This post will tell you everything you need to know when it comes to making a cheat’s white sauce. There are three recipes below, all for an easy/cheat’s white sauce to make it gluten-free, without milk or with eggs. They can all be used in a lasagne or elsewhere too.
Even though I have an easy white sauce (béchamel) recipe, I do think a white sauce gets a bad reputation for being tricky and easy to mess up. I’m not sure if this is because of the name “béchamel” which makes it seem fancy or if it’s the idea of making a roux that puts people off, but it is simple when you’ve done it once. However, there are many other variations of a white sauce that work beautifully in a lasagne and are so easy.
Years ago, I had Simon Rimmer on the Desert Island Dishes podcast. In this episode, Simon recounts how his mum makes lasagne in a slightly non-traditional way, using a cheat’s white sauce made of cottage cheese rather than white sauce. I’ve used yoghurt before with great success in a vegetable lasagne but I liked the idea of the tangy-ness from the cottage cheese. After some experimenting in my kitchen, I found a combination of cottage cheese, Greek yoghurt, parmesan and eggs. And it’s great!
Cottage Cheese & Yoghurt Cheat's White Sauce
This is a version of a cheat’s white sauce without milk, without butter but with eggs. The eggs are key to loosening the mixture to make it spreadable and it works perfectly in a lasagne. This makes enough to cover a lasagne for 4 people.
300g cottage cheese
200g Greek yoghurt
2 eggs
25g grated parmesan
salt and pepper
Mix all the ingredients and season well with salt and pepper.
Ricotta Cheat’s White Sauce
Another cheat’s white sauce can be made with ricotta. With this sauce, it is great in a lasagne as the spinach is a great way to bump up the veg in this recipe. This option of white sauce is made without flour, without a roux, without butter and it is gluten-free too! If you buy gluten-free lasagne sheets, you can make the whole meal gluten free.
500g ricotta
25g parmesan, grated
2-4 tablespoon milk – depending on the thickness of your ricotta
½ a bag of spinach, wilted and excess moisture squeezed out
Handful of basil leaves, torn
Once the spinach is wilted and you have squeezed out the excess water, give it a rough chop. Then add to a bowl along with the ricotta, grated parmesan, milk and torn basil leaves. Mix well, adding more milk if needed to loosen. Season well with salt and pepper.
Milk & Cornflour White Sauce
This is a white sauce recipe without flour, without a roux base and without butter. It may sound bizarre but you stir it on the stove until the cornflour thickens the milk. This makes it gluten-free. Do check your cornflour packaging in case but most cornflour is naturally gluten free. This makes the sauce essentially a thickened milk and doesn’t rely on making a roux and doesn’t use butter or flour for this sauce. The full recipe is below.
Frequently Asked Questions
All the recipes here are gluten free. Just make sure to check the ingredient labels just in case. For a gluten-free cornflour, I like this one.
The ricotta & spinach white sauce and the milk & cornflour white sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days roughly. Just make sure to heat the cornflour one well and I often find I need to add more milk/water to loosen it. Make the cottage cheese & yoghurt white sauce when you need it as it contains raw egg so it's best to not let it sit too long.
Recipes you may also like
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PrintMilk & Cornflour Cheat's White Sauce
An easy gluten-free white sauce alternative with just cornflour and milk.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Makes around 400ml 1x
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 400ml milk
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Mix the cornflour with 2 tablespoon of milk and set aside. Bring the rest of the milk to a simmer on the hob but don’t let it boil and burn. Add the cornflour slurry and stir well continuously.
- The sauce should begin to thicken, keep stirring to avoid lumps. When it is your desired consistency, season well with salt and pepper.
Notes
A lot of these cheat’s white sauces should really be called cheat’s cheese sauce, as they are often cheese-based or will have cheese added in. But they are delicious and fit a range of purposes, from lasagnes to cauliflower cheese and it means you can cook for everyone no matter if they are gluten-free or lactose intolerant or whatever else.
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