The Best Gluten-Free Cheese Sauce

If there is one gluten-free recipe that has become invaluable to our family meals it's this amazingly versatile cheese sauce. You can use this gluten-free cheese sauce recipe for pasta, cauliflower cheese or a delicious lasagne. I have even been known to mix a spoonful into cooked peas and spinach to encourage my children to eat their greens. This cheese sauce is magic.

One of the most popular recipes at From The Larder is Gluten-Free Cauliflower Cheese which is made with milk, cornflour and cheese for a very simple every day cheese sauce.

The gluten-free cheese sauce we’re talking about today though is a little bit different. It is made the more traditional way by making a roux with flour and butter before adding the milk and cheese. It’s about 10 minutes more work but the flavour and texture is so much richer and more velvety with layers of buttery richness.

Watch the Video

Sometimes it helps to see a visual of what I'm talking about. So watch the video to see what it looks like to make your cheese sauce recipe.

So what’s the secret to the Best Gluten-Free Cheese Sauce?

The secret is to use the right choice of gluten-free flour. All-purpose gluten-free flours can produce thin and grainy sauces. Here we use sweet rice flour which is a perfect thickener for silky smooth sauces.

For this recipe we swap the usual all-purpose flour for the same amount of sweet rice flour. You will be amazed by the results and I guarantee you won’t be able to tell the difference.

Sweet rice flour is such an underrated flour. Used prolifically in Asian baking it can be incredibly versatile for all manner of sweet and savoury dishes. Its gelatinous texture means it is invaluable when making gluten-free sauces and gravies. It provides a silky smooth texture, totally unlike the thin graininess you might achieve from regular rice flour or a plain gluten-free flour.

You can buy sweet rice flour in Asian supermarkets (where it’s not necessarily certified gluten-free so take care) or from Amazon.

You can substitute the sweet rice flour for cassava flour which produces the same gorgeously velvety smooth sauce.

What cheese to use for the best cheese sauce

You want to use a cheese that has a robust rich flavour and has a good melting consistency.

• Gruyère – this is what I like use, it has a great rounded flavour, melts like a dream and what is recommended here for this recipe
• Cheddar – let’s face it you can never go wrong with a good mature cheddar. You know what you’re getting, you’ve probably already got it in the fridge and it gives good sauce. It's perfectly blended with the gruyère.
• Fontina – not always easy to get hold of but melts beautifully with lovely depth and you can swap it with the gruyère for a change.
• Mix n’Match – Why not walk on the wild side with a mixture of cheeses? Try a combo of any of the above with parmesan. Or crumble in a bit of blue cheese for a really special broccoli pasta sauce.

Ingredients Needed

Butter. If you can use unsalted butter here then you can control the salt content of the sauce but if you only have salted butter then you can omit the salt – and taste for seasoning.

Sweet Rice Flour (glutinous rice flour). This is such a versatile naturally gluten-free flour which a neutral flavour and gives a gorgeously smooth and creamy result to our sauce, similar to that of regular wheat flour. Cassava flour can be used instead.

I don’t recommend using cornflour or an all-purpose gluten-free flour for this particular recipe. Cornflour needs to be used in a slurry which works very well in my alternative quick method sauce. All-purpose gluten-free flour or rice flour can be too gritty and won’t create a smooth velvety result.

Milk. Use whole milk over semi-skimmed. You need the richness to give the sauce body and flavour. If you want to use dairy-free milk then I like oat milk or almond milk the best. Oat milk gives a richer result but obviously oats are not suitable for everyone so almond milk is a sound swap.

Gruyère. I love using super melty gruyère which has a great depth of flavour. Teaming it with cheddar, which we usually have in our fridge helps give flavour layers to the cheese sauce.

Cheddar cheese. Use your favourite mature cheddar cheese and grate it fresh rather than anything pre-grated.

Dijon mustard. This deepens the cheese flavour and adds dimension. You can swap for English mustard powder for a stronger flavour (English mustard in its liquid form is often not gluten-free).

Bay leaves. I do like the flavour of bay in our cheese sauce to give a little herbal element.

Seasoning. We season our cheese sauce with white pepper (you can use black pepper), salt and ground nutmeg.

How To Make Gluten-Free Cheese Sauce

For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.

Pour the milk, bay leaf, salt, pepper and nutmeg into a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the sweet rice flour, whisk together to make a smooth roux.

Pour the milk into the roux very slowly. Whisk all the time until the milk has fully combined and the sauce is thick, smooth and bubbling.

Add the bay leaves, seasoning and Dijon mustard and stir until combined.

Finally add the cheese and stir in until the cheese has melted and the sauce is velvety smooth

Turn off the heat and use the sauce in whichever way you fancy.

What do I do if my sauce is lumpy?

Don’t worry, it can be easily fixed. Check your sauce for consistency before you add the cheese. If the sweet rice flour isn’t dissolving into the sauce here are your options:

1. Whisk vigorously on a gentle heat.
2. Sieve – use a fine Moulin sieve.
3. If the whisking and sieving doesn’t do the trick then add 50ml of cold whole milk to the sauce and bring to a gentle simmer whisking all the time. It will soon thicken up again. The flour just probably needed more liquid.

Make ahead or meal prep

This cheese sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead of when you need to use it. Do you want Mac n’Cheese for Tuesday supper? Well prepare this cheese sauce the Sunday before and cut down on your dinner prep mid-week.

What can I use Gluten-Free Cheese Sauce for?

• Any pasta dish – macaroni cheese or lasagne
• Cauliflower or Broccoli Cheese
• Smothered over Chicken Schnitzel and served with salad.

Variations on Gluten-Free Cheese Sauce

• I have been known to swap out the salt for a bit of crumbled bacon salt for extra savouriness.
• Have you tried Honey Dijon Mustard? It really takes this cheese sauce to the next level. It adds just a touch of sweetness.
• Vegan Cheese Sauce – swap out the whole milk for a dairy-free alternative (cashew milk works well), then use vegan butter and vegan cheese.

More Gluten-Free Cheese Recipes You'll Love

Gluten-Free Cauliflower Cheese
Cheesy Brussel Sprout and Leek Gratin
Brazilian Cheese Rolls
Cheesy Oat Bacon Breakfast Muffins
White Chocolate Ginger Cheesecake