Sauce Veloute

Storing and Planning Ahead

Keeps for 3 days in the fridge with cling film on the surface.

Sauce Veloute: The Method

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1. Melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes without colouring.

   Mark done Start 2 min timer

2. Take off the heat and whisk in the warm stock a little at a time until smooth.

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3. Return to a gentle heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce coats a spoon.

   Mark done Start 20 min timer

4. Strain if you like. Stir in the salt, pepper, lemon juice and cream.

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A Few Pointers

• Cook the roux for only 2 minutes so it stays pale.
• Add warm stock gradually while whisking.
• Simmer long enough to lose the taste of raw flour.

Behind the Recipe

Why does a velouté taste so different from a béchamel? Because it is thickened stock, not milk. The same pale roux of butter and flour is used, but chicken or fish stock goes in, and the sauce comes out lighter, more savoury and almost translucent when it is right.

Cook the roux for only 2 minutes, just until it smells of biscuits and has not coloured, since the sauce is meant to be pale. Take it off the heat and add the hot stock gradually, whisking each addition into a smooth paste before adding more. Use warm stock and a whisk, because cold liquid against hot roux makes lumps. Return it to the heat and simmer very gently for 20 minutes, stirring often, skimming any skin that forms.

The long simmer cooks out the taste of raw flour and reduces the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon. Strain if you want it perfectly smooth. It is a base for many sauces, from mushroom to mustard, or served plain with poached chicken. A spoonful of cream and a squeeze of lemon turns it into a finished sauce.

What to Put Next to It

Poached chicken · Steamed fish · Boiled vegetables · Pies

Common Substitutions & Variations

• In a sauce, full-fat crème fraîche can usually take the place of the double cream; single cream is thinner and more likely to split if it boils, so keep it below a simmer.
• Vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock makes this meat-free without changing the method, if that is what you need.

Sauce Veloute Nutrition Facts

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

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