Sometimes you crave the deliciousness of a soft and gooey cheese sauce. Learn how to make cheese dip at home and enjoy it with nachos, broccoli, or baked potatoes as an inexpensive and delicious snack. Start with very simple recipes or try making more fancy recipes or vegetarian sauce recipes. Experiment with different types of cheese in your cheese sauce, such as sharp cheddar, Gouda, or Swiss cheese.
Ingredients
Basic Cheese Sauce
- 4 tbsp (59 ml) butter
- 4 tbsp (59 ml) wheat flour
- 3 cups (710 ml) milk
- 2 cups (470 ml) grated cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
Fancy Cheese Sauce
- 1 cup (240 ml) grated cheese
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) sodium nitrate
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) liquid (water, beer, or wine)
Vegetarian “Cheese” Sauce
- 1 small size zucchini, peeled and sliced
- 5 small Yukon gold potatoes
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) water
- 1/4 cup (59 ml) Nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) fine salt
- 3/4 tsp (3.7 ml) smoked paprika or regular paprika
- 2 tsp (9.9 ml) low sodium soy sauce or tamarind
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
- Additional toppings: red chili flakes, tomato slices, jalapeos. slices
Step
Method 1 of 3: Making the Basic Cheese Sauce
Step 1. Gather the ingredients
The quality of the ingredients you use can affect the quality of the cheese sauce you make. Start with sharp cheddar cheese, grated or still in blocks. If the cheese is still in blocks, use a grater to make 2 cups of grated cheese.
- You can replace the cheddar cheese with another cheese such as, Gouda, or Swiss cheese.
- To spice up the base sauce, add salsa, chili sauce, beer, or wine for a little extra flavor.
Step 2. Melt 4 tbsp butter
In a saucepan over medium heat, slowly heat the butter for your cheese sauce. Watch the butter during the melting process. You don't want the butter to brown or turn dark, as this will change the taste of your sauce.
Step 3. Stir together with 4 tablespoons of flour
Slowly add the flour into the butter, stirring until smooth. Then, add the flour and mix until fully incorporated into the butter.
Let the mixture cook for a few minutes, until it starts to change color slightly. Be careful not to scorch the mixture, as this will burn your cheese sauce
Step 4. Add 3 cups of milk
Slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes thick.
Try to avoid lumps in the mixture. Pouring in the milk slowly and stirring constantly will help avoid lumps
Step 5. Add 1 tsp of spices
Add 1 tsp salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, or other seasoning such as dried rosemary or thyme. Make your cheese sauce as creative as possible. Start with 1 tsp of your choice of seasoning. You can adjust the taste of the sauce after adding the cheese to it.
Be careful when adding salt. Too much salt will be difficult to remove, and most cheeses already have a high salt content in them. The sauce may also have salt in it if you're using salted butter
Step 6. Remove the sauce from the stove
Removing the sauce from the stove before you add the grated cheese will prevent the sauce from separating or forming lumps.
Step 7. Add grated cheese
Add a handful of grated cheese at a time. Stir the sauce with a spoon and let the cheese melt each time you add more cheese.
Step 8. Serve immediately
The cheese sauce can harden when it cools, so serve it immediately, drizzled over chips, baked potatoes, or steamed vegetables.
Step 9. Store the remaining sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator
This sauce lasts up to three days.
Do not reheat leftover sauce over high heat, or re-steam the sauce. This will cause the sauce to become stringy or separate. Reheat the remaining sauce over low heat, stirring constantly until the sauce is ready to serve
Method 2 of 3: Making Fancy Cheese Sauce
Step 1. Gather the ingredients
This recipe calls for sodium nitrate, which is a type of salt that works as an emulsifier. This means, when added to cheese sauce, sodium nitrate reduces the acidity of the cheese, makes the proteins in the cheese dissolve more quickly, and prevents them from separating. In addition, sodium nitrate also helps create a smooth and creamy texture in your cheese sauce.
- Look at specialty grocery stores and online for sodium nitrate. Sodium nitrate looks like salt and has a salty and slightly sour taste. You only need a small amount of sodium nitrate for the sauce you make, so it won't cause an increase in sodium levels in your cheese sauce.
- If you can't find sodium nitrate, you can use 2 tsp nitric acid (or acid salt) and 2.5 tsp baking sodium as a substitute. Nitric acid, or tamarind salt, can be found in most grocery stores in the halal food area.
