How to Cook · Sauces

Velouté

Name: Velouté
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons butter; 3 tablespoons flour; 2 cups stock, warmed (chicken, beef, or any kind — store-bought, or better, the braising liquid from a meat dish); Salt and pepper

Published July 25, 2026

Sauces

A velouté sauce built on stock instead of milk

One of the classic French mother sauces: savory stock whisked into a cooked butter-and-flour roux and simmered until it lightly coats a spoon. It's the savory counterpart to béchamel, trading milk for stock, and takes on the character of whatever you build it from — the strained juices of a roast or braise make an especially rich one.

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 10 min
Total: 15 min
Yield: ~2 cups
Category: Sauce
Cuisine: French

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Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups stock, warmed (chicken, beef, or any kind — store-bought, or better, the braising liquid from a meat dish)
Salt and pepper

Directions

The stock is everything here. Store-bought works and gives a perfectly good sauce, but a velouté is much better built on the natural braising liquid left behind from a meat dish — the strained juices from a roast or a braise carry far more flavor than anything from a carton. Chicken, beef, pork, fish: any stock will do, and the sauce simply takes on the character of whatever you pour in.

Make the roux

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, whisk in the flour, and cook, stirring constantly, for 1–2 minutes, until the raw flour smell cooks off — this is your roux.

Add the stock

Slowly whisk in the warm stock, a little at a time at first, whisking out any lumps before adding more. Continue cooking, whisking often, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, 5–7 minutes — whisk in a splash more stock if it gets too thick, or simmer longer to reduce if it's too thin. Season with salt and pepper.

Sauces