Cheese sauce starts as a classic béchamel sauce which is known as one of the mother sauce in French cuisine. This sauce is so versatile in culinary purpose, it can be used to make a beautiful coat for a meat dish, pasta, vegetables or as a separate dip for your tasty chips and crackers.
No matter what your dish is, a standard cheese sauce needs to be smooth and thick enough. It sounds a piece of cake but in fact, many people have failed in making the cheese sauce and their finished product is a runny sauce.
But don’t worry, there are actually several ways to thicken the watery cream cheese, but the easiest way without changing the flavor of the sauce is returning to the béchamel base. Other methods require additional ingredients such as flour or cornstarch to make the dip thicker. Let’s find out how each way work so you will have your own choice.
How to thicken cheese sauce with a starch thickener
Thickening agents such as flour or cornstarch is so popular in every kitchen. In this part, you will know how to use a starch thickener to salvage your watery cheese sauce. Here is how we do:
Material
- 1 to 2 tsp of flour or cornstarch
- ½ cup of water
Tools
- A saucepan
- A bowl
- A wooden spoon
Instruction
- Whisk together equal parts flour and cold water in a small bowl to make a slurry (normally, use 4tsp. of slurry for every liter or quart of cream sauce)
- Stir the slurry into the cream sauce 1 teaspoon at a time
- Simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes to get rid of any raw flour taste
- Check the thickness of the sauce if it reached your desire
Notes
- You can replace flour with cornstarch (equal parts of cornstarch and cold water and use 2 tbsp.of the slurry for each cup of sauce)
How to thicken cheese sauce by simmering it without any materials
This will be the easiest and quickest way to thicken your cheese sauce or any kind of sauce. Now let’s take a look at the simple guideline below.
Material
- None
Tools
- A saucepan
- A wooden spoon
Instruction
- Pour the sauce into a saucepan and put in the stovetop
- Adjust the heat on your stovetop to bring the sauce to a simmer
- Stir the sauce frequently until the excess liquid is evaporated and the thickness is as desired
Notes
- Avoid letting the sauce boil as high heat can cause dairy to separate, ruining the texture of your cream sauce
- Cheese sauce can burn easily so you should keep an eye on your sauce and don’t forget to regularly stir it while reducing
How to thicken cheese sauce with egg yolk
Egg yolk is considered as a kind of thickener that you can use in several cases to fix a runny sauce. Let’s figure out the instruction below:
Material
- An egg yolk
Tools
- A saucepan
- A whisk
- A bowl
Instruction
- Whisk the egg yolk in a bowl and slowly add your cheese sauce until you have about 1 cup of liquid
- Gently whisk the egg yolk liquid into the rest cream sauce in a saucepan over low heat
- Stir frequently until you reach the desired consistency
Notes
- You may not need to use all of the egg yolk liquid to thicken the cream sauce, just pour it a little by little to the saucepan that you feel enough to thicken the sauce
How to thicken cheese sauce with cheese
You can also choose cheese as a thickening agent to make your sauce thicker. This is the way to go especially for those who prefer the sauce creamy and cheese flavor.
Material
- Shredded or diced cheese
Tools
- A saucepan
Instruction
- Pour the runny cheese dip into a pan over low heat (stir the sauce occasionally to avoid burning)
- Add shredded or diced cheese to the dip and keep stirring until it reaches the desired thickness
- Let the dip cool before serving to allow it to get thicker
Notes
- If you find your cheese dip becomes far thicker than you wish while simmering, you can thin it with 1 tbsp. of milk or reduce the heat until the desired thickness is achieved
How to thicken cheese sauce by adding a new bechamel sauce
As already mentioned, cheese sauce has a bechamel base so in order to thicken a runny cheese sauce, you can return to make the bechamel sauce then mix them together.
Material
- Some ingredients to make the bechamel sauce: onion, milk, butter, nutmeg, bay leaf, flour…
Tools
- A saucepan
- A strainer
- A bowl
- Paper towel
- A wooden spoon
Instruction
- Combine milk, onion, grated nutmeg and bay leaf in a saucepan
- Simmer the pan until it starts to boil
- Remove the pan from the heat, cover and rest for 15 minutes
- Strain it through a fine sieve over a bowl to catch the onions and bay leaf
- Wipe the pan clean with paper towels then melt butter over medium heat
- Add flour to the pan and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly to form a roux that will thicken the sauce
- Gradually add strained milk mixture, stirring with a whisk until blended until boiling and thick
- Add the new béchamel sauce to the cream cheese dip, and simmer until combined and desired thickness is achieved
Notes
- This method might take a little more time and technique than others but won’t change the flavor of the sauce
