What are the 5 Mother Sauces? (2024)

Sponsored by Taste Europe | Butter of France

By Brittany Davies and Tiffany La Forge

Learn how to make the 5 Mother Sauces with these videos.

this article is brought to you in partnership with Cozymeal and Taste Europe | Butter of France. All opinions are our own.

When it comes to creating culinary wonders like the Mother Sauces, using the finestingredients is key, and that includes incorporating the richness of European butter sourced from the heart of France.

A rite of passage for every chef, learning how to prepare the five mother sauces cantransform an average dish into something extraordinary. Practicing these foundationalmother sauces is an easy way for home cooks to strengthen their culinary skills and bring their creations to the next level.

How Does Sauce Enhance a Dish?

A well-made sauce can give a sense of cohesion to the final plate while adding moisture, depth, texture and color. If you have ever dipped into a luscious bowl of macaroni and cheese, soaked up a rich demi-glace with a piece of juicy steak or enjoyed an eggs Benedict at brunch, you have sampled some version of the mothersauces.

French cooking is synonymous with quality, refinement and technique. Beyond its signature precision and style, French cuisine is embedded with an air of passion and romance. Perhaps this connotation comes from the gusto with which the French select, prepare and enjoy theirfood, choosing the highest quality ingredients at the peak of freshness and never skimping on flavor. French gastronomy showcases regional and seasonal ingredients elevated with classic techniques, Best of France explains. Food is a way of life in France, where meals are savored and shared with elements that appeal to all the senses.

If there is one ingredient that sums up the ethos of French cuisine, it is unequivocally butter.Made with care using time-honored methods, French butter transforms the average intounforgettable with its unparalleled texture and taste. High-quality butter enhances stews, sauces, pastries and other baked goods from the mouthfeel of a bechamel to the goldenflake of puff pastry. European butter from France contains less water, giving it a richer, creamier texture than other types of butter. The premium cultured butter offers complexity and visual appeal with a subtle nuttiness and tang in an attractive yellow hue. With its high fat content and nuanced flavor, French butter is essential to flaky croissants, tender tart crusts and of course, France’s iconic mother sauces.

What Are the 5 Mother Sauces?

An essential ingredient to creating luxurious mother sauces is good butter. Using a high quality product such as European butter from France provides an instant flavor boost as well as silkier sauces with a richer mouthfeel thanks to a higher percentage of fat. To achieve this,Butter made in France is cultured and churned longer than American butter to achieve that higher portion of butterfat. French butter is an exceptional building block for developing rich, flavorful sauces to upgrade everything from meats and vegetables to soups and pastas.

Each of the mother sauces is born from a base liquid combined with a thickening agent enhanced with other ingredients for texture and flavor. Four out of the five mother saucestraditionally begin with a roux, in which equal parts flour and fat (typically butter) are cookedtogether to form a thickener before adding other ingredients such as stock to build the sauce. These core sauces are vital building blocks in a chef’s repertoire and have become a ubiquitous feature of modern cuisine. The five French mother sauces include béchamel,velouté, espagnole, hollandaise and tomato.

What are the 5 Mother Sauces?

1. Béchamel

A simple yet versatile mother sauce, béchamel is made using only a few ingredients,including butter, milk, flour and salt. Preparing this sauce begins with making a roux which is then mixed gradually with milk or cream to thicken. The resulting sauce should have a smooth, creamy consistency that has thickened just enough to coat the back of a spoon. Salt and other seasonings such as pepper, nutmeg or herbs may then be added to enhance theflavor. When making mother sauces like béchamel, Chef Ivan in NYC advises home cooks to“whisk constantly while adding milk to prevent lumps” and try dialing up the flavor by “infusing the milk with onion, garlic or spices.” From the base of a béchamel sauce, chefs can create an array of white sauces, cream sauces or cheese sauces that bring a rich unctuousness to a dish. Smooth, buttery béchamel is a key ingredient in many comfortfoods with the creamy sauce and its derivatives appearing in numerous casserole, soup and pasta recipes.

Derivative Sauces

• Mornay – this iconic cheese sauce consists of béchamel enriched with Gruyére de France and
  sometimes Parmesan as well as cloves, onion and bay leaf.
• Aurora – this creamy pinkish-red sauce in which tomato purée is added to its mother sauce is often
  served with eggs, vegetables, fish or pasta.
• Nantua – a popular accompaniment to seafood dishes, this sauce is made by adding shrimp or
  crayfish butter and cream to béchamel.
• Soubise – sautéed onions, finely chopped or puréed, are incorporated into béchamel to create this
  savory sauce traditionally enjoyed with meats, game or vegetables.

