White Sauce with Parsley

A great sauce to go with your ham. The secret to the success of this sauce: stir, stir, stir, and stir!

based on 73 reviews

Ingredients for 4

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Ingredients
13	tablespoons	fresh parsley	(40 grams)
1 1/2	tablespoon	butter	(20 grams)
2 1/4	tablespoons	plain flour	(20 grams)
1/4	teaspoon	salt	(2 grams)
1/8	teaspoon	ground black pepper	(0.4 grams)
1/4	teaspoon	nutmeg, grated	(0.4 grams)
300	mls	milk

Salt content: 0.5% (by weight, not counting salt in other ingredients)

Please do not use dried parsley as it has the taste of newspaper. Parsley particularly doesn't like drying and tastes horrible if dried. If you don't have fresh parsley, get on your skates and buy some.

Method

See step-by-step instructions below.

Great with a roasted ham!

Step-by-Step Instructions

	Put the butter into a saucepan and heat it up until the butter has melted.
	Now slowly add the flour. Whilst adding the flour, stir with a fork to mix the butter and the flour. You have to be quick here and make sure that there are no lumps forming - not a problem if you keep stirring.
	Keep stirring with a fork until all the flour has absorbed the butter. Continue stirring whilst heating the saucepan until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps or white bits of flour.
	Now slowly add the milk whilst still stirring. Each time you add a bit of milk, wait for the sauce to come to a boil. You will feel the sauce thickening every time it reaches a boil. Slowly add milk, bring to boil, etc. until you have added all the milk.
	The result is a creamy, smooth and firm sauce base.
	Now we add a pinch of salt ...
	... and the pepper. Then add some freshly grated nutmeg.
	Add the fresh, chopped parsley to the sauce and stir. Taste the sauce and add salt / pepper / nutmeg to your taste.
	You can let the sauce cool down and re-heat it, so you don't have to prepare it at the same time the rest of your meal needs all the attention. Simply stir whilst re-heating.

10	just made it. brilliant!!!
10	Fantastic! I'd have used white not black pepper and likely not included nutmeg. I was wondering if one could add a small amount of grated cheese as an alternative ingredient to nutmeg???
9	Brilliant thank you. Recipe nice and easy to follow. I will make it tonight.
8	good simple and basic. tastes good
10	First attempt and it turned out well!And i'm only young!!!!!!
10	You need to have an option of just printing the recipe only or all the photos and comments. It's a waste of paper and ink!
10	good photos like us/imp measures
10	will try this on friday,have a lovely lot of parsley growning,can't wait to try it
10	yum yum in my tum
10	very nice...thankyou
10	Just made it smells very nice cant wait for dinner...
9	very clear and concice
10	ty realy gd
10	i think making a white sauce is good
10	i think its a really good example, i cant wait to try it myself. ive just grown my own parsley?
10	ive always had a problem with the flour settling on the bottom of the saucepan during cooking. but found your method prevents this . thankyou .
10	Tastes just the way my mother used to make it. And I thought it was going to be complicated.
10	This is the best. My mum and dad said it was good! Mum said very good and Dad's usual reply is OK. Mum has been making white sauce for about 50 years so I am rapt. I didn't add the nutmeg. Will it add to the flavour a lot? The pictures make it so easy. Thanks again. Lawrie Comben
9	Ive just moved away from home. My mom's a great cook who cooks with a "pinch" of this and a "dash" of that.. so as expected my white sauce was just a DISASTER! Your recipe was easy peasy and I blended in some boiled spinach and mushrooms. The sauce got a nice mushroomy flavour and poured over vegge crepes. YUMMM! Thank you..
10	Went to a friends house and they used it for caulifour which was yummy and I guess would probably go with brocoli as well
10	Ace, I took the recipe and gave it my own tweak!! Just the base I needed!!
10	yummy
9	Have just introduced my Chinese family to roast pork - jacket potatoes and a daring attempt at your white sauce with cauliflower, Having seen how it was all devoured (with chopsticks)only one crit - need to double ingredients - shi shi ni (thank you)
10	I tried this with Stake and found it a very tasty combo - used fried onions+mushrooms to complement.
10	its realy nice!
8	I agree - dried parsley is rubbish
10	I add a disc of buttered greesproof paper to stop a skin forming if pre cooking the sauce. did you kn ow my grandmaNULL mairead christine. she died at 80. she taught me. you would have got on.
10	Just like my mother used to make! Sometimes would embellish it by adding some grated cheese also over veggies such as brussel sprouts, peas, etc.
10	very informative with the pictures an added bonus
9	I always used to have problems making white sauce, but with the great pictures and detailed instructions, I was able to make the perfect sauce.
8	easy simple instructions to follow
10	fantastic recipe. I'm not great with sauces but this was simple, and came out perfect. Hats off to you
10	thank you for the recipe - turned out great. Yes, the stirring seems to do the trick!