How to Make a Roux by Erica

What exactly is a roux, you ask?

A roux (pronounced “roo”) is a component in cooking used to thicken sauces, gravies, soups, etc. It can transform a pot of thin liquid into something smooth and rich and magical. Well, I may be exaggerating on the magical bit slightly.

Being able to whip up a roux is an essential skill every home cook should master. As a bonus, if you casually mention that you made a roux as the base for your soup, you just might impress a few of your friends.

Let me show you the super simple process.

 
 

A roux is composed of just 2 ingredients: butter and flour. You use equal portions of each ingredient. So if you’re using 2 tablespoons of butter, use 2 tablespoons of flour.

Some say that you should use equal weights instead of volumes of butter/flour, but I find that measuring by volume is easier and gives good results. But you can definitely weigh the ingredients if you prefer! So if you’re using 50 grams of butter, use 50 grams of flour. This will result in using slightly more flour overall.

You can also use whole wheat flour if that’s all you have on hand, but the sauce won’t be quite as smooth. Any kind of fat can be used, but I really like the flavor of butter.

 
 

Start by melting the butter over medium-low heat.

 
 

Add the flour and whisk until smooth.

There are two reasons we cook the flour like this. First of all, raw flour doesn’t taste very nice. So if you simply whisk flour into the liquid you want to thicken, the flavor won’t be as good. Second, coating the flour in butter helps to prevent the flour from clumping together and making a lumpy sauce.

 
 

Cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, for 3–5 minutes, or until bubbly and fragrant.

You’ve just made a white roux!

 
 

If you wish, you can turn the heat down to low and continue to cook the roux until it turns a light brown color. This should take about 3–5 more minutes. Make sure you whisk nearly constantly.

You’ve made a blond roux!

 
 

You can continue to cook the roux (over low heat) for another 5 minutes or so until it’s a deep brown color. Be very careful at this stage—your roux can easily go from brown to burnt. You want to be whisking the entire time.

You’ve made a brown roux!

 
 

Here you can see the three stages of the roux compared: white, blond, and brown. A white roux is used for making a white sauce. A blond roux is used for thickening stock-based soups and sauces. A brown roux is mostly used in Creole cooking to make gumbo.

Keep in mind that a roux’s thickening properties decrease the longer you cook it. So you’ll need to use more roux or cook your sauce down longer if you’re using a blond or brown roux as opposed to a white roux.

Also, the flavor of the roux definitely changes the longer you cook it. A blond roux has an almost butterscotch flavor. A brown roux has a much deeper, toasted flavor.

 
 

So there you have a simple introduction to making a roux. If you master this skill, you can move on to learning some basic sauces (stay tuned for that tutorial!).

And if you have any questions, make sure to leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them!