French cuisine is renowned for its transcendent dishes and traditional recipes that have defined cooking as we know it. At the heart of many classic French recipes are the five mother sauces, also known as "Les cinq sauces mères" in French.
These foundational sauces serve as the building blocks for a wide range of delicious French staples. Ultimately, each mother sauce has its own unique flavor profile, texture, and application, making it a valuable addition to any home cook’s repertoire of recipes.
From the iconic Sauce Béchamel to the classic Sauce Tomate, these recipes are sure to elevate everyday meal preparation, introducing a new layer of flavour to your favourite dishes. Le Creuset’s range of saucepans and sauciers ensure you can tackle any of these five mother sauces with ease along with their distinctive cooking techniques, offering superior heat retention and even heat distribution.
Here is a complete guide to the five French mother sauces, including what they are and how to make them with your Le Creuset cookware.
The Five French Mother Sauces
Marie-Antoine Carême, a leading French chef in the 19th century, anointed the Sauce Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole, Hollandaise, and Tomate the five French mother sauces. Today, these recipes serve as a starting point for a slew of French classics. Here is everything you need to know about the Five French Mother Sauces!
Sauce Béchamel
Traditionally made with a white roux and milk, Sauce Béchamel is an essential in many other classic sauces, including sauce choron and cheesy mornay. Making this French mother sauce is as simple as whisking together equal parts flour and butter before gradually adding warm milk and constantly stirring. Typical French Béchamel also features salt and nutmeg as a flavouring base, but variations of this recipe exist.
Preparing a roux is key to any Béchamel recipe and is used to thicken sauces and soups for more texture. The key to making a good roux is to carefully whisk the flour and butter together for an even consistency.
A heavy-bottomed pot is usually recommended, making the Toughened Nonstick Pro Saucepan the ideal piece of cookware. This pan comes equipped with tall sides and non-stick coating, simplifying the stirring of ingredients all-while ensuring they do not burn. Alternatively, a Chef's Dutch Oven can also be used, thanks to its thick-enamelled cast iron walls and rounded sides.
Sauce Béchamel is commonly served alongside meats, fish, or steamed poultry, and serves as the foundation for many gravies and soups, as well as staple dishes, ranging from lasagnas and pasta recipes. In many ways, no list of recipes is complete without the classic Sauce Béchamel.
Sauce Hollandaise
Commonly known for its use on popular breakfast dishes such as Eggs Benedict, Hollandaise Sauce can be used to elevate traditional meal preparation. This French Mother Sauce is made by whisking egg yolks and lemon juice together on low temperature before gradually adding melted butter. Classic French Hollandaise recipes typically include black peppercorns and salt as a seasoning base. A pinch of cayenne pepper and white wine vinegar can also be added for extra flavor.
The trick to preparing a delicious Hollandaise Sauce is to whisk the ingredients constantly to prevent the sauce from curdling while on low heat. The only tools you’ll need to experiment with your very own Hollandaise Sauce is your Balloon Whisk, Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls, some patience, and a strong set of hands. When ready, our Stainless Steel Saucepan can be used to reduce the sauce over a double boiler. Featuring a compact size and interior capacity markings, this piece of cookware is ideal for finishing off an Hollandaise Sauce.
Hollandaise Sauce can be paired with a range of ingredients beyond eggs, including vegetables, poultry dishes, fish, and beef, ensuring it always has a place in your recipe repertoires. This sauce also serves as the base for a number of French sauces, including Sauce Béarnaise, Sauce Maltaise, Sauce Mousseline.
Sauce Tomate
Sauce Tomate, the French variation on the classic Italian tomato sauce recipe, is one of the most foundational sauce recipes, serving as the backbone for a number of pasta and pizza recipes, as well as stews and meat dishes. Combining tomatoes with a roux, this recipe is beloved for its simplicity and ease with which it comes together.
