Mother Sauces

The Mother Sauces

Lots of sauces and soups contain a base known as a mother sauce. Here's how to make a gluten-free roux in order to make your favorite gravies and sauces gluten-free! 

Roux

A roux is extremely simple -- equal parts fat and flour depending on how much sauce you intend to make. I use the King Arthur's 1:1 flour for this.

1. Use about 2-3 ounces (4-5 tablespoons) of fat to flour. I tend to prefer butter or canola oil for the fat, but any neutral oil or ghee will work. 

2. Saute 1/2 cup minced onions in the fat until soft (you can use frozen diced onions if you don't want to or can't dice an onion for whatever reason! It is also completely optional). 

3. Gradually add flour and whisk until fully incorporated -- mixture should be lump-free with a texture between a thick paste and wet sand and there should be no unincorporated flour left. The longer you cook the roux, the smoother it becomes and the less thickening power it has. The three different rouxs have different uses and are not interchangeable.

 4. Whisk continually as the flour cooks down; for a white roux (the most common type, used in white gravy, cheese sauce, and béchamel), cook until aromatic, slightly nutty, bubbling slightly, and just before it starts developing color. For a blonde roux (most commonly used in velouté, a light stock thickened with blonde roux which is the foundation of something like a light gravy) cook 3-4 minutes longer than white roux until the nutty aromatics are stronger and the roux has taken on a slightly darker pale-golden color and thinned out. For a brown roux (used for espagnole, the base of many rich, dark sauces and gravies), continue cooking another 6-8 minutes until the roux has thinned out further still, taken on a stronger nutty aroma and turned a golden-brown color.

Sauces

Béchamel is made by adding milk* to your white roux and fully incorporating the roux via whisking it until there's no lumps and the sauce is your desired thickness. Thicker béchamels are best used in white gravy and cheese sauce, and thinner béchamels are best used in cream soups. Season your béchamels to the taste of whatever application you are using it for, and go from there!

Velouté is made by adding a light stock (chicken, turkey, or veal) or broth* to your blonde roux. You can use homemade stock if you prefer, but if you want a more accessible and less time-consuming meal, you are completely allowed to simply use a boxed broth or stock. Be wary of boxed broths and stocks and be sure that they're totally gluten-free before use. Velouté is great for chicken/turkey gravy and thickened turkey/chicken soups.

 Espagnole is made by adding a dark stock (pork, beef) or broth* to your brown roux. As with velouté, you are more than allowed to use premade stock or broth for a quicker and more accessible meal if you can't or don't want to make it homemade. Espagnole is great for brown gravy, sauce espagnole, and rich, dark soups.

*Amount depends on how thick or thin you want your sauce to be. If you add too little and want to thin it out, add more liquid. If you want it thicker, add less liquid, and if you added too much you can cook it until it thickens more. For the meat based sauces, gravies specifically, you can also use the pan drippings from your meats. You can also apply these gravy methods to plant-based dishes by swapping out meat stocks or broths for vegetable stocks or broths.