How to make the best bechamel sauce for lasagne

No, it’s not all about the meat.

best bechamel white sauce for lasagne

Lasagne is considered a classic Aussie dinner staple – and for good reason. The luscious meat sauce, the oozy cheesy layers, the velvety pasta sheets… We’d bet there are probably thousands of incredible interpretations out there, each claiming to be the best.

And, while most people think the key to this delicious dish is all about how you prepare the meat, we’re here to reveal that the real secret to a great lasagne is an even greater bechamel sauce.

Our favourite lasagne recipe

With a recipe with just three major components (the meat, the sauce and the pasta), there’s little room to hide. We use quality ingredients that pack a flavour punch like including tomato paste and dry red wine to the beef mince. In fact, the magical thing about an Italian ragu is that it tastes even better the next day, so you can cut corners by using leftover spaghetti bolognese sauce if you have some sitting in the freezer. 

The ultimate bechamel sauce recipe

But if we were to pick one thing that makes this lasagne recipe stand out above all others, it’s the luscious bechamel. A good homemade bechamel base or ‘white sauce’ takes time, but it’s 100% worth it for the extra depth of flavour it brings.

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The secret to perfect lasagne, revealed

Cooking a lasagne is a labour of love, so be sure to set aside at least an hour and a half to prepare this at home. Begin with the meat sauce (if you’re making one from scratch) by frying aromatics and mince in a pan before adding canned tomatoes, wine and tomato paste. Let it do its thing for 30 minutes until thick.

Set the meat aside before tackling the most important element: the bechamel sauce. While it’s common to start a white cheese sauce with butter, milk and flour, we take it one step further by infusing the milk with herbs and spices like parsley, peppercorns, cloves and bay leaves. This extra step takes about 20 minutes to prepare (taking into account the 15 minutes for the flavours to develop) but trust us, it makes all the difference. We added a touch of parmesan to our brilliant base white sauce to amp up the cheese flavour, plus a sprinkling of nutmeg to really round out the flavours. New to nutmeg? Don’t be tempted to skip it! It really does make a difference.

Once the meat and cheese sauce is complete, the final step is layering all the ingredients before sprinkling with mozzarella cheese, and baking until golden, bubbling and oozing. 

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What everyone’s saying about this lasagne recipe

We know we’re not the only people obsessed with this recipe. It currently has a rating of 4.5 stars out of five based on over 180 reviews. Here are some of our favourites:

• “By far the best lasagne recipe I’ve ever used. We can’t get enough of it.” – Bowden
• “Great recipe!!! This is our family’s favourite lasagne!!!” – TreeGnome
• “A true family favourite and easy to make. My go-to recipe!” – hdwbaker
• “The best lasagna we have made so far.” – Dap F
• “Always turns out perfectly and has very generous servings. 10/10” – MelanieMarino91
• “This is my go-to lasagne recipe. By far the best I have ever had and every time I have made it, it has been a big hit. It has never lasted long enough for leftovers.” – Bek

Ready to master it yourself? Find our best-ever lasagne recipe right here here. 

Originally published as How to make the best bechamel sauce for lasagne