Gluten-Free White Sauce
- Liana Brittain
- Nov 18, 2025
- 1 min read
Home cooks make a white sauce to accompany dishes and as an ingredient in many recipes, especially casseroles. Sometimes it is also used with vegetables as a sauce to top them or as part of the serving style such as creamed peas. Professional cooks refer to this essential and versatile sauce as Bechamel. It’s always served hot at meal time.
1
Types of Fat
Any fat can be used in place of the butter. Alternatively, oil can be used. If oil is used, omit direction #1, but if lard or shortening are used it must be melted just as in step #1. Be aware that using butter results in a very rich tasting sauce. The type of oil, lard or shortening substituted will impact the taste of the sauce.
2
Types of Flour
Starches such as cornstarch, tapioca starch or potato starch can be used instead of rice flour. However, in my experience, white rice flour produces a roux that, when turned into a sauce, will hold its consistency better. The alternatives tend to become watery and lose their thick consistency when reheated.
3
Pepper
In cooking, I use freshly ground mixed peppercorns. My tongue and pallet are very sensitive, and black pepper burns my mouth. Instead, I buy or create a blend of mixed peppercorns including: black, white, green and red peppercorns in equal proportions.
4
Milk Substitutes
This recipe uses lactose free cow’s milk, but other milk products can be substituted. It doesn't matter if the lactose free milk is 2%, 3% or homogenized. Use whatever you prefer and have on hand. NOTE: I haven’t personally used any other type of “milk” so I don’t know how this would impact the end product, but I encourage you to try them and post your results in the comments section.
5
Critical Step!
Boiling the White Sauce for 1-minute breaks down the rice flour. If you skip this step, your White Sauce will be gritty and have a very unpleasant texture.
6
Serving Suggestions
For best results, if serving as a side, heat the serving container before adding the White Sauce. Fill it with hot water and let it sit for a minute to heat it. Dry the serving container before adding the White Sauce.
Notes
1
In a saucepan, over medium low heat, melt the butter.
2
Add the pepper and salt to the melted butter.
3
Stirring constantly, with a whisk, gradually add the rice flour.
4
When the flour and melted butter have been blended slowly begin adding the milk, reserving ½ cup for later, raising the heat to medium high.
5
When the liquid comes to a boil, hold it at that temperature, on a hard boil, for one minute, whisking vigorously.
6
If the mixture becomes lumpy at any point, remove it from the heat and continue to whisk it vigorously until all the lumps are gone, then place it back over the heat and continue whisking until it has boiled hard for 1 minute.
7
Reduce the heat to medium low continuing to whisk slowly.
8
Taste the White Sauce and adjust the seasonings to your preference. Add the rest of the milk, if necessary, to make the White Sauce the consistency you prefer.
9
Serve hot.
Instructions
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/2 teaspoon finely ground pepper corns
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups lactose free milk
Gluten-Free White Sauce
Gluten-Free White Sauce
Liana Brittain
A White sauce is also called a Béchamel Sauce. It can be used as an ingredient in classic recipes like lasagna, moussaka, chicken pot pie and scalloped potatoes or combined with vegetables such as creamed peas. It can also be served as a side to be added to vegetables after serving. This White Sauce recipe begins with a Roux. I recommend that you read the entire recipe and the notes before beginning. Make sure you have no other tasks on the go at this time. This recipe only takes a few minutes to make but it does requires your full attention from beginning to end.
Servings :
4
Calories:
Prep Time
5 min
Cooking Time
15 min
Rest Time
0 min
Total Time
20 min
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