Do you think “healthy + cheese sauce” is an oxymoron?
Well, I would agree if you’re referring to the nacho cheese sauce you get at baseball games. But I think this cheese sauce recipe is healthy. And here are a few reasons why…
First, I use arrowroot powder rather than refined white flour for the thickener. Refined white flour causes your blood sugar to spike and has no nutrients, but arrowroot powder doesn’t have these negative properties and is easily digestible and believed to have some medicinal value (Mountain Rose Herbs). I like Bob’s Red Mill Arrowroot Powder and I use it to thicken sauces and gravy.
Second, I use pastured butter like Kalona SuperNatural butter. It’s butter from grass-fed cows and contains no added hormones. Read about the health benefits of eating grass-fed butter here.
Third, I use whole raw milk in this recipe. I don’t heat the sauce very much, just enough to melt the cheese and let it thicken, so the probiotics found in the raw milk will remain. I love the raw milk that I buy at Real Foods. Raw milk is non-homogenized and non-pasteurized-really just straight from the cow. Read about the benefits of drinking raw milk here.
And lastly, I use high quality cheddar cheese like this Organic Valley Grassmilk Raw Cheddar Cheese or this Kingdom Sharp Cheddar cheese that can be found at Costco. I also like the raw cheddar that Redmond Farms produces and sells at Real Foods Market. Using high-quality cheese will make all the difference in differentiating your sauce from the plastic nacho cheese stuff.
I like to pour this cheese sauce over cauliflower, boiled potatoes, broccoli, and baked potatoes. It adds some flavor and zing to a veggie + meatless meal. Enjoy!
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp arrowroot powder
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ tsp unrefined sea salt
- ⅛ tsp pepper
- Add butter to a saucepan and melt over medium-low heat.
- Put the arrowroot powder in a cup and add about 1 Tbsp cold water to it, whisking until smooth.
- Add the arrowroot slurry to the butter and mix briefly.
- Pour milk into mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
- Cook and stir over medium-low heat until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in the cheese until it’s melted and smooth.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve hot over vegetables or potatoes.
Disclaimer: Some of the above links are Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on them and purchase a product I will earn a commission on that product with no extra cost to you. I have used all of the products listed and I highly recommend them.
The arrowroot glob bed up when I added it to the butter, but I was able to fix it with an immersion blender no problem. Very tasty cheese sauce. Thank you.
Hi Kandy,
Sorry the arrowroot globbed up. Just out of curiosity-did you mix the arrowroot with water before adding it to the butter? And it still globbed up? I haven’t had that problem before. Glad you salvaged it with the immersion blender!
Katie recently posted…Persimmon, Pecan, & Cinnamon Oatmeal
Mine totally globbed up too. Could it be the temperature? When you add the arrowroot and water mixture to the butter, is the butter just melted and warm or pretty hot? Mine was just barely bubbly. I was disappointed because other recipes have all said that you have to use a blender/food processor with arrowroot so I was so glad to find this one that didn’t say that. I only make small batches of sauces so that doesn’t work for me. Not to mention dirtying another appliance which I hate! lol. Just trying to figure out what you do differently.
By adding the milk RIGHT AWAY after adding the arrowroot (that had been pre-mixed with water), the butter and arrowroot mixture did not clump up. Two times prior to that though, when we mixed the butter and arrowroot (that had been pre-mixed with water) for a while before adding the milk (thinking we were working with a roux) it did seize up. And not the kind that would un-clump, unless you blended it like the previous comment suggested. I read somewhere that the reason this happens with arrowroot is because it doesn’t have protein like flours. This is excellent cheese sauce and just the kind of good recipe we had been looking for.
My arrowroot clumped up immediately when it touched the pan so adding the milk immediately doesn’t seem like it would work. Have you by any chance tried just blending the arrowroot right into the milk and then adding it to the butter since your post?
Also – it deserves a five star!
I have checked your page and i have found some duplicate content,
that’s why you don’t rank high in google’s search results, but there is a tool that can help you to create 100%
unique articles, search for; boorfe’s tips unlimited content
ShavonneChief recently posted…ShavonneChief
Hey,
I just wanted to let you know that I LOVED this recipe. I tried it tonight and it was easy/quick to make, and really delicious. My family raved about it—safe to say that I will be making it again! I didn’t have arrowroot powder so I used cornstarch, added garlic, and I didn’t measure my salt or pepper (just added to taste), but otherwise used all the same proportions and ingredients. Thank you for the awesome recipe!
So Yummy – I should have given it 10 stars review …. Butter add taste to any recipe
This was yummy. I had the same problem as previous posters—the mixture globbed up when I added the arrowroot powder. It sort of smoothed out after a lot of whisking. But yummy nonetheless and had a good, kind of silky texture.
Ulla says
Made the cheese sauce tonight and also thickened my gravy with arrowroot.
I warmed the milk with the butter and made a slurry with the arrowroot. Whisked it in and added the cheese and seasoning including some nutmeg. Delicious!
Kate says
This recipe is spot on. The arrowroot is great for keto and is smoother than using flour. I make a half recipe, and it is perfect for two servings.
Julia says
Thank you for this recipe, I was looking to make a parsley sauce for grilled fish with no wheat or cornflour and I was grateful to find your arrowroot recipe. I took careful note of all the comments, and followed the recipe to the letter. Instead of cheese I added finely chopped fresh parsley, dried mixed herbs and salt and pepper. It turned out great.
I’m doing keto this week and wanted a cheese sauce recipe that uses arrowroot. Google led me here. I would suggest adding the milk before the slurry, just as you would do cornstarch. No need to blend it with the flour first. I used macadamia milk and probably put a bit too much water in my slurry, as it wasn’t as thick as I wanted, but no big deal. Good basic recipe, thanks!
Corinne says
I used vegan butter alternative and oat milk. My sauce got super thick when I left it on a med high heat too long. I just took it off the heat and whisked in some rice milk (ran out of oat milk) and chicken stock. Silky smooth and delish.