Classic French Sauces – Chicken Veloute

Sauces are liquids that add flavor, richness and appeal to foods, they are usually thickened using a starch or other thickening agent like a roux. There are 4 main French sauces: White, Brown, Red and Butter.

Today we are going to discuss the White sauces. Under each category of sauces there are leading sauces that are basic sauces used to make a final sauce. The leading sauces of the White sauce family include:

Veloute – This is a sauce made with a roux base and stock, Veloute is usually made with either chicken, veal or fish stock, but you can also make Veloute vegetarian by using vegetable stock.
Chicken Veloute
Veal Veloute
Fish Veloute

Bechamel – this leading sauce is used as a base for many cheese, cream and seafood sauces

Leading sauces are then used to make a secondary leading sauce or small or final sauces. It’s amazing to think of how much effort goes into a sauce that seems to be such a small component of your meal, but think about it, have you ever had a meal that the sauce just finished perfectly? Like many European dishes, many steps are taken to make a sauce with the utmost care and love. Each step more important than the last to develop the final flavor.

Today we are going to make Cream of Mushroom Soup using a chicken veloute (use vegetable stock to make vegetarian).

Cream of Mushroom Soup



3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons allergen free flour, I used Meister’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
4 cups chicken stock, heated to a simmer (use vegetable stock if you want vegetarian)

1 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup onion, diced
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
Kosher salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup white wine

Make Veloute Sauce
Take sauce pan and heat over medium heat.
Add olive oil and allergen free flour, whisk for 2 minutes. You don’t want mixture to brown, you want it light in color, this is called a blond roux.
Slowly begin to add heated chicken stock and simmer until *nappe. Set aside.

Take a saute pan and heat over medium heat.

Add oil and and heat another minute.
Add onions to pan and cook slowly until soft and translucent, set aside.
Next, add mushrooms in small batches, season with kosher salt and pepper to taste and brown. If you put too many mushrooms in at once, you will steam them instead of sautéing.
As you finish one batch of mushrooms, remove and add another until all are complete.
Once all mushrooms are cooked, add mushrooms and onions back to the pan and add white wine to deglaze pan, cook until dry.
Add mushrooms and onions to veloute and simmer for 20 minutes.
Place mixture in blender and blend until smooth.

Nappe – when you dip the spoon into your sauce and put your finger thru it. If the trail your finger makes thru the sauce holds it’s shape, you are there.