Creamy Three Cheese Sauce + Video
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This creamy three cheese sauce uses 3 kinds of cheese, making it perfect on pasta, vegetables, or a dip. Make this creamy cheese sauce recipe soon, for any reason!
Three Cheese Sauce
One of our most popular recipes is a copycat recipe for Cheddar Bay Biscuits. Who can possibly resist flaky, buttery biscuits with cheese baked into the dough? Not us!
Another favorite recipe that y’all seem to love is our Shrimp Mac and Cheese. Actually, we have 15 mac and cheese recipes!
The base for almost every cheesy pasta dish we make is this simple cheese sauce from scratch, made in 10 minutes!
Cheese and Milk Sauce Ingredient Notes
Note: This is just a partial list of ingredients. For a full ingredient list with amounts, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Roux: All cheese sauce recipes start with a roux (pronounced ROO), including this three cheese sauce recipe.
This is a fancy French cooking term for a thickener made with equal parts of a fat (usually butter) and all-purpose flour. - Milk: You need to add liquid to the roux to create a pourable creamy cheddar cheese sauce. In this case, the liquid is milk.
You can use any type you prefer, but using milk with a higher percentage of fat, like whole milk or half & half, will give you the best results. - Cheeses: Although this is a simple creamy cheese sauce recipe, we use three types of cheese.
Not only do they add flavor, but each one of them adds an extra layer of creaminess to the sauce. - Velveeta cheese is the perfect choice for a cheese sauce from scratch. For the best flavor, we use Pepper Jack and cheddar cheese.
Creamy Cheddar Cheese Sauce Tips & Tricks
- Incorporate the milk slowly. If you add all of the milk to the roux at one time, the butter will not combine with the milk to thicken the sauce.
As a result, the sauce will be thin, and you will notice butter floating on top of it. - Add the cheese a little at a time. When making cheese sauces and cheese-based soups, be sure to add the cheese slowly and add it at the end of the cooking time.
- Use low heat. Also, always cook and reheat the cheese and milk sauce over low and slow heat.
To maintain a smooth consistency and prevent graininess, using low heat is absolutely necessary. - Shred your own cheese. Skip using bagged cheese because the anti-sticking agent put on it affects the texture. Buy blocks of cheese and shred it yourself.
Uses and Serving Suggestions
You can make the milk and cheese sauce to use in a lot of different ways! Here are just a few ideas:
- Veggies – Use the creamy cheddar cheese sauce for cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, or any other veggies. Picky eaters will gobble them up!
- Pasta – Use it to make macaroni and cheese, or serve it over any other type of pasta or noodles
- Breakfast – Serve the three cheese sauce over scrambled eggs or hashbrowns for breakfast or brunch.
- Loaded baked potatoes – Top a smoked baked potato or air fryer baked potato with some of this creamy sauce, some crumbled crispy bacon, sour cream, and chives!
- Nachos – It really needs no explanation, but my favorite nachos ever are: pulled pork on tortilla chips with baked beans and this cheese sauce!
Add a few jalapenos and a drizzle of barbecue sauce and you’ll be in heaven.
Creamy Cheese Sauce Recipe FAQs
While it’s best when served right away, you can store leftover cheese sauce in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat leftover creamy cheddar cheese sauce in a saucepan on the stovetop. You should use low heat and stir frequently to prevent it from becoming gritty.
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Other Delicious Sauce Recipes
Creamy Three Cheese Sauce + Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup freshly shredded pepper Jack cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 8 ounces Velveeta cheese, cut into chunks
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Add the flour, salt and cayenne pepper and whisk to combine. Cook for 1 minute to cook out the floury taste. Don’t skip this step. Trust me, floury sauce is not tasty, and cooking it for a minute will also brown the flour, adding a slight nuttiness to your cheese sauce.
- Add the milk, whisking constantly. Simmer until the sauce begins to steam, about 3 minutes. Decrease the heat to low.
- Add the cheeses a handful at a time, whisking after each addition until the cheese melts into the sauce. Lift your whisk out of the sauce. If there are still cheese shreds on the whisk, keep stirring. Continue adding the cheese and whisking until all the cheese is melted into the sauce, and then stir the sauce until it’s well-combined.
- The sauce will keep in the refrigerator in a mason jar for 3 to 4 days.
Video
Donna’s Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published June 2011, updated and republished February 2023
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Whenever I use flour in a cheese sauce it seems to make it clumpy… any recommendations
So long as mix the butter and flour well and go slow adding the milk you shouldn't have any lumps.
Oh, Bless You. Been looking and wanting a good cheese recipe that I could use as a veggie dip plus looks good enough to eat with a spoon :}
Enjoy, Colleen and let us know how it goes!!
This recipe pairs so well with a plate of homemade nachos. Will be keeping this recipe on hand!