This gluten free white sauce called Bechamel is easy to make! A basic creamy white sauce that has a lot of uses. This classic French sauce is so delicious, you will add it to all your gratins and casseroles.
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💭 What is Bechamel sauce?
Bechamel is a classic French sauce. This creamy white sauce is traditionally made with wheat flour, butter and milk.
🍽 What is Bechamel sauce used for?
Bechamel is mostly used to make "gratins" (casseroles). You can use it to make potato gratin, any kind of vegetable gratin, pasta casseroles, lasagna and much more.
Here are some examples of recipes using this gluten free white sauce you can try my Baked chicory with ham and cheese or my Healthy vegetarian cauliflower casserole or my Gluten free au gratin potatoes.
⭐ Why you'll love this recipe
- Adding creamy gluten free white sauce to a vegetable casserole instantly makes it much more kid friendly. Who wouldn't like that? Well I think you will love it and that it will soon become one of your go to sauces.
- Well I have made the almond milk version of this recipe a few times for people who are not on any kind of "free from" diet. And believe me when I say that they ALL said that it was "lighter" (as in less heavy on the stomach) than the traditional recipe. And I do think that nowadays, people tend to prefer meals that are fulfilling without the feeling of being stuffed.
📖 Ingredient notes
- Milk. I absolutely love to make this white sauce with almond milk. But if you are not dairy free nor vegan, you can use cow's milk. If, on the other hand, you are vegan or dairy free, use unsweetened almond milk. Be careful to buy unsweetened almond milk!! Well, I speak out of experience as I made this mistake once (because the 2 cartons look exactly the same) and ended up having to throw away a whole dish because it was unedible. 🙁
- Whole rice flour. Also called brown rice flour. It has a neutral taste that is perfect to make this gluten free white sauce. If you want more recipes using whole rice flour, you can make my Chocolate fondant cake (gluten free, vegan) or my Gluten free cheese and bacon rolls.
- Seasoning. Nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste
Please see the recipe card below for quantities and complete list of ingredients for this gluten free white sauce recipe.
🥣 Step by step instructions
- Put the flour in a saucepan. Turn on the stove to medium high heat. Add a little bit of milk while quickly whisking with a manual whip.
- Keep adding the milk slowly while still whisking.
- Let the white sauce cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until it thickens, whisking regularly.
- Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. And voilà!
👩🏻🍳Top tips
- In order to avoid lumps, make sure to add just a little bit of milk at the beginning. Then quickly whisk until the milk and flour are well combined.
- Keep whisking regularly through the cooking process to prevent the white sauce to stick to the bottom of the sauce pan and burn.
- This gluten free white sauce will thicken as it cools. When it's warm, it may seem a bit loose. Once chilled, it will be quite thick. If you find your Bechamel too thick, do not hesitate to add more milk and stir.
💬 Recipe FAQs
Yes you can. But your white sauce will get a different consistency.
I don't recommend using a gluten free flour mix to make this recipe. Gluten free flour mixes differ a lot from one brand to another so you won't get consistent results from one brand to another. Moreover, gluten free flour blends usually contain starches and either guar gum or xanthan gum. All of these ingredients are absolutely not useful to make this gluten free white sauce recipe. And I believe that it's always better to keep ingredients to a minimum.
To make this recipe low FODMAP compliant, make sure to use either lactose free milk or almond milk. Almond milk is considered low FODMAP up to 1 cup (250 ml). Though, this recipe uses 2 cups of almond milk, it is not meant to be used for a one serving dish but for a family size dish. So you are good to go with using almond milk to make this Bechamel sauce.
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📋 Recipe / Recette
Gluten free White Sauce
Ingredients
- 500 ml (2 cups) unsweetened almond milk or cow's milk if you're not dairy free nor vegan
- 3 Tablespoons brown rice flour
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 1 pinch sea salt
- black pepper to taste
Video
Instructions
- Put the flour in a saucepan. Turn on the stove to medium high heat. Add a little bit of milk while quickly whisking with a manual whip.
- Keep adding the milk slowly while still whisking.
- Let the mixture cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until it thickens, whisking regularly.
- Add the nutmeg salt and pepper to taste. And voilà! You can use it for your favorite gratins, lasagna, pasta or vegetable casseroles or whatever you feel like having.Bon appétit!
Michele D’Angiolillo
Hi, can you use white rice flour?
Bea C.
Bonjour Michele. Yes you can use white rice flour to make this gluten free white sauce.