What Is Velouté Sauce, and How Do You Make It?

Making velouté sauce is pretty simple and easily transforms a mediocre dinner into one you’ll remember and want to make again and again.

If you already understand the ins and outs of making a roux, you’ve already done half the work. From there, all you need to do is add a little white stock and turn that buttery paste into a sauce.

If you’re new to making a roux, though, no worries! We’ll cover that, too, while also providing a quick ingredient break-down for making the sauce.

What Is Velouté Sauce?

Velouté (pronounced “veh-loo-tay”) sauce is a silky-smooth mother sauce made by combing a blonde roux with either chicken, veal, or fish stock. By slowly adding hot stock to the roux, you’ll notice a pale blonde-colored sauce develop.

While it’s quite delicious on its own, this mother sauce also serves as a base for making secondary sauces.

For example, velouté sauce transforms effortlessly into an allemande sauce with the addition of a few egg yolks. You can even add heavy cream to make a delightful supreme sauce that’s sure to top any chicken dinner.

Now that you know what it is, it’s time to make your own velouté!

A Simple Velouté Recipe

There aren’t many recipe variations for velouté because a true version uses just three ingredients: butter, flour, and stock. Below is a pretty standard recipe you can try.

You’ll need the following ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 2 cups of hot white stock

Follow these instructions:

1. If the stock you’re using is fridge-cold, start by warming it gently on low-medium heat in a saucepan.
2. In a separate, medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat.
3. After melting the butter, add flour, then combine the two ingredients with a whisk. Mix a few times while the roux cooks for about a minute or two. (Make sure the roux doesn’t darken.)
4. Slowly add the hot stock to your saucepan, while continuously whisking to avoid any lumps. Do this until all the stock is fully incorporated, then reduce to low heat.
5. Let the sauce simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
6. Remove any little lumps or impurities from the sauce by running it through a fine sieve or fine-mesh strainer.

Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste, if you’d like to keep it basic with a tad more enhanced flavor.

Three Ways to Serve Velouté Sauce

There are many ways you can serve this sauce, as it accompanies both meats and veggies like a pro. Here are a few of our favorite ways to enjoy it:

• Over chicken: Drizzling hot velouté over a grilled or pan-seared chicken dinner is as standard as it gets. Add mushrooms and roasted garlic to your velouté for some extra flavor and oomph.
• Make it a soup: Sauté some of your favorite veggies, like onion, garlic, celery, carrots, or a bit of potato. Add them all to a velouté, then purée it. Finish with a dash of cream.
• With fish and seafood: Squeeze some fresh lemon juice into a velouté made of fish stock,  then add some fresh dill. Serve it with a fish or seafood dinner. You can go above and beyond by delicately cooking up a white fish, like trout or haddock, then topping it with a cooked seafood combo of your choice. Finish it all off with a tangy dill velouté that’s sure to please.

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We’ve provided the foundation for making this tasty sauce, but the real fun begins with your creativity. One way to turn a velouté into a signature recipe is by using infused salts and seasonings, rather than traditional salt and pepper. Better yet, level up and substitute the butter with infused oils!