Make-Ahead Freezer Cheese Sauce
This Make-Ahead Freezer Cheese Sauce is something that I highly recommend you keep on hand in your freezer if you have kids around! Why?
I don’t know how things go in your household, but in my house, making a child (or husband) eat their vegetables is a fate worse than death! I mean, it’s the worst punishment a parent can give!! My kids are picky eaters, but one thing they are not picky about is their universal hatred of anything that looks, smells, tastes or acts like it might possibly in some slight way be a vegetable, or be related to a vegetable, or have touched a vegetable at any time during its existence. They are equal-opportunity vegetable haters. Corn? Hate. Peas? Hate. Broccoli…don’t even go there!
Most of the time I’m doing good if I can get them to eat the main meal (in which I have usually hidden a few vegetables when possible). But ask them to eat a side dish comprised of nothing but vegetables? NOT. GONNA. HAPPEN!
So, we’ve taken to having to hide vegetables around our house. Usually, our cloak of invisibility of choice is ketchup. We go through SO much ketchup!
But sometimes it’s nice to have a change from the ketchup. Enter this Freezer Cheese Sauce.
It goes great with just about any vegetable you can think of! It works as a sauce over the top, or you can use it as a dip. One batch makes quite a lot, and it stores nicely in the freezer until needed!
I like to use mild cheddar in this freezer cheese sauce, because my kids like cheese but not a bold cheese flavor. If you like a stronger cheese flavor, try using sharp cheddar.
I recommend defrosting the cheese sauce in the fridge, and then heating in a saucepan on the stovetop. Sometimes dairy with separate a little when frozen. But heat it over the stove and give it a few stirs with a whisk and it comes right back together. I have not had much luck with the microwave, because it tends to heat it unevenly and then I get burned spots.
One batch of this Freezer Cheese Sauce makes about 10 cups, so I usually put about 2 cups into each of various freezer-safe containers for freezing.
My kids are still not big fans of vegetables. But I can usually coax at least a few small bites out of them with sufficient “cheese-sauce-toppage”. Mostly the key is to hide the very appearance of a vegetable. Go figure. But if it gets them to eat a few bites, I suppose that is better than nothing…right?
Freezer Cheese Sauce
An easy, cheesy sauce that goes great with just about any vegetable imaginable - it stores great in the freezer until needed!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 cups milk
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 4 egg yolks, beaten
- 6 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Melt butter in large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat.
- Whisk in flour, salt and nutmeg to make a roux. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. (This will help cook out any "flour" taste.)
- While whisking briskly, add in milk and chicken broth. Whisk until combined and smooth. Remove from heat.
- In separate bowl, mix egg yolks and half-and-half until combined. Add in 1/4 cup of sauce mixture to egg mixture. Stir to combine. Add 3 more quarter-cups of sauce mixture, one at a time, into the egg mixture. (This is to temper the eggs - raise their temperature slowly - so as not to scramble them.) Then add egg mixture into large pot of sauce mixture and stir to combine.
- Return to heat and cook for 3-4 more minutes over medium heat.
- Turn heat off and stir in cheddar cheese. Continue to stir until all cheese is melted.
- Allow mixture to cool, and then portion into freezer-safe containers. Label and date, then freeze.
To re-heat:
- Defrost sauce overnight in refrigerator. Pour thawed sauce into saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently.
Notes
Recipe adapted from the book, Make-A-Mix, by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward and Madeline Westover.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 40 Serving Size: 1/4 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 134Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 281mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 6g
Nutrition information provided as an estimate only.
Tracey says
This looks yummy.
Candi says
Thanks! 🙂
Mama Schick says
This recipe was a life saver! I have severe gluten allergy and needed to make a batch of broccoli cheese soup hours upon landing at my in-laws house this weekend.
I made this cheese sauce and replaced the flour with Pamela’s 1:1 GF flour and it worked like a charm. It was SO good. I popped it in the freezer to freeze solid. I pulled it out just before boarding the plane and wrapped it in towels. Brought it in my checked bag (it’s December) and it was only beginning to defrost as I landed. I ran to the store, grabbed some onion, broth, and broccoli. Cooked onion in some butter, added chicken broth and broccoli, boiling until just tender. I gradually incorporated this cheese sauce, allowing it to finish defrosting in the boiling soup. After a few tweaks of salt & pepper – it was absolutely divine! Tossed that batch in the crockpot and was the hero! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’ll be making another batch for our veggies at home – maybe even for our fondue on Christmas Eve….The possibilities are ENDLESS!
Candi says
I am so glad it worked out!!! And thank you for taking the time to share your experience – I will go in and note on the recipe that this can be made GF!
Jessica says
So this is awesome and I’ll going to try it probably today!
But I have a tip to give as thanks!
Sub 1 cup or more! For equal parts of the chicken broth/stock of cooked pureed yellow squash. I have been hiding it in my son’s Mac and cheese for awhile! He loves it!
Thanks again! I’ll try it with the veggie puree and come back and tell you how it turned out!
Candi says
Excellent tip! Definitely tell me how it turns out! 👍🏻
jas says
How necessary is the egg on this recipe? I am pandemic cooking the 10 lbs of grated cheese I got from the foodbank (yikes!) but can’t get eggs for another couple of weeks when I do my next grocery order. I doubt the cheese will keep till then and I love the idea of freezing small batches cheese sauce to top whatever I manage to get my hands on in the upcoming months.
Candi says
They help stabilize the mixture for freezing by adding extra protein and binding. I have never tried the recipe without, but you certainly could give it a shot! Maybe make just a small batch without the eggs (you might need to add just a bit extra half-and-half to compensate) and give it a test freeze. Another alternative would be to freeze the shredded cheese as-is (I usually put mine just straight in big freezer ziptop bags and toss them in the freezer), and then pull it out to thaw to make the cheese sauce once you can get eggs. Because you are changing the state of the cheese (from shredded to melted in the sauce), you should be fine freezing the cheese “twice” like that.