Throw a couple cups of milk in a pot, start to heat on medium/medium high (don’t let it boil.)
While that’s heating, take about half a cup of milk, and a couple fat tablespoons of flour and whisk it together in a separate bowl. It should be thick, but not real lumpy. If it comes out like mashed potatoes, add more milk.
Once the hot milk starts to bubble on the stove, slowly whisk in about half of your flour mixture. Let it come back to a slight bubble and see how thick it is. If you want it thicker, add more of the flour mixture. Once it bubbles for a minute or two, that’s almost the final consistency as it’s going to thicken a little as it stands. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc. to taste. Turn the heat off. Add a bunch of shredded cheese. If you heat it with the shredded cheese in it, you run the risk of the sauce breaking. Check it again for flavor, and if it thickens up too much as it cools, you can always add a little more milk.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make is heating up a sauce too much after it has the cheese in it. This can make the cheese break and get gross. I also have zero issue with using pre-shredded cheese this way either. And bonus tip, if you throw a slice of American cheese in there, it’ll have enough sodium citrate to help make it a very smooth cheese sauce.
Throw a couple cups of milk in a pot, start to heat on medium/medium high (don’t let it boil.)
While that’s heating, take about half a cup of milk, and a couple fat tablespoons of flour and whisk it together in a separate bowl. It should be thick, but not real lumpy. If it comes out like mashed potatoes, add more milk.
Once the hot milk starts to bubble on the stove, slowly whisk in about half of your flour mixture. Let it come back to a slight bubble and see how thick it is. If you want it thicker, add more of the flour mixture. Once it bubbles for a minute or two, that’s almost the final consistency as it’s going to thicken a little as it stands. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc. to taste. Turn the heat off. Add a bunch of shredded cheese. If you heat it with the shredded cheese in it, you run the risk of the sauce breaking. Check it again for flavor, and if it thickens up too much as it cools, you can always add a little more milk.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make is heating up a sauce too much after it has the cheese in it. This can make the cheese break and get gross. I also have zero issue with using pre-shredded cheese this way either. And bonus tip, if you throw a slice of American cheese in there, it’ll have enough sodium citrate to help make it a very smooth cheese sauce.