Sauce

The 5 French Mother Sauces Every Cook Should Know

Get in formation: Béchamel! Velouté! Espagnole! Hollandaise! Tomato!

December 15, 2021
Photo by James Ransom

The five French mother sauces are: Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole, Hollandaise, and Tomato. Read on to learn how to make each one.


In the 19th century, Marie-Antoine Carême anointed Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole, and tomato sauce as the building blocks for all other sauces in his work L'Art de la Cuisine Française au Dix-Neuvième Siecle. Later on, Hollandaise got added to the family. Since then, many people consider others sauces—sweet and savory from all around the world—as unofficial extended relatives of these five sauces.

Though some will argue for the importance of chimichurri and chocolate sauce, it's a knowledge of the five French mother sauces that will prove essential. They may seem intimidating, but mother sauces will nurture your kitchen confidence. With a few simple ingredients (mostly flour, butter, and a liquid) and a couple easy techniques, these five sauces, all equally important to your cooking repertoire, serve as the starting point for a slew of other classics.

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Once you get the feel for these sauces, you’ll be able to whisk them up whenever you want to get fancy. And soon enough, you'll feel confident enough to break tradition and take that Mother Sauce somewhere she’s never gone before. Here's what you need to know about the building blocks of sauces:

  

Beyond flavor, the most important element of any sauce is its ability to smother and cling to whatever it gets drizzled, dolloped, or poured on. That means making the sauce thick and stable, which is accomplished with three techniques: a roux, an emulsifier, and a reduction (liquid that's slowly cooked down until thick). 

Four out of the five mother sauces start with a roux. Roux is a fancy name for flour mixed with fat. Equal parts butter and flour get cooked over medium heat, then a liquid gets added. This mixture then boils, thickens (reduces), and becomes the base of your sauce. Just note, if you’re making a white sauce—like Béchamel or Velouté—do not brown the butter, as it will darken the finished product. The last mother sauce is a product of emulsification, which I'll explain below. 

More: Is it your first time making a roux? Here's how to do it, step by step.

Here are the basic formulas of the five mother sauces:

Béchamel: Roux + Dairy (traditionally milk or cream)
Velouté: Roux + White Stock (traditionally chicken, but also vegetable or fish)
Espagnole: Roux + Brown Stock (traditionally veal or beef)
Tomato: Roux + Tomatoes (or, go the Italian route by skipping the roux and simply reducing tomatoes over medium-low heat until thick)
Hollandaise: Egg Yolks + Clarified Melted Butter + Acid (like lemon juice or white wine)

Now that you understand the basics, let’s talk about each mother sauce in more detail (and what to pair them with):

1. Béchamel

If you’ve eaten homemade macaroni and cheese, a classic croque madame, or lasagna, chances are you’ve experienced the rich creaminess of Béchamel. It can be made in its most basic form by just combining roux and cream, or it can be mixed with other ingredients to create new sauces: Mornay is made by adding Gruyère or Parmesan, and mustard sauce is made by adding—you guessed it—mustard.

Recipes to Flaunt Your Béchamel Skills

Creamiest Baked Mac & Cheese

Baking mac & cheese means you get the best of both worlds: a crunchy topping and a creamy interior. Recipe developer Josh Cohen has a trick for avoiding any dryness during baking: undercook the pasta and use extra cheese sauce.

Croque Madame Hot Dish

The classic ham-and-cheesy croque monsieur becomes a madame with the addition of an egg. In this recipe from Justine Chapple’s cookbook Just Cook It, it becomes a hot dish, a Midwestern casserole layered with béchamel, ham, Gruyère, and topped with fried eggs.

Lasagna Bolognese

A proper lasagna bolognese requires time. Time to make the meat sauce; time to make the parmigiano-leaden béchamel; time to layer the noodles, sauces, and cheese; time to give it a nice long bake; and, most importantly, time to savor every bite.

Here are some other ways to use Béchamel:

  • Swap in Béchamel for some of the cream in a gratin.
  • Pour it over polenta cakes and broil for a few minutes until bubbly and golden brown.

Once you've mastered basic Béchamel, here's how to get more creative: Spike a classic Béchamel with soy and miso for a new take on Trent Pierce’s Miso-Creamed Kale or Nobu’s Fried Asparagus.

2. Velouté

Like good old Béchamel, Velouté begins with a white roux, but then it gets mixed with white stock made from fish, chicken, or veal. Technically not a finished sauce, it's used as a flavorful starting point for gravies, mushroom sauces (hello chicken pot pie), and shrimp sauce (hello shrimp bisque). 

