What is the difference between a roux and a béchamel?

While the ingredients are virtually identical — butter, warm milk, and flour — the two have very different purposes. A roux is created to thicken a béchamel sauce or one of many other sauces. Starting with melted butter, you stir in flour a bit at a time and continue stirring while the flour cooks. Don't allow it to brown; that's a whole other recipe. Add the milk slowly until there are no lumps and it is very thick. That is your roux. Now continue adding milk and stirring until you reach a sauce consistency. Add a bit of salt and pepper, and a dash of nutmeg, and you have a béchamel.

Asked by Leni Davenport · Last updated 9 months ago · 295.5K views