There is no doubt that cheese sauce is one of the most favorite side dishes that commonly forms many main dishes, especially in North America and Europe. However, there could be instances where the sauce that you have in your home could have become watery. Hence you may have reasons to thicken cheese sauce. In this article, we will answer the question of how to thicken cheese sauce in the oven.
Cheese sauce can be heated in the oven and thicken there in few simple ways. There are other avenues too that could help in heating and thickening cheese. It could help many people who are finding it tough to fix cheese sauce that may have turned a bit watery for several reasons.
When eating noodles, or other such food items, you would love to have the sauce clinging to the food rather than dripping and making a mess of your dress and dining table. Let us see how this can be made possible. We are listing down a few standard thickening cheese sauce methods used successfully for generations.
Generally, you can thicken cheese sauce even in the oven, but you will have to add more of at least one of those ingredients. More:
- Cheese (Duh), orFlour,
- Cornstarch
- Arrowroot
- Potato
- Tomato paste
- Or just by reducing the liquid in the cheese sauce.
Make it super easy by just adding more cheese!
The easiest way to thicken cheese sauce is to add more cheese. Use grated cheese (very thinly shredded cheese). Add it after heating cheese sauce in the oven, melting and then mixing and stirring additional cheese into sauce until you are satisfied with its thickness.
Wait, there are more elaborate and cool practical ways. Read on.
Will Cheese Thicken in The Oven?
Yes, the cheese will thicken in the oven. Here is a straightforward method right away.
You can add a tablespoon of cornstarch per cup of liquid you would like to make thick. You can use the same tip with cheese sauce that is too watery or too thin. However, please make sure to stir out the resulting lumps after mixing thoroughly.
Just a few minutes before the casserole is ready, make sure that the thickened cheese sauce is poured gradually and slowly and not in one go. Do this till you are pretty happy with the thickness. You can then make use of the casserole for baking and other such purposes.
However, please do not overheat the sauce in the oven. Set the timing for around 1 minute or 60 seconds. You can set the oven for multiples of 15 seconds if you feel the need for only a little bit of heating and thickening. It is essential to avoid overheating because you will run the risk of burning the cheese, which would spoil the whole show.
Note: I suggest using heat-resistant gloves or cloth when operating any heating appliance. The oven can heat up quickly, so be cautious of hot air coming out when you open the oven.
Apart from the above, there are other ways by which it is possible to thicken cheese, and let us have a look at the same. While doing it with an oven is undoubtedly a good idea, there could be some overheating or burning risks. It can perhaps be avoided by following the below-mentioned options.
Thicken cheese sauce in the oven using flour
If you are not too worried about gluten, you could add flour to your cheese sauce to thicken it. Flour is one of the best options for almost all dairy-based sauces. It is also great for gravies and thickening soups. You can make a roux.
A roux is a combination of equal parts of all-purpose flour and some fat. Usually, it is butter, although you can use grated cheese instead of butter. But if you use butter, you will add cheese later – read on.
Prepare the roux by melting butter with flour, add at least twice as much amount of milk, and whisk it in a cup into the state of liquid. You can use water instead of milk, but milk gives cheese sauce a rich feel.
When you use the roux-making process, you will not run the flour-smelling raw risk because you will also cook it along with the cheese sauce. You also can add a small quantity of water directly to the flour.
Ensure that the resulting slurry is properly whisked into the pot and allow it to simmer for a minute or two in the oven. Then add to the mix shredded (grated – very thinly shredded – cheese). Keep simmering for a little more until you feel that smell of flour is gone. Remember – you must thoroughly cook the flour!
You can do it on the stovetop or in the oven. That ensures that the liquid cheese sauce gets thickened in the oven and the taste of raw flour gets removed. In this method, the flour will serve as a thickening agent while the sauce is cooking in the oven. Plus, will sauce will additionally thicken while cooling after you take it out of the oven. That is why the oven is perfect for this method of thickening sauce.
Will cheese sauce thicken in the oven by mixing only cheese, milk, and butter.
Ok. Roux above requires flour, butter, milk, and cheese. Sound too much of a mess? You can remove flour from the equation and mix cheese, milk, and butter in the pot or a pan. Then heat it in the oven. Then mix them well.
