Turkey gravy. Mac and cheese. Chicken pot pie. Gumbo. Stews. Scalloped potatoes.

All of those dishes, and many more, when made from scratch, often count on a basic starting point of a classic roux, and with that, sometimes leading to the next step of creating a béchamel, mornay, velouté, or cheese sauce.

But, for home cooks, encountering a recipe that calls for roux can sometimes feel intimidating. Chef de Cuisine Stephen Love at The Wharf Restaurant, Madison Beach Hotel, says it doesn’t have to be so. He offers these tips for creating the perfect roux.

A roux is made when adding and heating equal parts fat and flour, so a 1:1 ratio. Recipes often call for one of three different types of roux, which vary based on the amount of cooking time. A white roux usually takes between three and five minutes; a blonde roux usually takes between five and eight minutes; and a brown roux usually takes between 8 and 15 minutes. He says you should plan on making about four ounces, or about a half cup of roux, to thicken a quart of liquid to medium thickness.

“I recommend slowly adding the roux to a heated liquid until desired thickness is reached,” he says. Butter is often used as the fat of choice, but, when making a gumbo or stew that will be left to cook for hours, butter is replaced with oil as it will be less likely to burn.

Any extra roux can be cooled and stored in an air tight container for a week. But, he adds, for best results use freshly made roux. Practice makes perfect he adds, saying that using vegetable oil is an inexpensive way to do that.

Want to learn more and try it out in some recipes?

Check out the article “How to Make a Roux and Use It Right” from Serious Eats by Daniel Gritzer, a recipe for “Homemade Mac and Cheese” from AllRecipes for mac and cheese, and an article from Serious Eats on “How To Make A High Class Cheez Wiz.” Note to my fellow gadget girls and guys on the cheez whiz recipe, this is an opportunity to not only practice your roux, but to also pick up a whipping siphon if you do not already have one. Merry Christmas to us!

Basic Roux Recipe

By Chef de Cuisine Stephen Love

Ingredients:

½ cup butter

½ cup flour (Sifted)

Directions

Over medium heat, melt butter in a sauce pan or sauté pan until melted and bubbly. Slowly and evenly add in sifted flour while stirring with a whisk or wooden spoon. Reduce heat to low and continue stirring 3-5 minutes. Roux should bubble and be free from sticking to pan. Continue to cook, stirring constantly to make blonde or brown roux. Roux will be dark and smell badly when burnt. Discard and start again.