Get Your Velouté On With These Recipes

Velouté aux Champignons de Paris (Button Mushroom Soup)

Made with plenty of butter and cognac, this Parisian-inspired mushroom soup is just as good hot as it is cold.

Deep-Dish Chicken Pot Pie

Is there anything cozier than chicken pot pie? Yep: deep-dish chicken pot pie. This creamy meal is baked in a springform pan, making a hefty pie that’ll really stick to your ribs.

Buttermilk Drop Biscuits & Sausage Gravy From Millie Peartree

Chef Millie Peartree’s biscuits and sausage gravy are for those lazy mornings when you’re craving a breakfast that’ll keep you full for hours.

Here are some other ways to use Velouté:

  • Whip up Velouté with veal stock, then use it to make Swedish Meatballs.
  • Smother biscuits with an herby gravy for breakfast.

Once you've mastered basic Velouté, here's how to get more creative: Make velouté vegetarian with a mushroom-based stock for this Vegetarian Mushroom Thyme Gravy.

3. Espagnole

Although some think blond roux have more fun, Espagnole proves that dark roux know how to party, too. Also known as brown sauce, Espagnole begins with a mirepoix (carrots, celery, and onions), beef stock, and deglazed brown bits (fond) from beef bones. From there, tomato paste and spices may be added.

To make a demi-glace, a rich French brown sauce, combine the Espagnole with more beef stock; to create Bordelaise, a red wine sauce that pairs well with steak and mushrooms, mix the demi-glace with red wine and herbs. Serve this with filet mignon for an excellent dinner.

Explore Espagnole In These Recipes

Chopped Steak Marchand de Vin

This recipe, from Canal House: Cook Something, calls for store-bought veal demi-glace—we’re a fan of any shortcut that makes dinner faster.

Dan Barber's Braised Short Ribs

Chef Dan Barber’s braised short ribs take classic Espagnole to new heights with the addition of bright tamarind paste, which cuts through the fattiness of the meat.

Here are some other ways to use Espagnole and its variations:

4. Tomato

Probably the first mother sauce you ever tasted (over a heaping bowl of spaghetti), tomato sauce is often a mixture of just onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Although some traditionalists may start with a roux, most tomato sauces merely rely on a tomato reduction to build flavor and create thickness.

Tomato, Tom-ah-to—You Need These Sauce Recipes

Pizza Sauce

Pizza sauce certainly isn’t classic French, but the two are no doubt linked. We like to keep a quart of this in the freezer for pizza-emergencies.

Yotam Ottolenghi's Shakshuka

Shakshuka’s saucy tomato base isn't traditionally French either, but it is perfect for savory breakfast fans—but we like this recipe any time of day.

Once you've mastered basic tomato sauce, here's how to get more creative: Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce can't be beat, but if you want to think outside of Italy, use your tomato sauce to make Lentil Cakes with Tikka Masala instead. 

5. Hollandaise

Think of Hollandaise as a fancy mayonnaise that uses clarified butter in place of oil and gets drizzled over asparagus and eggs without judgment. Instead of using a roux or a reduction, Hollandaise uses the method of emulsification: the act of using a binding agent (in this case, an egg yolk) to force two ingredients that don't mix well together (here, butter and lemon juice) to like each other immensely. Hollandaise takes patience, as you'll need to temper the mixture so that the eggs do not curdle. The sauce can break easily, but you can patch things back together by adding a little heavy cream and whisking until the sauce returns to its smooth state; or use Amanda's trick for fixing broken aioli—a close relative of Hollandaise sauce—by using the broken emulsification to start your next batch. Sound like a lot of hard work? This Fried Green Tomato Benedict makes it all worth the trouble.

When mixed with unsweetened whipped cream, Hollandaise suddenly becomes airy Mousseline that can be poured over fish or vegetables

Recipes When You Want Hollandaise For Days

Hollandaise Sauce

Start off strong with a classic Hollandaise sauce recipe to keep bookmarked.

Avocado Toast Eggs Benedict

Eggs Benedict (or Florentine) are instantly improved when merged with another breakfast favorite: avocado toast.

Poached Eggs With Miso-Brown Butter Hollandaise

Try Food52 Resident Mandy Lee’s miso and brown butter Hollandaise, and you may never make the classic recipe ever again.

Béarnaise is another close relative to Hollandaise. But unlike Hollandaise, which has lemon juice in it, Béarnaise is perfumed with tarragon, shallots, and white wine vinegar.

Here are some other ways to use Hollandaise:

Once you've mastered basic Hollandaise, here's how to get more creative: Let another breakfast staple enjoy the creaminess of Hollandaise with this Savory Oatmeal recipe. Or take your next Caramelized Pork Bahn Mi to new heights by replacing the mayonnaise with a Sriracha-spiked Hollandaise sauce. 

