This quick and easy dairy-free bechamel sauce makes me so happy! Why was I not making this classic French white sauce and adding it to all my dishes earlier? When melted cheese is the goal… why not just make a “cheesy” sauce that saves you money, uses ingredients you have on hand, and is ready in 10 minutes!
This white sauce is:
So Creamy
Wonderfully “Cheesy”
Made In One-Pot
Using Simple Ingredients
And Less Than 15 Minutes Of Your Time!
Ingredients
If you’re wondering, “Okay, What is Bechamel Sauce, Anyway?”, Bon Appetit has an article titled exactly that!
Bechamel is a white sauce made from butter, flour, and milk. The butter and flour make a “roux”, a thick paste. You slowly whisk in the milk, and the fats and flour create a rich, thick, creamy sauce.
Nutmeg is traditionally added to give the sauce a nice, warm, depth of flavour. And in order to amp up the flavour a bit, many recipes call for heating your milk for about 15 minutes prior with onion and garlic. This infuses the milk with more flavour.
I love the infused milk part… but not so much the extra pot and added time. So! Since we usually make this bechamel as an addition to pastas like our tasty Baked Ziti, I opt for just cooking the onion and garlic into the sauce. This creates a sauce with little pieces of garlic and onion, but when mixed into the main dish, who can tell! And you get the added flavour!
Making It Silky Smooth
If you want a silky smooth bechamel it just adds a bit of extra time to the recipe. Heat your milk on low with sliced onion and cloves of garlic. Bring to a low simmer, and then allow to heat for about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat.
In another pot, make your roux. Then strain the infused milk and slowly whisk it into the roux.
Alternatively, make your sauce as our recipe is written and quickly transfer it to your blender to smooth out the little clumps of onion and garlic.
Making It Cheesy
Nutritional yeast is the wonderful “cheesy” ingredient in our recipe! I love this shelf-stable pantry item. Unlike a block of cheese… I never grab my nutritional yeast and need to cut off little moldy bits… icky but you’ve been there right?
Nutritional yeast flakes keep for months in your pantry and a couple tablespoons add so much depth of flavour and a wonderful “cheesy” quality to anything your heart desires.
Cost Comparison
This quick and easy dairy-free bechamel costs us: CAD $3.51 using 3 tablespoon of nutritional yeast for the “cheese” factor.
If we were to make this recipe using dairy butter, dairy milk, and adding ½ cup shredded parmesan as many traditional recipes will call for, our cost would be: CAD $3.94
So although plant butter, plant milk, and nutritional yeast can seem to have a higher price tag than traditional ingredients; the omission of real cheese means we save!
How To Use Dairy-Free Bechamel Sauce
This is our go-to sauce to make any pasta creamy and cheesy. We add it to our Baked Ziti and you can use it similarly in a lasagna! It even adds the cheesy goodness to our Eggplant Bake and Hunger Bustin’ Sandwich!
See the notes at the bottom of the recipe card to make this quick sauce into an extra creamy Mac N’ Cheese!
And use this dairy-free bechamel sauce, or our similar Speedy Spicy Queso, anytime you want a cheesy drizzle for savoury breakfasts, cheesy sandwiches, or anything else you can come up with!
Whisk up this easy and versatile white sauce and don’t forget to let us know in the comments below how you use it!
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Dairy-Free Bechamel Sauce – Quick, Easy, & Extra Creamy
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Versatile, tasty, thrifty, & made in 1 pot! This dairy-free bechamel sauce will be your go-to for all your creamy, cheesy pastas and more!
Ingredients
- ½ shallot or ¼ medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp vegan butter
- 3 tbsp white all-purpose flour
- 2 cups soy milk (or unsweetened plant milk of choice)
- ¼ tsp salt
- optional: 2-3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- optional: ⅛ tsp nutmeg
*All the ingredients for this recipe are from our pantry and freezer tips!
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt your vegan butter. As your butter is melting, chop your onion and garlic.
- Once your butter has melted, add the onion and garlic. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes until fragrant.
- Slowly add the flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking quickly to fully incorporate the flour with the butter. When all your flour is added, cook, stirring for about 1 min.
- Slowly add your milk, ¼ cup at a time. Whisking vigorously to prevent clumping.
- When all your milk is added, stir in the nutritional yeast for “cheesiness”, salt, and nutmeg for flavour.
- Continue to stir until noticeably thickened, about 5 – 10 minutes.
- Add to lasagnas, baked ziti or other pastas as a “cheesy” white sauce. Store in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. If it becomes too thick simply stir in a bit more milk before reheating.
Notes
Cost Comparison: CAD $3.51 vs. $3.94 using dairy butter, dairy milk, and adding ½ cup shredded parmesan.
To make this Bechamel sauce the main sauce for a Mac n’ Cheese, use: 1 shallot, 4 cloves garlic, 5 tablespoon vegan butter, 4 tablespoon flour, 3 cups soy milk, and 5 tablespoon nutritional yeast. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, or add some spice (like smoked paprika)!
Feel free to omit the nutritional yeast for a white sauce without the “cheesy” flavour. Doing so will bring your cost down to CAD $2.28.
- Category: Sauces & Dips
- Method: Stovetop, one-pot
- Cuisine: French
Jan
Can you make this with oatmilk or does it have to be soy?
Kathryn Alexandre
You can absolutely use oat milk! I prefer to use unsweetened plant milk if possible but soy, oat, and cashew are the ones that I most often use. The almond milk available to me is usually not as thick but it does still work. I hope you like it!
Kari
This is the best and most simple dairy-free bechamel I’ve made. It turns out perfectly every time and I can’t get over the flavour. LOVE your eggplant parm and baked ziti recipes. Thank you for making this so easy! p.s. my veg resistant kids and husband ask for the ziti and parm all the time so keep the recipes coming!
Kathryn Alexandre
ah that’s the best compliment! I’m so glad you are all enjoying my recipes and those are certainly two of our favourites as well! I’m glad you like the simplicity of this bechamel and find it easy to whip up. Thank you so much for giving my recipes a try and leaving a star rating. This definitely encourages us to keep creating. Thank you Kari!
Kathern Stankey
I never tire of reading your posts, keep them coming!
Kathryn Alexandre
Thank you! I’m glad you like this one!