This effortless Cheddar Cheese sauce is made from real cheddar and uses NO FLOUR! It's so smooth and pours easily over anything you desire. Even better, it only requires five ingredients! Ready in less than 10 minutes, this sauce is soon to be your new fav!!
You can't go wrong with this cheese sauce. It's a perfect substitute for any recipe that calls for meltable processed cheese food. You know the one I'm talking about… in the yellow box! Now you can get that smooth, pourable, saucy cheese without all the extra sodium and preservatives.
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Featured Ingredients
Read below about a few of the ingredients used to make this Cheese Sauce without flour.
Cheese - Cheddar cheese is the star of this sauce. (We love Tillamook Cheddar from Oregon.) Cheddar is a semi-hard cheese like Gouda or Havarti. This recipe works with many different cheese types, but ensure you stay in the same cheese family. A hard cheese like parmesan or a soft cheese like feta or chevre might not have the smooth, buoyant texture of a semi-hard cheese. Also, shred your cheese by hand or in a food processor for the best results. Do not use pre-shredded, which is coated in anti-caking agents that inhibit smooth melting.
Evaporated milk -This is canned, unsweetened milk. A low-heat process evaporates a little over half the water in the milk, resulting in condensed milk that lends a smoother, velvety finish to soups and sauces.
Cornstarch - Used as a thickening agent in many dishes. It will replace a butter/flour roux often used to thicken cheese sauce. It also keeps the recipe gluten-free!
Dry (ground) mustard - This is my secret ingredient. Do not substitute liquid mustard; it's not the same. It can be omitted without completely altering the recipe, but it really helps the cheddar flavor shine through!
Tools for the job
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Medium pot, 2-3 quarts
- Cheese grater or food processor
- Whisk, spatula
How to make Cheese Sauce (no flour)
- Measure and prepare the ingredients. First, shred 8 ounces of cheese. You can either weigh it out from a larger block or, if you don't have a scale, buy a pre-measured 8 ounce block of cheese. I recommend shredding cheese from a block. Pre-shredded cheese does not melt as well and can make the sauce grainy because it's coated with an anti-clumping agent.
- Put a saucepot on the stove and add a can of evaporated milk. Next, add cornstarch, ground mustard, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Add more salt if you prefer. Whisk these together until combined as you warm the mixture on medium heat.
- When the milk is hot and small bubbles start forming, add the shredded cheddar a handful at a time, whisking as it melts.
Add ingredients to the pot.
Whisk the ingredients and heat the pot to small bubbles.
Add the shredded cheese and whisk to combine. Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until thickened.
- Continue to stir and add shredded cheddar until it's all incorporated into the milk. Keep stirring with a whisk until it bubbles and thickens, about 5-7 minutes.
- Use immediately, or keep covered and warm over low heat until ready, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, transfer to a crockpot set to warm.
- If the sauce cools completely, you can reheat it on the stove over medium-low, whisking it until the cheese sauce is smooth and pourable again.
- Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Substitutions and variations of Cheese Sauce (no flour)
- Replace the cheddar with smokey gouda, swiss, or pepperjack cheese.
- For an effortless side dish, pour this cheese sauce all over a pile of simple roasted potatoes.
- Double the recipe and add a can of Rotel for the easiest nacho sauce.
- Stir 1-2 cups of chili into the already warm cheese for a delicious chili cheese dip!
- I don't know about you, but my childhood holidays always included steamed broccoli and cheese sauce, and this cheddar cheese sauce is PERFECT for that!
- Boil a pound of macaroni pasta, drain, and stir into the pot of hot cheese sauce as a solid replacement for that boxed stuff.
Leftover Cheese Sauce
- Refrigerate any leftover cheese sauce in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
- Reheat the cheese sauce on low in a pot on the stove until it's smooth and creamy again. Add a little milk or water to the pot before warming.
- Leftover cheese sauce made with cornstarch does not hold up well in the freezer because the water can separate from the cornstarch molecules when thawing. If you want to save the sauce, turn it into mac and cheese by adding cooked pasta and freezing it that way. The pasta will soak up the extra moisture when you reheat it.
More cheese, please!
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Cheese Sauce (no flour)
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Creamy cheddar cheese sauce made from real cheddar that pours easily and is so simple to assemble. It requires only five ingredients! This cheese sauce comes together so quickly and is ready to pour over chips, baked potatoes, broccoli, or anything else you can think of in less than 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- 12 ounce can evaporated milk
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ - 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pour the evaporated milk into a saucepan and stir in the cornstarch, dry mustard, and salt. Warm the mixture over medium heat.
- When the milk is hot and you see tiny bubbles, add the shredded cheese one handful at a time, whisking to combine.
- Once all the cheese has been added, keep stirring until the cheese has bubbled and thickened to the desired consistency, about 5-7 minutes.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Side dish, Appetizer
- Method: Stove-top
- Cuisine: American
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