Vegan Béchamel Sauce
Ligia Lugo
Published:
November 25, 2025
Last Modified:
November 29, 2025
Creamy vegan béchamel sauce is a kitchen staple! Richly textured and laced with the traditional flavor of nutmeg, it can do everything from top a bowl of pasta to round out recipes like vegan lasagna.
Béchamel belongs to a group of sauces which are known in French cuisine as the “mother sauces”, named for the fact that they serve as the foundation from which most other sauces are derived.
Traditionally, it starts with a white roux–a cooked combination of butter and flour–to which dairy is added, producing a thick and creamy gravy-like base.
Now, to make a plant-based version of this important sauce, it’s as easy as swapping the standard dairy products with vegan versions and following a careful methodology when it comes to combining the ingredients.
Once you have added this technique to your recipe repertoire, you’ll have the starting point for tons of recipes from vegan mac ‘n’ cheese, pasta bakes like baked ziti, vegan lasagna, scalloped potatoes, and more!
It’s also perfectly delicious as is, and tastes luxurious when smothered over plain pasta or used as a dipping sauce for savory bites like my Broccoli and Zucchini Fritters.
Ingredient Notes
- Vegan butter – Choose whichever vegan butter you already use and trust. If you need some guidance, check out our Best Vegan Butter Taste Test and Review!
- All-purpose flour – Plain, all-purpose flour works best for making a roux like we will be doing for this recipe. I recommend sticking with that and avoiding any alternatives like rice flour or tapioca flour.
- Soy milk – There are many non-dairy milk options out there to choose from, but I find that soy milk has the perfect flavor and consistency for this vegan white sauce. Make sure to choose unflavored, unsweetened soy milk for this recipe.
- Nutmeg – This spice is the classic seasoning for traditional béchamel sauce. Use freshly grated nutmeg if possible, it has a far better flavor as compared to the pre-ground stuff.
- Salt and black pepper – Depending on whether or not your vegan butter is salted, the amount of salt you need to add will vary. I recommend adding some black pepper too, but if you prefer to avoid the black specks in your sauce, you can use white pepper instead.
Optional:
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast for an extra savory, cheesy flavor!
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Melt butter. Add the vegan butter to a small saucepot over medium heat and allow it to melt completely.
- Add flour. As soon as the butter is fully melted, add the flour. Allow it to cook, whisking continuously, for about 2 minutes until it takes on a paste-like texture and smells nutty, like popcorn.
- Add milk. Slowly stream in the soy milk, whisking continuously as you do. The idea here is to fully integrate the soy milk and the butter-flour mixture, eliminating any floury lumps.
- Season. Sprinkle in the grated nutmeg, salt, and black pepper. Stir in the seasonings and continue cooking the bechamel over medium-low heat until it thickens up enough to coat the back of your spoon. As it gets thicker, it will be more likely to stick to the bottom of the pot so keep on stirring!
- Serve! Once thickened, remove your vegan béchamel from the heat, taste again and adjust seasonings if needed. It’s ready to serve as desired or use in your favorite recipes!
Tips From Ligia
If your sauce turns out too thick:
Simply whisk in a bit more soy milk to bring it to the desired consistency. If you accidentally make it too thin, just keep cooking and stirring it over low heat and it will continue to thicken up.
If your sauce ends up with lumps:
Just pour it through a fine mesh sieve to strain out any clumps of flour. This happens to the best of us sometimes, don’t worry!
How To Store
Refrigerating Pour your leftover vegan bèchamel sauce into an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 3 days.
Freezing Pack your leftover sauce into a freezer-safe container, label it, and freeze for up to 3 months. When freezing liquids, make sure there is adequate head space at the top of the container to allow room for expansion.
Thawing Transfer your frozen sauce to the refrigerator and allow it to thaw overnight. The sauce may take on a separated appearance and that’s normal.
Reheating Place the sauce in a saucepan and gently warm it over medium-low heat, whisking often until hot.
Vegan Béchamel Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp vegan butter
- 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups soy milk
- ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the vegan butter in a small saucepot over medium heat.
- Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking continuously, for about 2 minutes until it takes on a paste-like texture and smells nutty, like popcorn.
- Slowly stream in the soy milk, whisking continuously to dissolve any lumps, until the ingredients are fully integrated
- Season with grated nutmeg, salt, and black pepper. Stir and continue cooking the bechamel over medium-low heat until it thickens up enough to coat the back of your spoon.
- Remove your vegan bechamel from the heat. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed, then serve or incorporate into recipes!
