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Mother sauces, roux ratios and practical fixes

Béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise and tomato are the five classical French mother sauces. Learn their bases and thickening methods, then use the ratio tables for a sauce you can repeat.

CookBook TeamUpdated

The five classical French mother sauces

These five sauce families are a practical map of classical French cooking. Each has a base and a way to thicken it, then becomes another sauce when you add a flavouring [1].

SauceBase and thickenerA useful variation
BéchamelMilk with a pale rouxAdd cheese for Mornay.
VeloutéLight stock with a pale or blond rouxUse chicken, fish or vegetable stock to suit the dish.
EspagnoleBrown stock with brown roux and aromaticsA starting point for richer brown sauces.
HollandaiseEgg yolks and butter, emulsifiedTarragon and an acidic reduction lead towards béarnaise.
TomatoTomatoes and aromatics, cooked downAdjust herbs and texture for the dish.

The list describes a classical family tree, not every sauce in the world. Tomato sauce does not always need flour, and the warm emulsion in hollandaise needs different handling from a simmered roux sauce [1].

Roux: equal weights of flour and fat

Start with one part flour to one part butter by weight. For example, 50 g flour and 50 g butter make 100 g roux before liquid is added. Equal spoonfuls are not equal weights [1].

Roux stageLook and smellUse
WhitePale paste; raw flour smell has cooked outWhite sauce and béchamel.
BlondLight gold with a toasted aromaLight stock sauces.
BrownBrown and deeply toasted, without black flecksBrown sauces; colour changes the thickening effect.

Watch colour and smell rather than relying on a fixed number of minutes. If the roux smells burnt or has black flecks, start again [1].

Pale ivory flour-and-butter roux in a stainless steel saucepan
White roux Keep it pale for white sauce. Cook out the raw flour smell before adding liquid.
Light golden flour-and-butter roux in a stainless steel saucepan
Blond roux Look for a light gold colour and a toasted aroma when making a light stock sauce.
Chestnut brown flour-and-butter roux in a stainless steel saucepan
Brown roux The colour is deeper, with no black flecks. A burnt smell means starting again.

A repeatable white-sauce starting ratio

For a thick white sauce, use 50 g butter, 50 g plain flour and 500 ml milk. For half a batch use 25 g, 25 g and 250 ml; for a double batch use 100 g, 100 g and 1 litre [2].

BatchButterFlourMilk
Half25 g25 g250 ml
Standard50 g50 g500 ml
Double100 g100 g1 litre
  1. Melt the butter gently, stir in the flour and cook while stirring until the paste loses its raw flour smell.
  2. Add milk gradually, whisking smooth before adding more.
  3. Bring to a gentle simmer and keep stirring as it thickens. The reference method simmers for 5 to 10 minutes.
  4. Season and judge the sauce at serving temperature. Loosen a thick sauce with milk a little at a time.

The batch table scales ingredient quantities; heating time does not multiply with the ingredients [2]. Use the servings calculator for another size.

Lumpy, thin, split or burnt?

ProblemNext action
Lumps in white sauceTake it off the heat and whisk until smooth before adding more liquid.
Too thickWhisk in a little warm liquid at a time.
Too thinLet it simmer gently before deciding to add more thickener.
Burnt smellStart again; extra seasoning will not remove the burnt flavour.
Split butter-and-egg emulsionTake it off direct heat. Follow a hollandaise rescue method rather than boiling it or adding flour.

Keep a roux-thickened sauce and an emulsion separate in your troubleshooting: one develops thickness through starch, the other holds fat and liquid together [3].

Choose a thin, medium or thick white sauce

For a spoon-measured white sauce, choose a complete row below for each 1 US cup of milk. Use level US tablespoons for both butter and flour. These are volume measures, not equal butter and flour weights [4].

ConsistencyButterPlain flourMilkUse
Thin1 US tbsp1 US tbsp1 US cupCream soups and vegetable sauces.
Medium2 US tbsp2 US tbsp1 US cupCasseroles and cheese sauce.
Thick3 US tbsp3 US tbsp1 US cupSoufflé mixtures.

Melt the butter, blend in the flour, then remove from the heat to stir in the milk. Return to the heat and stir as it comes to the boil. If it will not cook further in another dish, boil while stirring for 1 minute. Season to suit the meal [4]. Use the unit converter to check US spoon and cup volumes.

Build a sauce into a complete meal

Use béchamel in a savoury pie, pair tomato sauce with fresh pasta or use browning to build flavour before a pan sauce. Save the complete recipe and your adjustments in CookBook so a successful sauce is easy to repeat.

Sources

  1. Escoffier Online: An introduction to the five French mother sauces
  2. Good Food: White sauce recipe and method
  3. The Culinary Pro: About sauces and thickening
  4. LibreTexts: White sauce proportions and method

A little more help

Frequently asked questions

Does an equal-weight roux use equal spoonfuls?

No. Equal weights of flour and butter do not mean equal spoonfuls. Weigh them for the 1:1 roux formula. The separate spoon-measured white-sauce table uses its own complete proportions.

Can I thicken hollandaise with a roux?

That changes the type of sauce. Hollandaise is an egg-and-butter emulsion; manage its heat and emulsion instead of treating it as a flour-thickened sauce.

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