Short rib photo by Sarah Shatz; last photo by Marta Greber; all others by James Ransom. This article originally ran in February of 2015; we're re-running it now to revisit the classics—and just in case you don't know them yet.

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

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In January of 2004, I received a diagnosis that changed my life. I was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease that in my case attacked my kidneys and brain. Due to the intensity of the initial “flare up” of the disease, I became renal insufficient and eventually faced kidney failure. Amazingly, through great medicine, wonderful family and friends, and an enormous amount of support, I became stronger and healthier and miraculously, my kidneys partially regenerated. I no longer depend on dialysis and by regulating my diet, I depend on fewer medications. Five years later, I work part time and live a full and utterly enjoyable life. My dietary restrictions have transformed into a real passion for food and I hope to be able to pass along my favorite finds to others facing similar dietary challenges. Be creative, be friendly, and be full!

86 Comments

Kennello July 5, 2022
Carême's FOUR "Mother Sauces" were Allemande, Velouté, Espagnol, et Béchamel. Escoffier demoted Sauce Allemande to be a lesser Velouté and added Sauce Hollandaise et Tomate. I often also consider a vinaigrette a sauce because there are so many variations today, both hot and cold and if you you can't make a good vinaigrette or balsamic vinaigrette you shouldn't be bragging about how much better you are than an experienced Saucier de la Cuisine. I have worked and lived with famous Internationally known Chefs and Restaurateurs and they NEVER even once insinuated they were better than another Chef de Cuisine. Pffff.....ridicule !!
 
LxUn1c0 November 28, 2022
Correction: Escoffier did not say that Hollandaise is a mother sauce. He said that Mayonnaise is.
 
Maayan W. December 13, 2020
Hollandaise isn't a mother sauce.
https://youtu.be/pMXvAjH0Nco
 
Stuart C. December 13, 2020
Beat me to it :( but yeh the evidence is undeniable. Lazy translations are are where most historical innacuracies lie.
 
Kennello July 6, 2022
Oh yeah...I always follow YouTube as verbatim. Go get an Escoffier and read it...say it isn't a mother sauce and you have Flunked the saucier exam at CIA .
 
LxUn1c0 November 28, 2022
You should actually watch the video instead of simply dismissing it out of hand, because you just made yourself look like a complete fool.

In the video, Alex literally references Escoffier and shows where he himself says that Hollandaise is NOT a mother sauce. The idea that it is comes from a TRANSLATION of Escoffier's work which rearranged the sauces out of order. So the source for the claim that Hollandaise isn't a mother sauce isn't just "YouTube," it's Escoffier himself! You should look it up in the original French instead of relying on fundamentally flawed translations!

Every culinary arts curriculum that cites Escoffier to say that Hollandaise is a mother sauce is simply wrong. The 5th mother sauce is not Hollandaise, it's MAYONNAISE! If that was marked wrong on any exam, anywhere, it should be contested with a reference to the original source. The record needs to be set straight!
 
Joseph S. December 7, 2020
Mrs. Nelson used this article for an assignment
 
ilovetoeat July 28, 2019
Hello. I have been avoiding wheat for some time now and while I am slowly getting up to speed with gluten free baking, I have not yet come up with a way to make a nice rouix. I don't have access to arrowroot where I live (rural Mexico). Anyone already solve this one already? What thickener could I use instead of wheat flour?
 
Sheetal December 3, 2019
See if you can find fine yellow chickpea flower. You can get this in an Indian store. I grew up using it.
 
crashtestdumplin December 20, 2019
My husband uses tapioca instead of flour.
 
Kelly September 6, 2021
I know your post was over two years ago, but I just now made a perfectly acceptable roux with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour mix. The stuff is indispensable, and you should be able to get it through the mail.
 
jpriddy July 19, 2019
Thank you for the detail, but really, three sauces: thickened with roux, reduction, emulsification. That covers everything from béchamel to balsamic reduction to mayonnaise.
 
LxUn1c0 November 28, 2022
Those are not sauces, they are techniques. There is a difference.
 
Lindsay July 19, 2019
This article is fabulous. Thank you.
 
Sandra B. July 19, 2019
once I learned to make hollandaise with a stick blender ( as well as mayo), I have never looked back.
www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/04/foolproof-2-minute-hollandaise-recipe.html
 
Beth July 20, 2019
Please tell me how you do this with an immersion blender? I make mayo in my food processor, pulsing the egg and vinegar first and then slowly pouring in the oil through the little holes while it's running. Suddenly it emulsifies, it's like watching a miracle. Couldn't I make Hollendaise the same way using melted butter? I mean, does it have to be done at the stove? Standing and stirring is very hard for me, bad knees and hips.
 
