How to make a classic Velouté white sauce at home
Don’t get nervous about the names of some of these classic sauces like velouté (veh-loo-TAY). It’s a fancy French name for a white sauce that is stock based and thickened with a white roux.
The stock used is usually chicken, veal, or fish. Velouté is considered one of the five ‘mother sauces’ that almost all of the classic French sauces are derived from.
Most classic white sauces are derived from Velouté sauce, which is just a white stock (veal, chicken, or fish for example) that has been thickened with a white roux (an equal combination of flour and fat, typically butter).
The difference between a white stock and a brown stock is whether or not the bones it is made from have been roasted or not. Stocks made with roasted bones are considered brown.
From this basic Velouté sauce, you can create dozens of other sauces by introducing other ingredients. The two most famous classic sauces made from Velouté are Allemande (German Sauce) and Sauce Suprěme.
You can also learn more about making sauces at home here.
Velouté Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups white stock veal, chicken, or fish - white stock just means the bones were not roasted
- 2 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 3 tablespoons flour
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- All you need to do is assemble the ingredients and get your cookware together.
- Bring the stock to a simmer in a large saucepan.
- In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over low heat (don't let it burn) and add the flour. Raise the heat to medium and stir the butter and flour together for about 2 minutes.You are making the roux. Take a good whiff and it should have a pleasant toasted smell.
- Whisk the simmering stock into the roux and keep heating and whisking.
- When the stock begins to simmer again, turn down the heat to low and cook until the sauce thickens. A thin skin may form, just skim it away with your spoon.
- Depending on your stove-top, the sauce may take 5 - 10 minutes to get to your desired consistency.
- Season with salt and pepper
- Strain if you have a fine mesh strainer or chinois.
I m interested in the veloute with spinach.
May I have the instructions as how to prepare it?
Thank you
Follow the basic instructions to make a veloute if you dont want chicken stock use veg
take a handful of spinach and blitz (blend) it through the sauce until you have your desired taste..
thanks for this interested tips.
Dos anyone know how to make a Noilly Prat veloute that works well with pasta and seafood? Truly grateful for any advice.
When working with roux, hot stock is added to cold roux or if your roux is hot than cold stock is used.
You have to add the hot stock in hot roux and stir fast until the sauce is smooth finely and simmer in medium-low heat for 10-15 min., season with salt and pepper to taste.
No, you’re wrong. It has to be cold roux and hot stock or hot roux and cold stock. That’s how traditional French cuisine works.
thanks a lot, it’s important to know what is the difference of brown and white stock
In white stock there’s no Browning of meaty bones but it’s in brown stock.
Yes, Rispah, that is true. I believe it’s what I said in the recipe.
A veloute is not a white roux it is a blonde roux. A white roux is for bechemel.
White roux and milk is beshamel. Blond roux blond stock (chicken or fish) is veloute. Brown roux and brown stock (beef) is an espanole.