Typically Served With

2. velouté

Thought to be the oldest of the mother sauces, velouté gets its name from the French wordvelour, which means velvet, referencing the smooth, silky texture of the sauce. As noted byMAD, both velouté and béchamel appeared in Chef Pierre de la Varenne’s “Le CuisinierFrançois” published in 1651 which revolutionized the art of French cuisine. Velouté begins with a white roux that is cooked slightly longer than the base of a béchamel and has a subtly golden hue. Instead of milk, a light stock is added to create this mother sauce with the most common being chicken, veal or fish. Using stock instead of dairy gives the sauce a slightly more complex flavor and a smooth consistency that is thinner than a béchamel.

When making mother sauces, Chef Lisa in Boston loves “the salty, tangy character of French butter” and prefers it to American butter in dishes that allow the richness and flavor to shinesuch as in a classic velouté. Despite being one of the simplest of the mother sauces to make,the versatile velouté is perhaps the most important to both classical French and moderncooking due to the vast number of daughter sauces that use it as a base. Velouté and itsdaughter sauces typically pair well with chicken or seafood dishes and work well as starters for creamy soups. Many of the daughter sauces of velouté each have their own derivative sauces that continue to build layers of flavor upon this essential base.

Derivative Sauces

• Allemande – one of Carême’s original mother sauces, this sauce goes by many names including
  German sauce or sauce Parisienne, and is made by enriching velouté (traditionally veal)
  with egg yolk and heavy cream, sometimes seasoned with lemon juice.
• Suprême – typically made from a chicken velouté, heavy cream or crème fraîche isadded, then
  strained to produce a luxuriously silky sauce.
• Sauce Vin Blanc (White Wine Sauce) – traditionally prepared by simmering whitewine with heavy
  cream in a fish velouté, this sauce is often served as anaccompaniment to seafood dishes.
• Normande or Normandy – while many versions exist with additional ingredients, at its core this sauce is a velouté, generally using fish stock, enriched with cream, egg yolks and butter.
• Bercy – this lively sauce, often enjoyed with seafood, is made by adding finelychopped shallots,
  white wine and butter to a fish stock velouté.
• Ravigote – served hot or cold, this acidic sauce consists of a basic velouté infusedwith dry white
  wine, white wine vinegar, herbs and shallots.
• Hungarian – made by adding sautéed onions, white wine and paprika to a chicken orveal velouté, this sauce is a beautiful accompaniment to roast chicken dishes.

Typically Served With

3. Espagnole

Sometimes known simply as brown sauce, espagnole is a rich, complex mother sauce that begins similarly to velouté. However, rather than the light or blonde roux used in other mother sauces, espagnole begins with a roux that has been cooked and browned several minutes to develop a toasted, nutty flavor. To elevate its richness, a generous touch ofFrench butter is expertly incorporated into this brown roux, further enhancing its depth andindulgence. Beef or veal stock made from roasted bones is then added, infusing the sauce with even more profound flavors.

Most recipes for espagnole include a mirepoix of sautéed carrots, celery and onions as wellas tomato purée and aromatics. Unlike the more neutral taste of mother sauces such asbéchamel or velouté, this sauce carries a deep, bold flavor and serves as the base for a rangeof popular accompaniments to hearty meat and game dishes such as demi-glace andvarious wine reductions. Along with cozy beef stews in the New England winters, springmushroom dishes and pan sauces for lamb, Chef Lisa in Boston highlights the versatility of this umami-rich sauce. She recommends keeping “a small reserve of demi-glace infused with the richness of French butter on hand just in case a sauce or base of a dish needs more depth. Sometimes only a small spoonful will make or break a dish!”

Derivative Sauces

• Demi-Glace – a key ingredient to create Madeira, Bordelaise, port wine sauce andMarchand de Vin or a red wine reduction, red wine is reduced with espagnole to create a thick, concentrated sauce with a consistency similar to syrup.
• Bourguignonne – a popular accompaniment to beef, this sauce adds red wine,onions and bouquet garni (a bundle of parsley, thyme and bay leaf) to a base ofespagnole.
• Chasseur – also known as Hunter’s sauce, this brown sauce adds mushrooms and shallots to a base of espagnole.
• Lyonnaise – onions and white wine vinegar are added to espagnole or a rich demi glace to create this sauce which pairs well with roasted or grilled meats and vegetables.
• Poivrade – traditionally, this sauce consists of mirepoix, wine and vinegar added to an espagnole base and generously seasoned with black pepper.
• Sauce Africaine – this robust sauce adds onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and herbs toits mother sauce base.

Typically Served With

4. Hollandaise

Of the mother sauces, hollandaise is perhaps the most unique. It relies on a technique called emulsification rather than a roux to thicken the rich, acidic sauce. Not included in Carême’s original four mother sauces, Escoffier demoted allemande, now a daughter sauce of velouté,and added hollandaise to the esteemed five mother sauces in the early 20th century. Aluscious, creamy sauce made from butter, egg yolks and an acid such as lemon juice orvinegar, technique is key when making hollandaise.

