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    Home » How To

    Vegan White Sauce (Bechamel)

    Published: Mar 3, 2016 Updated: Jun 28, 2021 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe
    Vegan White Sauce

    Vegan white sauce, also known as bechamel sauce. Basic 3 ingredient recipe that you can expand on with different flavorings. Creamy and delicious. 

    Vegan white sauce in a red bowl with a wooden spoon.

    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.

    Step by step process photo collage of making a vegan white sauce.

    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 wasn’t a fan. 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.

    It’s a creamy dreamy white sauce that is like a blank canvas. You can add any flavorings to it 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.

    Vegan white sauce in a red bowl with a wooden spoon.

    More Vegan Sauces

    1. Vegan Mushroom Sauce
    2. Cashew Cheese Sauce
    3. Tahini Sauce
    4. Vegan Peanut Sauce
    5. Vegan Peppercorn Sauce
    6. Vegan Tartar Sauce
    Vegan white sauce in a red bowl with a wooden spoon.

    Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!

    Vegan white sauce in a red bowl with a wooden spoon.

    Vegan White Sauce (Bechamel)

    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.
    4.91 from 102 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: How To, Savory
    Cuisine: Vegan
    Diet: Vegan
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes
    Servings: 2 cups
    Calories: 153kcal
    Author: Alison Andrews

    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:

    • Ground Black Pepper
    • Sea Salt
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    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.

    Video

    Notes

    1. 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.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Serve (½ cup) | Calories: 153kcal | Carbohydrates: 6.3g | Protein: 3.9g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1.6g | Sodium: 98mg | Fiber: 0.6g | Sugar: 3g
    DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag #lovingitvegan
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    About the Author

    Hi I'm Alison Andrews, I'm the voice and cook behind Loving It Vegan. I love making delicious vegan food and creating vegan versions of all your old favorites, so that you’ll never feel like you’re missing out. Find out more about me here.

    Loving It Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site may contain some of these links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through one of those links, Loving It Vegan will receive a small commission from the purchase at no additional cost to you.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. KP says

      September 14, 2022 at 1:49 am

      This was the first recipe I ever made from your website and I’m consistently coming back to it. It’s a lovely sauce for tofu/spinach lasagnas.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        September 15, 2022 at 10:22 am

        Awesome! Thanks so much for the great review!

        Reply
    2. Inbar Sasporta says

      May 12, 2022 at 7:56 pm

      Super yummy and easy. I cooked some eggplant and added it to the sauce and ate it with spaghetti.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        May 16, 2022 at 11:17 am

        Sounds delish! Thanks for posting and the great review!

        Reply
    3. Tougheeda Hartley says

      March 21, 2022 at 8:00 pm

      Thank you! This was the quickest and easiest vegan white sauce. I added salt pepper and vegan cheese for Mac n cheese. Was really good!

      Reply
    4. Dawn says

      January 26, 2022 at 8:46 pm

      I made this and it came out wonderful!! The consistency was perfect. I added garlic powder, salt, and pepper and put over chick pea pasta with “meatballs”. It was delicious!! Thank you!!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        January 27, 2022 at 9:04 am

        Wonderful! Thanks so much Dawn!

        Reply
    5. Crystal Fiore says

      January 06, 2022 at 1:47 am

      I only gave this a 4 star because it needs a lot of “spicing up” which might be difficult for someone who is a strict recipe follower. I used almond milk which turned out a bit too sweet. So I added in some s/p, white wine, rosemary, garlic, sautéed mushroom and onions. The consistency was great!!4 stars

      Reply
      • Ilona says

        February 06, 2022 at 6:24 am

        Hey guys, I really love your inspiring website and often refer to it. Keep up the great work! This béchamel is great too! I live on a sailboat in the middle of nowhere and I don’t have any plant based milk. But the good news is that I had to improvise and I wanted to let you know that my solution worked very well. I just added water instead of milk and four tablespoons of flaked, dry (but I think precooked in factory) oats. Blender. Tadaaaaa, it worked wonders! It’s really creamy, no oats structure and no sliminess at all! For richness and nutritional value I added several tablespoons of nutritional yeast and a bit of sugar (was only needed after the nutritional yeast, beforehand I wouldn’t have done that). Was super nice! Thanks again and ciao ciao, greetings from an atoll in the middle of the Pacific.5 stars

        Reply
        • Alison Andrews says

          February 07, 2022 at 9:33 am

          That sounds awesome and so glad it worked out!

          Reply
        • RiaSunflower says

          June 06, 2022 at 5:46 pm

          What a good idea. Lol5 stars

          Reply
          • RiaSunflower says

            June 06, 2022 at 6:06 pm

            What a good idea. Lol5 stars

    6. Sally Ellis says

      December 29, 2021 at 7:20 pm

      Absolutely fantastic, gluten free, dairy free Mum just got 9.5 out of 10 from my lasagne loving son.
      Used Freee gluten free plain flour, Sainsbury’s Free From lasagne sheets, and Delia’s ragu. Happy family all round. Thank you for sharing.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        December 30, 2021 at 9:50 am

        Awesome! Thanks so much for the great review Sally!

        Reply
    7. Heidi says

      December 27, 2021 at 9:40 pm

      I tried twice and I couldn’t get the sauce to thicken. 🙁
      I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. Any ideas?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        December 30, 2021 at 9:59 am

        You might just need to let it boil for longer. It can take a LONG time if you’re on low heat as well. I usually go for medium to high heat.

        Reply
    8. Sheree says

      November 05, 2021 at 12:13 am

      What grain free flour would you recommend like Almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour, or arrowroot flour, to do with this instead of regular flour?

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        November 06, 2021 at 11:58 am

        I have only tried this with a gluten-free all purpose blend, though readers have commented that they were able to do it with almond flour.

        Reply
    9. Roger says

      October 22, 2021 at 6:13 am

      I would prefer to use avocado or walnut oil for its high smoke point.5 stars

      Reply
    10. Pam says

      October 01, 2021 at 9:41 pm

      It is very easy but flavorless- I added nooch in addition to S&P. It was good.5 stars

      Reply
    11. Joanne Johnson says

      September 20, 2021 at 5:26 am

      Was perfect for the lasagne I made!5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        September 21, 2021 at 2:40 pm

        Awesome! Thanks Joanne!

        Reply
    12. Chantelle says

      August 27, 2021 at 2:22 am

      This is so good! I added fresh dill, lots of lemon juice, and some of my pasta water and cooked it with spaghetti.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        August 27, 2021 at 10:07 am

        Wonderful! Thanks so much for the great review Chantelle!

        Reply
    13. Nelly says

      August 10, 2021 at 9:35 pm

      Added some flair to the base sauce….1.5T of liquid aminos, white pepper, nutritional yeast, approx 1 tsp of cayenne, 1tsp turmeric and cumin. Poured over roasted red potatoes and baked chicken.5 stars

      Reply
      • Alison Andrews says

        August 11, 2021 at 10:25 am

        So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your additions! 🙂

        Reply
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