Simple Flourless Cheese Sauce

Cheese sauce is served in a bowl with a spoon.

This homemade cheese sauce is rich and creamy and made without flour. Heavy cream and cheddar melt into a rich sauce that's ready in minutes.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings servings

Calories 110kcal

Author Vered DeLeeuw

Ingredients

½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard helps stabilize the sauce - please use
½ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup cheddar cheese sharp, shredded; 4 ounces

Instructions

Add the cream, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, and cayenne in a small saucepan and whisk to combine.
½ cup heavy cream, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Heat the cream mixture over medium heat. When the cream starts to bubble around the edges, lower the heat to LOW (very important).
Stir in the shredded cheddar, a handful at a time, slowly and patiently with a rubber spatula until it is completely melted. Don't stir vigorously, or the sauce will become stringy. Turn the heat off as soon as it's all melted. See tips below in the notes section.
1 cup cheddar cheese
Serve immediately.

Video

Notes

The recipe makes about a cup of sauce. Each serving is 2 tablespoons.

Make Ahead

You can refrigerate the sauce in an airtight container for up to four days. Add a small amount of heavy cream or milk when you reheat it (start with a tablespoon), then reheat in the microwave, covered, at 50% power in 30-second sessions, stirring after each session and adding more milk as needed until the texture is right. Alternatively, you can reheat it in a saucepan over very low heat.

Adjusting this Recipe

Seasonings are guidelines. Adjust to taste.

Half-and-half or milk won't work here, as you need the fat from heavy cream to prevent the cheese from curdling.

A grainy sauce usually means the heat was too high or the cheese was added too quickly. Pull it off the heat and whisk in a little warm cream or milk, a tablespoon at a time.

The sauce's thickness will depend on the cheese used. I often use pre-shredded cheese because it's easy. However, the anti-caking agents added to these cheeses can thicken the sauce too much. If this happens, add warm milk, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach your desired consistency. If you go this route, please avoid shredded cheese with powdered cellulose, as it's a fiber that prevents the cheese from melting properly.

Shredding your own cheese will make a silkier sauce, but it also means your sauce will be thinner. If you prefer a pourable sauce rather than a spoonable one, that's fine, but if you prefer a thicker sauce, your options are as follows:

Coat the cheese with a teaspoon of cornstarch before using it.
Add a cornstarch slurry before heating the heavy cream (mix a teaspoon of cornstarch with an extra tablespoon of cold heavy cream until very smooth and stir that into the heavy cream before heating it)
Add more cheese - start with an additional ¼ cup.
As a last resort, if you have a stable sauce but it's too thin, you can also add a cornstarch slurry at the end (1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with a tablespoon of cold milk or cream until very smooth).

Bottom line: This is one of those recipes where there's no escaping some level of experimentation. Start with the suggested amounts and adjust as you go according to the results you get.

Nutrition