Simple White Sauce, also called a Roux, for gravies, sauces, casseroles, macaroni and cheese.

This is a basic sauce used to thicken soups, gravies and to make, well, sauces, of course, for any meat or vegetable, or the base of a sauce for a casserole, or macaroni and cheese

Butter, meat fat or olive oil
A few tablespoons flour
Milk or vegetable or meat stock
Seasoning (salt and pepper)


Melt a tablespoon or butter in a saucepan, or you can use the hot fat from a roast, or even some olive oil heated first in a pan.

Make sure the fat is hot, but not burnt. If the butter burns, throw it away and melt it again.

Sprinkle a spoonful of flour over the hot fat and stir. It should begin to thicken to a runny paste. If you are using all the juices from something like a roast chicken, then you will probably need to sprinkle a few spoonfuls of flour over the fat.

When the paste has thickened and it is no longer lumpy, slowly add the milk or stock. Keep stirring until the sauce has thickened to the desired consistantcy for whatever you are cooking. It can be used as a gravy, the base for a casserole, a thickener for soup.

Add cheese to make a cheesy sauce for macaroni and cheese.

Add meat and vegetables, place in a casserole dish, top with some breadcrumbs and grated cheese, and bake in the over for a yummy casserole.