Keep heating, then mixing until thoroughly mixed without clumps. Adding several parts of cheese to milk and a piece of butter will make a thick cheese sauce. Go easy on the butter. And more milk will make the sauce more liquid.
Take it out of the oven. The higher concentration of cheese in the mix will help cheese sauce to thicken while cooling down. Technically speaking, the finalization of this process happens after you take sauce from the oven.
Side Note: Can you do the same on the stovetop? Technically yes, you can do the same on the stovetop. The difference will be that you will need to stir heated sauce on the stove harder because it may heat unevenly. The oven usually heats pots or pans more evenly because heat distributes in the oven more evenly. You may encounter fewer clumps in the oven compare with the stovetop.
Arrowroot, Corn starch, Potato starch will help cheese sauce thicken in the oven.
Arrowroot and Cornstarch are great for gluten intolerance, looking for gluten-free alternatives for thickening a cheese sauce. They are also considered a reasonably good alternative to those who are not keen on thickening sauce using a microwave oven. Finally, both are preferred by many because they go a long way in keeping the sauce cloud-free and clear.
Why starch? Because any starch absorbs liquid like a sponge, thus making sauce thicker. You can use starch of any kind.
Cheese sauce thickening can be performed relatively quickly as follows.
- You need around at least 1 (one) tablespoon of arrowroot or cornstarch for one cup of liquid cheese sauce.
- Mix the arrowroot or cornstarch with an equal part of water, and pour the slurry into a pot.
- The pot should be periodically whisked over high-to-medium-high heat in the oven till the cornstarch becomes well incorporated with sauce and begins to thicken.
It’s a good option for those asking the question: does cheese sauce thicken in the oven. The good thing about cornstarch or arrowroot is that it is entirely natural and free from GMOs. Many believe, however, that arrowroot could be a better option than cornstarch.
Use plain potatoes or beans!
Some people also recommend using potatoes or beans. Scratch off potato skin and cook them until they are soft. Using a stovetop for that, you will end up with a different taste as boiling on the stovetop adds liquid. Therefore, it would be defying the purpose of thickening sauce. Baking removes extra fluid from the potato.
Then cut them, add a little bit of liquid you use for the sauce (water, milk, or whatever you add to the sauce this time), and whir or blend them using a blender or food processor. Then take the resulting mass and add it to the sauce. Stir or whisk very well. You may do a little bit more cooking of this sauce mass to make it even thicker.
Tomato Paste Will Also Work
Using Tomato paste is also an attractive option for looking at ways to thicken cheese sauce. However, make sure to add it at the beginning of the entire thickening process.
Heating it could release essential oil and could caramelize the sugar. Tomato paste could also come in handy for other types of sauces to bind. Many also use it for thickening beef stews and brown spices.
But not many people like it for dairy-based sauces, including cheese sauce. This is due mainly to the fact that it changes color, and the unmistakable tomato flavor will be there. This may not be to the liking of some people. What about you?
Reduce the amount of of liquid
You also could reduce the share of liquid in the cheese sauce provided you have the time. Though this is a lengthier process, it certainly could help to thicken cheese sauce. When the liquid evaporates, you also will love it because there will be a resulting total concentration of other flavors.
In short – you can thicken cheese sauce by evaporating liquid from it. Once it gets to boiling temperature, turn the setting down to medium because you may burn the sauce using high settings.
This will be liked by many, even if some may not like too much concentration of the flavors. The process of simmering in a stockpot will take quite a bit of time. You could perhaps speed up the process by removing a portion of the sauce and putting it in a wide saute pan.
You can then stir it back into the main pot containing excess liquid till it becomes thick. You need not add any ingredient, which could be the closest to thickening cheese sauce in the oven.
Here is a trick. If you do it on the stovetop, then liquid evaporates faster, and you may end up with quite a thick sauce. Doing the same in the oven is a more gradual process where the sauce retains more flavor. Try both and see which will work better for you.
Final Word
It is possible to thicken cheese sauce in an oven. But as mentioned, you should take care to avoid overheating the sauce and, in the process, burning it. In case you want some more flavor to be a part of the overall thickening process, the above could come in handy.
Apart from this, others use egg yolks to thicken the cheese sauce. They also mix it with cooking noodles to ensure that the excess liquid or watery substances are removed.