While variations of the classic Sauce Tomate Recipe exist, preparing it is as simple as sautéing onions and garlic in olive oil until barely soft before adding in fresh tomatoes. Ideally, a Saucier or Saucepan can be used to simmer all the ingredients to perfection on medium-heat until the sauce thickens and all the rich flavours have been infused throughout.
Traditional French Sauce Tomate recipes feature rendered pork fat with a combination of carrots, onions, tomatoes, a roux, and a meat stock, and are seasoned with salt, pepper, and herbs, including basil and oregano. Whether you are preparing homemade Bolognese, or hosting your very own pizza party, this French Mother Sauce is a must-learn and will surely emerge as a staple in your household for years to come.
Sauce Veloutée
Sauce Veloutée offers home cooks and chefs alike a simple sauce recipe, made by combining a roux and butter typically in a chicken or fish stock. The end result is a smooth, creamy, and velvety sauce, as its name suggests, that serves as the foundation for many derivative sauces by simply adding or changing ingredients. Simply put, the Sauce Veloutée comes together by thickening a light stock.
The first step to preparing this recipe is to melt butter in your Stainless Steel Saucier, also known as a Chef’s Pan, before adding flour and whisking it until it is completely smooth. Once done, you can add the stock and continue to whisk until your Sauce Veloutée thickens. The Stainless Steel Saucier’s rounded ensure you can easily stir ingredients together and monitor each step of this recipe.
Traditionally served with eggs, fish, steamed poultry, vegetables, and pasta dishes, this French Mother Sauce is among the most versatile of the five. Today, the Sauce Veloutée serves as a building block for a wide variety of sauces, including but not limited to, the Sauce Allemande, Sauce Suprême, and Sauce Normande, making this recipe a staple in French cuisine since its inception in 1729.
Sauce Espagnole
Sauce Espagnole, which translates to Spanish Sauce, is a basic brown sauce and yet another traditional French recipe chef Antonin Carême added to the list of Five French Mother Sauces in the 19th century. This traditional sauce is the heaviest of the five sauces, made by reducing a broth of brown roux, a meat stock, typically veal or beef, browned bones, pieces of red meat and vegetables.
Be sure to grab your Dutch Oven as this French recipe embodies the set-it-and-forget-it-nature of slow-cooking. A few steps are involved when preparing the Sauce Espagnole, beginning by roasting the beef bones and vegetables before simmering them in water. The end result is a flavourful and concentrated beef stock.
The stock can then be combined with a brown roux to thicken, delivering dark, velvety sauce with a complex and deep flavor. The enamelled cast iron Saucier is ideal for this step, exposing the broth to a consistent heat source, providing even heat distribution and superior heat retention. Its smoothly curved interior also simplifies stirring, helping you prepare this Sauce Espagnole with ease.
Sauce Espagnole is typically served alongside roasted meats, particularly beef, duck, veal, or lamb. As is the case with all five French Mother Sauces, this sauce also can be used as a base to prepare different sauces and French dishes, ranging from a classic Bordelaise Sauce, Sauce Robert, and even a Demi-Glace.
Experience French Cuisine with Le Creuset
While mastering each of the five French mother sauces may require an element of patience and time, these recipes can make a world of difference to everyday meal preparation, serving as the foundation for a variety of delicious dishes. From the classic Sauce Tomate to the Sauce Velouté or Béchamel, any of the five mother sauces can be used to elevate main courses and recipes of all sizes.
Le Creuset’s cast iron cookware, including our saucepans and sauciers, is all you’ll need to experiment with these French staples, delivering superior cooking results and heat retention for years to come. In fact, all of our cast iron cookware is hand-crafted by experienced artisans in France, embodying the buy-it-once-for-life nature of premium cookware.
Now that you are familiar with the five French mother sauces, it is time to put your knowledge to practice. Be sure to check out our full list of French recipes or visit our blog for more inspiration and learn how you can make the most of your Le Creuset cookware!