To prepare this sauce, lemon juice and egg yolks are constantly whisked while heating gently over a double boiler. Temperature control is essential as the eggs should not get too hot or begin to scramble. Once the mixture has lightened in color and started to thicken,melted butter is slowly drizzled into the emulsion while the chef continues to whisk. It is important to have patience while incorporating the butter to avoid the sauce breaking orseparating.

Chef Ivan in NYC suggests home cooks “use room temperature eggs and melted butter to prevent the sauce from breaking.” The finished hollandaise should be smooth and thickenough to coat the back of a spoon. Hollandaise and its daughter sauces are very versatileand pair well with a wide range of dishes from delicate eggs and vegetables to hearty steaks and salmon.

Derivative Sauces

• Béarnaise – this emulsion includes vinegar, tarragon, shallots and black pepper to create a rich sauce especially well-suited for grilled meats such as steak and has manydaughter sauces of its own.
• Choron – hollandaise infused with tomato paste enhances the sweetness and acidityof its mother sauce.
• Crème Fleurette – simply add cream to a basic hollandaise to create this daughtersauce.
• Bavaroise – also known as Bavarian sauce, this hollandaise derivative incorporateshorseradish, heavy cream and thyme.
• Maltaise or Maltese – the zest and juice of blood oranges are added to hollandaiseto bring a tangy sweetness to this sauce traditionally served over asparagus or broccoli.
• Mousseline – sometimes called Chantilly sauce, whipped cream is folded into hollandaise to create this light and airy derivative.

Typically Served With

5. Tomato

Also known as sauce tomate or red sauce, the traditional French tomato sauce was added along with hollandaise to the esteemed mother sauces by Escoffier in 1903. With roots inclassic Italian cooking, it’s no surprise that this popular sauce is commonly served with pizzaand pasta dishes although it is widely used across many European cuisines.

While the original French variation is built from blending rendered pork fat with vegetables and stock into a roux to thicken, modern versions are often simply a reduction of tomatoes,herbs and other aromatics. Whichever way it is prepared, the most essential element of arich, fragrant tomato sauce is always time. The longer it simmers, the deeper the flavor,resulting in a complex essence. This versatile sauce transcends continents, acting as the precursor to tomato-based dishes worldwide, from tikka masala to shakshuka. At its core,the finesse of French butter intertwines with tradition, enhancing the sauce’s allure. Like anartist’s finishing touch, it turns the ordinary into the extraordinary, a testament to the artistryof cuisine.

Derivative Sauces

• Bolognese – this iconic derivative traditionally adds ground meat and a sofrito ofdiced vegetables to its tomato base.
• Marinara – perhaps the most widely recognized iteration of the mother sauces, thesimple addition of herbs and aromatics including parsley, garlic and oregano create the signature flavor of this beloved sauce.
• Puttanesca – this variation of tomato sauce from the south of Italy gets its umami rich flavor from anchovies, capers and olives.
• Spanish – mushrooms and olives are added to a tomato base to create this sauce.
• Portuguese – sautéed onions and garlic cloves are added to a tomato sauce basethen finished with fresh chopped parsley.
• Provençale – this tomato sauce is enriched with olive oil and flavored with onions, garlic and seasonings such as a French herb blend known as herbes de Provence.
• Creole – this spicy tomato sauce incorporates vegetables such as onions, celery and green bell pepper with herbs, garlic and hot pepper sauce.

Typically Served With

Chef Luana in Los Angeles uses “European butter both for sweets and savory dishes” using it “to make pastry doughs that need more acidity, richness and flavor as well as in sauces.” The chef is “always fascinated by butter’s different tastes, colors, and textures” throughout Europe, where butter-making is an art form. Much pride is taken in producing high-qualityFrench butter. The process is authentic, steeped in tradition and very controlled with rigid regulations guiding the care of the cows, the land and the farmers.

Made with simple, all natural ingredients, French butter is rich in vitamin D and calcium and complements a wide range of diets and lifestyles. To integrate French butter into your cooking at home, Chef Andy in Chicago suggests incorporating “it into baking dishes first to taste the different flavors and eventually use it for sauces.” You might also use French butterto create compound butters infused with herbs or spices to finish proteins or spread some on a piece of toast for a simple yet decadent bite.

Proficiency with the classic mother sauces of French cuisine provides chefs and home cooks alike a foundation for building a vast and versatile array of dishes. Familiarity with these fivebase sauces opens endless possibilities for creativity in the kitchen. From developing layers of flavor in soups and casseroles to finishing the plate with an element of texture and color,a well-made sauce can make almost any dish feel elevated and complete. With a littlepractice and high-quality ingredients such as French butter, these mother sauces can takeyour favorite dishes to the next level.

Get our favorite recipes for all five mother sauces and watch our step-by-step videos.