Vegan white sauce, also known as bechamel sauce. Basic 3 ingredient recipe that you can expand on with different flavorings. Creamy and delicious.
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. Too easy really!
In this case I used soy milk but any plant based milk of your choice will do the trick.
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, I 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 lot since then.
And I used it in a lasagna dish that came out beautifully.
I think you are going to fall in love with this vegan white sauce! It is:
- Creamy
- Smooth
- Versatile
- 3-Ingredients
- Simple
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.
More vegan sauces!
So let us know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment and rating it too please as that is SO super helpful.
And while you’re here, sign up to our email list, you’ll get an awesome (free) recipe ebook, and you’ll stay updated with all our latest recipes too!
Vegan White Sauce (Bechamel)
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: ~2 cups
Description
3-ingredient vegan white sauce recipe. Also called bechamel sauce, this simple sauce is creamy, wholesome and delicious and can be used whenever you need a white sauce.
Ingredients
Basic White Sauce:
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 2 Cups (480ml) Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
Spices to taste:
Instructions
- Add the oil to a pot on the stove and heat it at medium to high heat.
- As the oil heats, add the flour and stir or whisk vigorously.
- Add the soy milk all at once and continue to stir and whisk (you can alternate between a wooden spoon and a whisk) 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.
Notes
*If you double this recipe, then just a note that the way to double it is that the flour must always be one less than the oil. So doubling this recipe would mean you use 6 Tbsp of olive oil and 5 Tbsp of flour.
- Category: How To, Savory
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 Cup (~1/4 of the recipe)
- Calories: 153
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 98mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6g
- Carbohydrates: 6.3g
- Fiber: 0.6g
- Protein: 3.9g
Keywords: vegan white sauce, vegan bechamel sauce
This is a great base!! Mine didn’t end up being vegan (just lactose free milk) but I added minced garlic, chilli flakes, dried basil and salt & pepper and mixed with spaghetti 😋
★★★★★
Just made this to go on top of my vegan Moussaka and absolutely loved it! So delicious and best part my family didn’t even realise it was vegan!!!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks Chloe!
Hi, I don’t see where I can make a new comment, but I need to say DO NOT use coconut milk, not even the unsweetened kind !! The taste of the jalapeños I added were overpowered by the ‘off’ taste the coconut milk gives (i was making it into a cheese sauce) Otherwise this is a delicious recipe! I will be using Almond milk from here on out !
★★★★★
Wow that was so easy and so tasty. I feel fancy! I used unsweetened almond milk and only added salt and pepper. Delish!
★★★★★
Haha, so glad to hear it was good Carly!
Yum!! I made this today for a pasta bake
I used unsweetened almond milk, nu yeast and whole seeded mustard. Perfect consistency! 🙂
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks so much Kate!
Hi, I just tried it. I should not have been surprised that it worked! I made it to go over pasta with broccoli. My wife and mother-in-law were very impressed. They also finished it all up! Thank you. I will never forget it and will use it again. Regards Bob
So glad you enjoyed it Bob! 🙂
Excellent recipe! I used it as a base for a (vegan) cheese sauce and though I need to add more cheese next time the base was perfect. So simple.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks!
So good we’re coming back for seconds! First for a moussaka, now for lasagne. Thanks!
★★★★★
Yay! So happy to hear that Andrew!
This was sooo good as base recipe. If only I would have known it was this easy to make a white sauce sooner! I used soy milk and I added some dried italian seasonings, rosemary and thyme, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. My boyfriend was very impressed and so was I! Glad I made a double batch to go with the leftover noodles.
★★★★★
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
You can also liquefy cooked cauliflower along w the water it was gently cooked in, this seems to work great for me.
Also, for some added depth in color and taste, a pinch of smoked paprika and a dash of cayenne 🙂
Thanks for this great recipe.
★★★★★
Thanks for sharing Joseph!
Great recipe! I used rice flour, a little more flour. And then I used soy milk. When it was done I added some nutritional yeast, pepper and rosemary.. let’s just say it didn’t make it to the pasta as I could stop ‘tasting’
★★★★★
Haha awesome! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