Kitty P. July 19, 2019
I grew up with a grandmother whose mother was classically trained
I knew how to make all the mother sauces. We just called gravies.
 
Ellie July 16, 2019
Love the lessons on Mother Sauces. Could tell me exactly how you would make a sausage gravy for biscuits, including the seasonings. Thank you.
 
Beth July 19, 2019
Couldn't be easier. Start with loose sausage, such as Jimmy Dean, break up and brown in frypan. Then add several tablespoons of flour - the usual ratio is 2 Tbls flour to l cup milk - and stir into the sausage in the pan. Don't drain the sausage, you want the fat for flavor and to thicken the sauce. Then add milk, little by little, stirring as you go. It will thicken pretty quickly and you really don't need any other seasoning. I use whole milk for more richness, but you can use 1 or 2% if you like. As soon as it is thick enough, pour over biscuits and enjoy!
 
Lisa July 19, 2019
Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Maybe a dash of Worcestershire.
 
Steven W. December 31, 2022
Indeed! If the sausage you begin with is a nice flavorful one the most, you'd need to add is a bit of pepper and whatever else you like for your own twist. I love to add diced onions.
 
John B. June 29, 2019
As a French trained Saucier of 38 years, I have always considered vinaigrette to be a mother sauce; some may scoff at this but here is my experience talking: A French vinaigrette is made with mustard, shallots, sugar, oil & vinegar.A derivative of this is what is properly called a citronette---using citrus juice, ie, blood orange, grapefruit, pommelo, orange, lemon, or lime juice in place of vinegar. I make a Japanese version with tamari, yuzo citrus juice, garlic, sesame oil( sparingly), peanut oil and ginger. All vinaigrette can quickly be used as a marinade or as a drizzle sauce atop brochettes/kabobs, grilled meats...try herbes de Provence and red wine to flavor succulent grilled steaks and pork loin/tenderloin. Add vermouth and fresh chiffonade of basil for grilled seafood & chicken breasts. Add mayonnaise to a vinaigrette for unctous potato salad or shrimp salad. In place of mayonnaise make tuna fish or egg salad. Use your imagination with vinaigrette/citronnete sauce & come up with variable and healthy taste sensations.
God bless all
 
Rosalind P. July 19, 2019
Sugar. In my experience, no sugar -- ever -- in classic vinaigrette. And IMO unless you're deliberately going for a sweet dressing, it doesn't belong in any savory salad. An easy way to cut back on something that has become all too thoughtlessly included in so many products. IMO.
 
Sheetal December 3, 2019
Agree, completely
 
Vicki January 30, 2021
Thank you! Sounds delicious!

 
Alyson V. February 3, 2021
I'm not going to contradict a saucier of that many years. Restaurants tend towards sweeter and saltier and richer than what we'd accept or consider at home. Any restaurant cole slaw recipe includes sugar and I never out it in mine at home because I can balance it out with the citrus from lemon rather than straight vinegar but the familiar at restaurants is the sweetness. When I make a citrus dressing I don't see the need for sugars but I may consider honey so in the end, what's the difference? It's a sucrose in the mind and it's still about balance.
 
Rosalind P. February 3, 2021
I have no problem contradicting a saucier of that many years not with MY judgment. Whatever level is below amateur, that's me. But I would contradict a saucier with Larousse Gastronomique, the 1000+ page bible of gastronomy. Pagee 998. There is NO sugar, or honey, or fruit juice, in vinaigrette (nor mayonnaise). Not even in any variation. My preference, and no, it's not authoritative, is that sugar ruins a savory salad.
 
Ola K. December 11, 2018
That is one great comprehensive text on what sauce is all about!
 
Sangoachau June 12, 2017
Sàn gỗ á châu chuyên cung cấp và thi công sàn gỗ tự nhiên sàn gỗ nhân tạo.
https://sangoachau.com/
 
Michaela May 31, 2017
Thanks! I can't wait to learn all these sauces! I'm inspired!
 
thien9x May 20, 2017
chung toi cung cap dich vu sua chua dieu hoa tai hai duong tai hai duong tai website : http://suadieuhoahaiduong.com/
 
thien9x May 14, 2017
Ứng dụng nhắn tin miễn phí cho điện thoại di dộng. Hướng dẫn tài và cài đặt nhanh chóng tại website : http://taimessenger.com/
 
JR E. January 15, 2017
SUCH a great article, thank you for posting. But, I wonder: here in the south most of my fat based rouxs start with bacon grease, not butter. Obviously, unless making a bechamell. But even even my Louisiana kin don't start a roux with butter, it would be shortening. We're still doing the same thing right? We just can't technically call it the same?
 
