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White cream sauce

White Cream Sauce

Versatile, made from everyday ingredients, perfect for main dishes! This white cream sauce turns out wonderfully silky, with a pleasant, gentle hint of garlic. It's great over pasta and just as good with poultry or fish. It's simple to make — you just need to mind a few small details.

UnicornSteak

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Cream

250

Butter

Garlic

Fresh rosemary

Ground hot pepper

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 6 % 2 g

Fats 83 % 30 g

Carbohydrates 11 % 4 g

369 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 15 min

Step 1:

How do you make white cream sauce? Start by melting the butter. Drop the butter into a small saucepan with a heavy bottom and melt it over low heat until liquid. To speed things up, cut it into small pieces first.
Step 2:

Add the cream to the melted butter. Any fat content works here, but keep in mind that the richer the cream, the more calories the sauce will have — I use a light cream (about 20% fat, similar to half-and-half). Stir the butter and cream together well and cook for about seven minutes over low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula.
Step 3:

Now grate in a clove of garlic on the fine side of a grater. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste and add a sprig of fresh rosemary. Dried rosemary works too — use about 1/4 teaspoon. In general, feel free to season with whatever herbs you love.
Step 4:

Simmer the sauce for another couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Don't cover the pan.
Step 5:

The sauce should thicken slightly and turn a bit glossy. It will thicken even more as it cools.
Step 6:

Since this sauce tends to form a skin on top as it cools, it's usually made fresh right before serving rather than stored. If you do need to hold it, press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the sauce so no air can reach it.

If you're serving this sauce over pasta, I recommend setting the pasta water to boil right as you start the sauce — that way both come together at about the same time. You can add any vegetable or meat to the pasta: mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, chicken, whatever you like. The sauce ties everything together beautifully. Or just toss the pasta with the sauce, top with grated Parmesan, and pour yourself a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Bellissimo! Beyond pasta, this white sauce is lovely with fish — both white and salmon — and with shrimp. It's especially good with lean turkey meatballs. Enjoy!
You can also melt the butter in the microwave or over a water bath. To melt it in the microwave: cut the butter into small pieces and place it in a microwave-safe container, covering it with a paper towel so it doesn't splatter. Use the lowest power setting or the defrost mode. Start with about five seconds; if it hasn't melted, heat for another 5 seconds and repeat until done. To melt it over a water bath: you'll need two containers of different sizes. Fill the larger one with water and set it on the stove, then rest the smaller one on top so it's submerged about halfway. Add the cut-up butter to the smaller container; the boiling water below will melt it. Stir gently to speed it along, and as soon as the butter is fully melted, take the container off the heat.
For tips on choosing the perfect pot for soup, porridge, or pickling, see our article about pots.
Since everyone's sense of saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, heat, and acidity is different, always add spices and seasonings to your own taste! And if you're using a seasoning for the first time, remember that some are easy to overdo (chili pepper, for instance).