Vegan Béchamel Sauce Recipe

large pan of creamy white sauce on a cutting board

5 from 81 votes

Vegan Béchamel Sauce is the crème de la crème of all sauce recipes in French cuisine. Rich, creamy, nutty, with simple ingredients, my vegan version of this classic white sauce requires only 5 ingredients, contains no cashews, and will take you only 10 minutes to make.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Sauces

Cuisine: All

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: cup

Calories: 612kcal

Author: Deborah

Ingredients

2 cups oat milk
1/4 cup rice flour
2 tbsp vegan butter
1 tsp nutmeg adjust per your taste
1/2 tsp sea salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, melt the vegan butter over medium heat.
Once the butter has melted add the flour, a little at a time, all the while stirring with a wooden spoon or whisk.
Continue whisking the mixture over medium heat until it begins to thicken (this won't take long) and form a thick paste. Once a thick paste has formed, slowly add the plant milk, stirring constantly until no lumps are found in this creamy white sauce. Bring to a gentle boil for 1 minute continuing to stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer the sauce for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cooks. This is your basic white roux.
Remove from heat and taste the sauce. Add salt and nutmeg according to your taste and whisk until well-incorporated. If you want, you can add optional ingredients here, such as nutritional yeast, garlic powder, black pepper or white pepper, but these ingredients aren't typically used in traditional Béchamel. Allow Vegan Béchamel Sauce to cool for a few minutes before using it. Once cooled, the sauce is ready to be used in your favorite recipes.

Notes

Whisk thoroughly - use a wire whisk or wooden spoon and stir continuously while heating to make sure the sauce is thoroughly mixed together with no lumps.

Watch your heat - - you'll want to gently boil the sauce over medium heat for 1 full minute to activate the flour for thickening being careful not to burn it. After 1 minute, reduce the heat to a low simmer and continue cooking and stirring occasionally.

Adjust the consistency - if the sauce becomes too thick during cooking or after refrigeration, simply add some plant-milk, a little at a time to thin it out. If it's too thin, return to the heat a cook for a few more minutes to thicken it further. If it's still too thin, add a little more flour and follow the steps above.

Season to taste - the suggested measurements for sea salt and nutmeg are just a starting point. Once you remove the sauce from the heat, taste it and adjust accordingly.

Customize with additional flavors - this recipe is for basic Béchamel sauce. However, you can make it your own by adding dried or fresh herbs spices and other seasonings. Try dried sage, garlic powder, onion powder or even a teaspoon of vegan sugar to enhance the flavor.

Nutrition