This Creamy Cream Cheese Bechamel is made with only 5 ingredients that you can get at any supermarket. The best part is that it only takes less than 20 minutes to make. This is not a hard recipe; any beginner cook can make this.
This Cream Cheese Bechamel is something I decided to try to solve a problem I had when making a Puerto Rican lasagna. This is because I love adding cream cheese to lasagna, but it is kind of hard to spread.
I don’t know if adding cream cheese to a classic lasagna is only a Puerto Rican thing, but many people add it. So with this recipe is way easier to add cream cheese because it’s a sauce.
You can add it to a Puerto Rican sweet plantain lasagna and be ready because it’s good! You can also use it instead of traditional cheese in a chicken breast sandwich, inside Puerto Rican pastelillos de pollo or on top of garlic bread.
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Why This Recipe Works
- This is a recipe that can be used as a white pasta sauce or a cheese sauce on any savory recipe.
- You can customize the recipe with your favorite herb and spices to give it your unique taste.
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter- I used unsalted butter, but you can also use salted. You just have to taste the sauce before adding the salt.
- Flour- All-purpose flour is all that you need for this recipe.
- Milk- I used regular whole milk. You can use it cold or at room temperature.
- Seasonings- I used only salt and pepper just to make a basic sauce. You can taste the sauce and adjust as needed.
- Cream cheese- You need 1 block of 8 ounces of cream cheese.
Substitutions & Variations
- Milk- A great substitute for milk is evaporated milk. Not only does it make a silky sauce just like regular milk, but it also gives it a very unique taste.
- Seasonings- You can add some spices to add some heat to the sauce. Or you can add fresh herbs to infuse the milk, and then remove the herbs.
How to Make A Cream Cheese Bechamel
- Photo 1: In a small pan, add the butter over medium-high heat. Cook the butter for 30 seconds, but you have to constantly stir to make sure your butter doesn’t burn.
- Photo 2: Add the flour and cook for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Don’t stop stirring to prevent the flour from burning.
- Photo 3: Little by little, start to add the milk. The most important step is that you don’t stop stirring. This is going to help prevent lumps. Cook this for 8 minutes.
- Photo 4: Last, add the cream cheese and cook for 3 minutes. Stir while it cooks so the cream cheese can break down.
Recipe Tips
- Make ahead– You can make this ahead of time and save it in your fridge for up to 4 days or freeze it for 3 months.
- Storing– When storing this cream cheese bechamel, make sure to use an airtight container and place a plastic film directly onto the sauce. This will prevent the sauce from forming a skin.
- Reheating– Your sauce can split, but the trick is just to let it get to room temperature and reheat on low heat. Add a splash of water to thin the sauce a little bit and stir while reheating.
More Recipes To Use The Sauce In
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Cream Cheese White Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 8 ounces cream cheese
Instructions
- In a small pan over medium high heat add the butter. Cook the butter for 30 seconds while constantly stirring so the butter can melt faster.
- Add the flour and quickly stir it. Cook for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Enough to cook it and give it some color.
- Slowly pour the milk little by little while you stir. Make sure that all the milk you pour is completely incorporated before you add more. Cook for 8 minutes and stir constantly.
- Add the cream cheese and break it down in the sauce. Cook for 3 minutes. Serve and buen provecho!
Recipe Notes
- Serving size- Each serving is about ½ cup of sauce.
- Butter- I used unsalted butter, and that’s the reason why I added salt. If you use salted butter, taste before adding the salt to make sure it doesn’t need it.
- Milk temperature- I used cold and warm milk. To me, it doesn’t make a difference whether the sauce turns lumpy or not. For me, the secret to a lump-free mix is just the constant stirring of the sauce.
- Reheating- Best done on the stovetop over low heat. Whisk constantly while adding a splash of milk to loosen it a little bit.
Nutrition
*The nutrition information is automatically calculated, so this is only an approximation.
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