Cheese sauce

This simple recipe makes a rich and creamy cheese sauce on the stove. It can be used as a topping for potatoes, nachos and veggies, or poured over pasta to make homemade macaroni and cheese.

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
  
  
• 2 tablespoons white flour
  
  
• 1 cup milk
  
  
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
  
  
• Pinch of salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in medium sized pot, on medium heat. Add flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously. Use a whisk if you have one! The flour will form a paste with the butter, and turn golden brown in colour as it cooks.
   
   
2. Add milk slowly, stirring as you go, and whisking out any lumps that form. Continuously stir the sauce, and cook for around 5 minutes, until it is smooth and thick.
   
   
3. Remove pot from heat, and stir in the cheese and seasonings. Keep stirring until the cheese is completely melted.

• Warming the milk up for a minute or two in the microwave before adding it to the pot will reduce splattering when the cold milk hits the hot pot, and speed up the cooking time.
  
  
• Adding the milk too quickly will put many lumps in your sauce! Make sure to add it very slowly, and stir thoroughly to avoid this.
  
  
• Overheated cheese can get clumpy or stringy as well. Make sure to add your cheese at the very end, just after the sauce is taken off the heat.

• You can use any kind of milk to make this sauce. Higher fat milks will make creamier sauces.
  
  
• Any good melting cheese can be used. Swiss, gruyere, Montery Jack, and parmesan would all be delicious, if you can get them. You do want to buy a block of cheese and grate it yourself; pre-grated cheese that comes in bags has additives to keep the cheese from sticking together. These will get lumpy in your sauce.
  
  
• If you find the flavour bland, you can add more spices along with the salt and pepper. Onion and garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg are all popular additions. Also, using a sharp cheddar cheese will add more bite.

• Cover and keep in the fridge for up to 2 days, reheating before eating.

Recipe submitted by Erin

Food is Too Expensive! was funded by the City of Saskatoon through our Healthy Yards partnership, the Cyril Capling Trust Fund of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, and the Department of Plant Sciences. Focus group research to inform this work was collected by CHEP. Thank you all for helping us make healthy food more accessible!