Content

• Ingredients
• Simple cheese sauce
• Luxury cheese sauce
• Vegan "cheese sauce"
• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Simple sauce
• Method 2 of 3: Luxury sauce
• Method 3 of 3: Vegan variant

Sometimes you just crave a gooey, delicious cheese sauce. Learn to make cheese sauce at home for the nachos, broccoli, or baked potatoes, and you'll quickly have a delicious side dish. Choose a very simple recipe or try a more elaborate or vegan recipe. Vary with different types of cheese in your cheese sauce, such as sharp cheddar, Gouda cheese or Swiss cheese.

Ingredients

Simple cheese sauce

• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 th flour
• 3 cups of milk
• 2 cups of grated / crumbled cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Luxury cheese sauce

• 1 cup of grated / crumbled cheese
• 1/2 tsp sodium citrate
• 1/2 cup liquid of your choice (water, beer or wine)

Vegan "cheese sauce"

• 1 small zucchini, peeled and cut
• 5 small potatoes
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 3/4 tsp smoked or regular paprika
• 2 tsp low-salt soy sauce or tamarind
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• Optional toppings: red pepper flakes, chopped tomatoes, sliced ​​jalapeños

To step

Method 1 of 3: Simple sauce

1. Gather your ingredients. The quality of your ingredients affects the quality of your cheese sauce. Start with a spicy cheddar cheese, shredded or in a block. If the cheese was bought in a block, use a grater to make 2 cups of grated cheese.
   • You can substitute cheddar cheese for other cheeses, such as Gouda or Swiss cheese.
   • To spice up the standard sauce, you can add salsa, chili sauce, beer or wine for a little extra flavor.
2. Eat it right away. The cheese sauce can harden when it cools, so serve it right away, over chips, on a baked potato, or over steamed vegetables.
3. Store leftover sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It can be kept for up to three days.
   • Leftover sauce should not be reheated or re-cooked on high heat. This makes it stringy or curdles. Heat the remaining sauce on a low heat, stirring constantly, until it is ready to serve.

Method 2 of 3: Luxury sauce

1. Gather your ingredients. This recipe uses sodium citrate, a type of salt that acts as an emulsifier. This means that when added to the cheese sauce, it reduces the acidity of the cheese, makes the proteins in the cheese more soluble and prevents curdling. In addition, it helps create a smooth, creamy cheese sauce.
   • Look at specialty kitchens and online for sodium citrate. It looks and tastes like salty and is slightly tart. You only need a very small amount of sodium citrate in the sauce or the sodium content in your cheese sauce will become too high.
   • If you can't find sodium citrate, you can use 2 teaspoons of citric acid with 2.5 teaspoons of baking soda as a substitute. Citric acid can be found in the kosher section of most supermarkets.
   • In addition, use high-quality cheese for your luxury cheese sauce, such as Pepper Jack, Gouda or Gruyère. These cheeses are likely to be sold in blocks. Use a grater to grate 1 cup of your chosen cheese.
2. Heat the liquid mixture. Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and heat the liquid gently until it comes to a simmer, but not fully boiling. Small bubbles should start to form on the surface of the liquid.
3. Serve the sauce. Put the sauce in a bowl and use as a dip for chips or vegetables and pour over chips to make nachos. You can even pour it over steamed vegetables to make them even more delicious.
   • The sauce should keep its creamy texture even when it cools down.
   • This sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Method 3 of 3: Vegan variant

1. Gather your ingredients. Sometimes people who are vegan or lactose intolerant can crave cheese sauce. While nothing can really match the deliciousness of a perfect cheese sauce, a vegan cheese-like sauce can help satisfy that craving. The key to a good vegan cheese sauce is starchy vegetables like zucchini and potatoes for a creamy texture and to prevent curdling.
   • You need a high power mixer, food processor or Vitamix to create a creamy texture for this sauce.
   • Nutritional yeast can be purchased in the form of flakes or powder from health food stores. It has a strong, savory flavor that is nutty and spicy. The deactivated yeast is a popular vegan substitute for cheese in recipes.
   • If you're allergic to soy sauce, you can substitute vegan Worcestershire sauce, available at most health food and specialty stores. It will give the sauce a similar flavor, but you will have to add more salt due to the lack of the soy sauce.
2. Blend the ingredients until smooth. You may need to stop and scrape the bottom and sides of the blender from time to time to make sure all the ingredients are mixed. Do not add more than 1 cup of water until you have blended the sauce on high speed for several minutes.
   • The sauce will appear very thick at first, but will eventually become smooth from all the water in the zucchini. Keep mixing until the sauce has turned thick and creamy.
   • If the sauce is still too thick after a few minutes of mixing, add a very small amount of water and mix it lightly. If the sauce seems a bit too thin, you can add one or two tablespoons of mashed potatoes to thicken it.
3. Taste and season the sauce. You can add extra lemon juice, salt, or other spices to give the sauce a stronger aroma. If you're using Worcestershire sauce as a substitute for soy sauce, you will probably need to add more salt.
4. Add extra toppings. Sprinkle with a pinch of red pepper flakes, a few chopped jalapeños, or a ¼ cup of chopped tomatoes, to make the sauce fresher and tart. This recipe makes 2 ½ cups of sauce.
   • Drizzle the sauce over macaroni, baked potato or roasted vegetables for a delicious vegan meal.