Monday, November 3, 2008

Perfect Cheese Sauce

I once thought I would make perfect cheese sauce for my steamed vegetables in the hopes my children would actually like them. I lovingly unwrapped the package of cheddar, placed it in a pot with butter and a little milk and knew I couldn't go wrong. WRONG. The cheese and the butter and the milk never seemed to mix together, no matter what I did. I ended up with just a huge glob of melted cheese covered in greasy melted butter. And no, the kids didn't like their veggies with that conglomeration poured over them any better than they ever liked them.

Recently, however, I finally perfected my cheese sauce recipe and I would like to share it with you today. I know it was good because even the 16-year-old boy, upon picking up a piece of cheese sauce covered broccilli with his bare hands from the pot said, "Wow! This is good!" And that is a big deal...for him.

Here's what you'll need:
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
3 cups grated cheddar, mozarella, jack or other kind of cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese

Step 1: In a pot on medium heat, stir the butter and flour...


...until the butter melts and the mixture resembles a crumbly paste, like so...


Step 2: While stirring, add the milk to this mixture, and continue to stir until it is completely smooth...


Step 3: Keep stirring until the mixture begins to thicken, like this...


Step 4: Add the grated cheese and stir until it melts, then add the parmesan cheese and stir for a couple more minutes or until bubbly...


Step 5: Pour the sauce over steamed vegetables or anything else you can think of...


Believe me, you'll want to pour it all over most everything, except maybe this...


Step 6: Enjoy!


Thanks for coming!

I am pleased to list this post at...

-Tip Junkie's "Talk to me Tuesday",
-5 Minutes for Mom's "Tackle It Tuesday",
-Tammy's Recipe's "Kitchen Tip Tuesday",
-Blessed With Grace's "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday",
-Mary's "Tightwad Tuesday",
and -The Lazy Organizer's "Talk About Tuesday".

Check out these blogs! You're going to love 'em!

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23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been making sauces like that for years, though I've never tried adding parmesan. I may have to try that one now!

Anonymous said...

Yum! I will have to try the parmesan too. My family loves brocolli and cheese. Thanks for sharing.

Andrea said...

This looks absolutely delish! I can't wait to try it! :)

Here's my tackle: http://chocolatefingerprints.net/?p=558

Anonymous said...

Love that you posted photos. Mine always turns out bland so cannot wait to try yours. Looks perfect!

More Than Words said...

That looks so delish!!!! I'm going to have to copy this recipe! My kids love cheese sauce too!!! Thank you for sharing!

Shan said...

Where are the samples! My mouth is watering just looking at the pictures. Great tackle!

Susie said...

Dani's Time Inside

The Apron Queen said...

Oh, where has this recipe been all my life?

Shauna said...

Looks yummy! I love cheese sauce :)

Sherry @ Lamp Unto My Feet said...

Yum! I love cheese sauce and parmesan would add another part of delish to it. Thanks for sharing! :D

Anonymous said...

Ohhh... That looks yummy. Makes me want to eat my veggies!

Bethany Cox said...

quit spreading your poison all over the internet! If you cant even get cheese and milk and butter to combine easily (which all are pretty much the same thing) and you're left with a sticky, greasy mess, imagine what it's doing to your intestines and arteries? The exact same thing its doing at the bottom of the pot: STICKING, ROTTING, CLOGGING, not even willing to mix with itself. Anyways. congratulations for feeding your children, my siblings, poison. They'll thank you one day, i'm sure

sorry about that, but it needs to be known.

love- your healthy daughter

Emily said...

Can't wait to try this sauce. Thanks for sharing!

Live.Love.Eat said...

Hah. I was like who is saying these things to you and then I saw it's your daughter. Whew!!!!! Glad you figured it out to do a roux first before adding the rest of the stuff. It looks delish!

littletoesandcheerios said...

Thank you for sharing this 'cause Madi (19 months) is a very picky eater...can't wiat to try it for her.
Everyday even for breakfast, she says "trinch tries" aka french fries!!

GlorV1 said...

Yes that is perfect cheese sauce and brother, it looks delicious on those vegetables. I am definitely going to do that. Thanks so much.

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

Yum. That does sound like the perfect cheese sauce. Thank you for participating in TMTT.

tesslouise said...

That's how my mom made mac'n'cheese (with rotini) for lunch for me when I was a kid. She always added a bit of nutmeg to the white sauce before she added the cheese.

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

My Dearest Daughter, Bethany,
Thank you so much for your concern. The love you show for your siblings is truly unequaled in all of the universe. And I am glad to know that as you are living on your own now, you have decided to develop a more nutritious meal plan, as opposed to Monster soda and brownies as in days of yore. Thanks for the helpful comment! Love you! (Call me!)

Overwhelmed! said...

Yum! This cheese sauce sounds fantastic! And I love the pictures you posted along with the recipe. Very nice!

Thanks for linking this up in my 3rd annual Holiday Cooking, Blogger Style recipe exchange! I do appreciate it.

Lynn said...

This looks really tasty. Now I'm hungry!

Tereza said...

wow yum! I'll be sure to try this!!

Anonymous said...

Looks great. Thanks for the recipe! It's very difficult to get a good white/cheese sauce! Please leave those recipes in the sidebar atleast a couple days. I'm going to come back for some of them.