- You should also use high-quality cheese for a fancy cheese dip, such as Pepper Jack, Gouda, or Gruyère. These cheeses are usually still in the form of blocks. Use a grater to make 1 cup of the fancy cheese of your choice.
Step 2. Mix 1/2 tsp sodium nitrate with 1/2 cup liquid
In a medium saucepan, combine sodium nitrate and water, beer, or wine. The bottom of your pan should be covered with the liquid mixture; You may not need up to 1/2 cup of liquid, so pour in a little at a time until it's just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.
Step 3. Heat the mixture
Place a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat and allow the liquid to simmer slightly. Small bubbles will begin to form on the surface of the liquid.
Step 4. Put the grated cheese in the pan
Add the cheese to the pan and stir with a spoon until it melts and mixes with the liquid. By using sodium nitrate, the sauce will have a smooth and creamy consistency.
Step 5. Serve the sauce
Put your sauce in a bowl and dip the chips or vegetables in it, or pour it over the chips to make nachos. You can even pour the sauce over the steamed vegetables to make them even tastier.
- The sauce can keep its soft texture, even if it's getting cold.
- This sauce can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Method 3 of 3: Making a Vegetarian “Cheese” Sauce
Step 1. Gather the ingredients
Sometimes vegetarians or people who don't eat lactose can crave the pleasures of cheese sauce. While nothing can quite match the cheesy taste pleasure of the perfect cheese sauce, a vegetarian-style cheese sauce may be able to help you fulfill that desire. The key to making a good vegetarian cheese sauce is to use starchy vegetables like zucchini and potatoes, to give it a soft texture and keep the sauce from separating.
- You'll need to use a high-power blender, food processor, or Vitamix to get a smooth texture for this sauce.
- Nutritional yeast can be found in health food stores in the form of chips or powder. This yeast has a strong and savory taste, and is spicy and tangy. This deactivated yeast is a cheese substitute that vegetarians often use in recipes.
- If you have an allergy to soy sauce, you can replace it with vegetarian worcestershire sauce, which is sold in almost every health food store and specialty food store. This sauce will give the same taste, but you will need to add more salt to replace the saltiness in the soy sauce.
Step 2. Prepare the zucchini
Preheat your oven to 210ºC and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel all the green skin of the zucchini using a vegetable peeler. Then, slice into 0.6 cm and place the slices on a baking sheet.
- Season the cucumber slices with a little salt and pepper. Bake the zucchini for 15 minutes until they are soft and smooth to the touch.
- Peeling the zucchini will prevent the sauce from giving off an odd green-yellow color.
Step 3. Bake or steam 5 small potatoes
Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Place the potatoes on another baking sheet and place them in the oven along with the zucchini for 10 minutes, until they are soft.
- You can also quickly cook the potatoes in the microwave for 5 minutes, covered, until the potatoes are very soft to the touch.
- Do not boil the potatoes, as they will absorb the water and make your cheese sauce runny.
Step 4. Mash the cooked potatoes using a fork
Then, use a dry measuring cup to measure out 1 cup of mashed potatoes. It is very important to measure the amount of mashed potatoes for accurate results and thick vegetarian cheese sauce.
Place 1 cup of mashed potatoes in a high-speed blender, food processor, or Vitamix
Step 5. Add the cooked zucchini to the blender
Then, add 1/4 tsp nutritional yeast, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp fine salt, 3/4 tsp smoked paprika or regular paprika, 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce or vegetarian Worcestershire sauce, and 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice in a blender.
Pour in 3/4 of the water and add more if needed, stopping to 1 cup
Step 6. Mash all ingredients until smooth
You may need to stop the blender and scrape the bottom and sides of the blender to make sure all the ingredients are combined. Don't add more than 1 cup of water until you've mashed the sauce for a few minutes on high speed.
- Initially, the sauce will look very thick, but the sauce will start to turn very soft from the liquid that the zucchini produces. Continue mashing until the sauce is thick and creamy.
- If the sauce still looks too thick after a few minutes, add a very small amount of water just to melt the sauce. If the sauce looks too runny, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of mashed potatoes to thicken it up.
Step 7. Taste and season the sauce
You may want to add more lemon juice, salt, or other seasonings to give the sauce a stronger flavor. If you are using Worcestershire sauce instead of soy sauce, you will need to add more salt.
Step 8. Add additional sprinkles
Sprinkle the sauce with a little red chili flakes, a few slices of jalapenos or 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes to add freshness and sharpness to the sauce. This recipe makes 2 1/2 cups of sauce.
