! 🙂
So when I read this I was like ??? Will this actually work and taste okay??? My mum makes her sauces this way, but of course with normal milk, and I never thought about simply changing the milk. I tried this with alpro unsweetened almond milk, some spicy spices and threw in some peas and fried onions after, and then had it as normal with potatoes and it was so lovely, thank you so much for sharing this!
Haha, yes it’s so great that it’s really just a milk swap and it works out perfectly! So glad you liked it!
Hello Alison, do you think the sauce could be made a day ahead? I’m making a lasagna and want to prep the sauces a day ahead. Thank you!
Hi May, the sauce thickens a lot when cold. So this could make it harder to work with. It could be okay, but you may have to reheat it before use. Used in a lasagna (I have used this exact sauce in my lasagna recipe), it’s great served cold as it’s already in the layers, but I’m not sure how easy it would be to layer it in a lasagna if it’s very thick and cold.
I ended up making it all in one day, it was such a unique lasagna that didn’t result in any stomach distress!! Thank you, I think I will find many uses for this recipe.
That’s fantastic May! Glad to hear! Thanks for posting.
Just tried making with an oat milk base – personally I found it a bit too sweet, will try with soy milk next time. But it’s so easy, which is great!
That’s good to know about the oat milk making it a little sweet. Thanks for posting Susannah!
Do you think this would be good with fettuccine noodles as an Alfredo sauce replacement?
It’s good with pasta for sure! I used it when I made my creamy asparagus pasta recipe, (if you use the search bar you’ll find it). But I’m not sure how closely it resembles an alfredo sauce. I would be more inclined to veganize an alfredo sauce recipe to more closely match it.