Baroness March 4, 2019
A classic Roux, being French by birth, :) ALWAYS begins with butter---unsalted butter is best. While you can certainly create a Roux using almost any fat, it will definitely influence whatever you're putting it on/in & could be heavier than you might like. There are 3 types of Roux: White, Blond, Brown. One certainly can use meat fat for a Brown Roux with a rich, hearty result. Provincial/country cooking often employs bacon fat for a Roux. There are plenty of recipes where even lard is used. The determining factor will be what you're doing with the sauce you're making, whether biscuit gravy or a Roux 'starter' for 4 of the 5 Mother Sauces which begin with a Roux. You can absolutely call it a "Roux" if it begins with fat or butter! TIP: Use pastry or cake flour, which have a higher starch content & will help your Roux have a happily thick beginning. Also, only use cold or room temp stock/liquid to make your Roux; using hot liquid will invariably cause lumps which are time-consuming to get out; in fact, you may not be able to get them all out. Hoping this helps a wee bit. Happy Cooking~ :)
 
Steven P. October 29, 2019
Catherine de Medici, 1547 Queen of France, Italian

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_de%27_Medici
-------------------
I was gifted the book (link below) which covered a bit about her and some other killer, persons of history.
--------
https://www.amazon.com/Sprezzatura-Italian-Genius-Shaped-World/dp/038572019X/ref=asc_df_038572019X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312028586631&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15763562074899237097&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028903&hvtargid=pla-334090922855&psc=1
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Countries are not static populaces, nor did they all keep their borders closed. French cooking is more of right place right time, and the right influences of culture. All compounds are comprised of multiple elements. Cooking is a permutation process that just happened to be the perfect variables via observation/chance/experimentation in that this revision. Innate science done by many, made French cooking, it may have been born and refined in France, but that does not denote its ownership. Nor does it give credit to the compounded experience from the caveman cooking meat on a fire to the first roux....

There is an innumerable amount of feats that allowed for a: spoon to stir a pan that was at a 400 degrees on the fire, that happened to have equal parts butter and flour.

Most things are as such, glory for the most recent plateau while we forget those before.....
 
Curtis N. September 8, 2020
When making a roux for mac and cheese we use butter and flour roux yes but for gumbo we use an oil but can still use butter if wanted. Just us in the south use the oil or butter as we see fit
 
Dilan September 22, 2016
Good help bro
 
Sophia H. September 4, 2016
I love making Hollandaise, but I am lazy and never clarify my butter, I mix the egg yolks and lemon together place the bowl over simmering water and drop pieces of cold butter wishing until melted, then repeating until all added. Maybe it is not considered hollandaise, but who cares it works for me. I love making leftover risotto to make stuffed peppers then poor left over sauce and bake them together.
 
Connie H. February 22, 2017
When clarified butter is called for I always try to use "ghee" - buy a good quality at Whole Foods & keep it (unrfrigerated) next to your cook top. It's awesome!
 
Jaye B. July 21, 2019
Walmart sells grass fed ghee.
 
EO August 18, 2022
It is very easy to make your own clarified butter/brown butter/ghee. Takes all of 20 minutes. Saves a lot of $ too. Urvashi Pitre has a helpful video on YouTube.
 
Fiona S. March 29, 2016
Calm down people ! hehe. These sauces are French, while training to be a chef you need to learn French tradition first. What cuisines a qualified chef chooses to create is individual and exciting.
 
Aarati A. May 20, 2016
French cuisine was only able to become the staple of culinary education because we still live in a world dominated by the west. French cuisine is amazing, but don't be so naive about the politics of food! Every ingredient has its history. Its part of what makes cooking so interesting.
 
scott.finkelstein.5 July 20, 2016
The French aren't the only ones to have developed the roux, puree, and emulsion methods of thickening. They actually occur in pretty much every cuisine, and the French specifically learned them from Italy. It also leaves out starch and gelatin thickened sauces popular worldwide.

Really, the mother sauces should be roux-thickened (bechamel, veloute), manual emulsions (mayo, hollandaise), boiled vegetables and purees (tomato, caramelized onions), natural emulsions (cream), gelatin (pan sauces), and starches (all the glossy/gloopy stuff using corn starch).
 
FoodFanaticToo March 28, 2016
great resource for my young adult kids! thank you very much :)