Top 5 Fixes for Too Much Butter in Béchamel Sauce
This may sound unbelievable, but there is such a thing as too much butter in béchamel. Although the butteriness is a staple flavor of the rich béchamel sauce, too much butter can turn a fancy dinner into a hellish experience. After a heated discussion about fixing béchamel sauce with too much sauce, I couldn’t help but write an article and share my experience with you. So, how do you fix too much butter in béchamel sauce?
Adding milk, more seasoning, vinegar, cream, or flour can fix a béchamel with too much butter. Still, using some of these methods takes some special steps, so make sure to read about them in more detail below!
As a huge béchamel fan, I’ve encountered many challenging situations that often lead to a disastrous result, i.e., a ruined dish. Still, many of my endeavors have been successful, which compelled me to compile them in a single article so that you don’t have to learn the lesson the hard way. So, if you’ve ever gone a bit over the top with butter in your béchamel, this is why you should have taken measures to fix your sauce.
What Happens if You Put Too Much Butter in Béchamel?
The two aspects in which too much butter manifests in béchamel are thickening and flavor. The signs can be more or less subtle depending on how much excess butter you add, but they will be there. After many batches of béchamel, it is easy for me to spot the difference, but that comes with experience, so don’t worry; it won’t be the end of the world if you don’t spot them.
To know better what to look for, take a look below at the signals your béchamel will send you if you add too much butter.
The greasy texture is always the first sign that gives away the excess butter in béchamel. The consistency of a béchamel should be even and smooth, but too much butter in it creates a visibly greasy appearance and possibly unevenly colored patches.
Another side effect of too much butter in béchamel sauce is difficulty thickening the sauce. The butter fat will float on the surface, making it difficult for the ingredients to homogenize so the sauce can thicken.
If nothing else gives away the excess butter, the flavor certainly will. Excess butter in béchamel results in favor imbalance and an overwhelming butteriness of the sauce. It is also heavy and might cause stomach issues due to the excess fat.
It will also be too rich, with an overwhelming butter note, creating a sensation of eating butter straight from the pack. Believe me, there is such a thing as “excessively rich” béchamel sauce.
How to Fix Béchamel Sauce with Too Much Butter?
Luckily, this cooking mishap is far from unfixable, and you can do a few things to remedy the situation. Here are the fixers that have worked best for me over the years!
Add More Milk
Adding more milk may sound strange when it comes to fixing béchamel with too much butter, but it works. The milk will thin the béchamel and will help the butter absorption, so you don’t end up with an overly heavy sauce. The downside of this method is that the sauce won’t be as creamy, but you can quickly fix that by adding starch or flour.
Add More Seasonings
If the excess butter isn’t that much to disturb the consistency of the béchamel yet enough to affect the balance of flavors, the extra seasoning will do the trick. Add some more salt, pepper, and, perhaps, some herbs to suffocate the overly pronounced buttery notes.
Whenever I’m making lasagna, I always go with powdered garlic, black pepper, and nutmeg, but it isn’t a flavor everyone enjoys, so feel free to make your own spice blend.
Vinegar
A small amount of vinegar is a great way to restore the flavor balance in your sauce. If you don’t feel like experimenting with spices, you can add only a few drops of white vinegar. The acidity will pierce through the butteriness of the sauce without making it taste sour.
So far, this method has been very successful for me.
Use Cream
Cream and butter are excellent fixers for each other, so if you want to restore the consistency and flavor balance of your sauce, add more cream if you accidentally spill excess butter. The cream and butter will balance each other out, giving you a creamy and smooth sauce that isn’t overwhelmingly buttery.
Add More Flour
Flour is a standard ingredient in béchamel sauce, but using it to fix the too much butter issue is often reserved for the more experienced cooks. This is an effective method, but you should be very careful when adding the extra flour.
Spilling too much flour, which isn’t as much as you may think, will result in a lumpy sauce. Also, the extra flour can give the sauce a dough-like consistency, so add it very slowly, always stir the sauce, and give it time to absorb the butter before adding more.
Which of these did you combine to save your béchamel with too much butter? I’m excited to hear about your cooking experience in the comments below!
