12 Classic Sauces and How to Make Them

Editor's note: Updated 21.1.21

It's hard to imagine a dish that wouldn't taste even more delicious with a sauce. Whether it's meat with chimichurri sauce or poached eggs with hollandaise, there's no denying that a little sauce goes a long way in enhancing the flavour of our favourite foods.

When it comes to the classics there are 12 basic sauces beloved around the world. Some are mother sauces like bechamel and espagnole, while others like BBQ sauce and sweet and sour sauce are regional favourites. Each one offers a unique flavour profile and anyone can make them at home.

You'll find them all in this nifty infographic highlighting 12 basic sauces and their recipes. If you are a visual learner you'll appreciate this guide to basic sauces. You could even print it and hang it on the fridge for easy reference.

Side note: If you're looking for vegan alternatives to some of the basic sauces below, check out our recipes for vegan bechamel sauce and vegan hollandaise sauce.

12 Classic Sauces and How To Make Them

1. Béchamel

Bechamel sauce, a simple béchamel, the classic white sauce made from flour, butter and milk. A basic skill every cook should possess.

2. Hollandaise

Emulsified sauce, Hollandaise, is one of the legendary chef Auguste Escoffier’s five “mother sauce recipes” in his great cookbook, which is the bible of classic French cookery.

3. Parsley Sauce

A simple and flavourful sauce.

4. Tomato

5. Bearnaise

6. Bread Sauce

7. Chimichurri Sauce

8. BBQ

9. Horseradish

Horseradish

10. Espagnole

aka “brown sauce,” is the mother to hundreds of children, and is more of a starting point than something consumed as is. It begins with a dark brown roux, adding veal stock, bones and pieces of beef and vegetables—a miniature, concentrated stew, with tomato paste added at the end, before the sauce is skimmed and strained.

11. Veloute

Made of chicken or fish bones that have not been first roasted (which would darken it), but are rather lighter in color and are mixed with a blond roux.