Homemade Cheese Sauce

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An easy Homemade Cheese Sauce for appetizers, cooked vegetables, pasta, and baked potatoes. It’s ready in 5 minutes with just 3 ingredients.

A bowl of cheese sauce with tortilla chips on a platter.

Recipe ingredients

Labeled ingredients for homemade cheese sauce.

Ingredient notes

  • Shredded cheese: It’s okay to use pre-shredded cheese here. Although they are tossed with agents to prevent the cheese from sticking together, it will still melt and thicken up fine.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. In a small saucepan, combine cheddar cheese and cornstarch. Toss until cheese is evenly coated.
Shredded cheese tossed with corn starch in a sauce pan.
  1. Stir in evaporated milk and salt and pepper to taste (I like 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Heat over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, until cheese is melted and smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and keep warm until serving time. Or, transfer to a slow cooker on the “warm” setting for serving.
Cheese sauce in a sauce pan.

Recipe tips and variations

  • Yield: This recipe makes about 2 cups.
  • Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
  • Slow cooker: Make the recipe as directed below, on the stove, and then transfer it to your favorite slow cooker (I used one of the “mini sizes” and there is room for a double batch of this cheese sauce recipe). I’ve left it on the “warm” setting for a few hours and all it ever needs is a little stir. It works really well!
  • Spicy: You can stir in a can 4-ounce of diced green chiles, drained, for some extra flavor and heat. You can do that on the stove or in a slow cooker. If you add them to the slow cooker, just be sure the cheese sauce is back to “hot” before serving (the chiles might cool it down temporarily).
Drizzling cheese sauce over broccoli.

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Drizzle cheese on these

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Tortilla chips next to homemade cheese sauce.

Homemade Cheese Sauce

An easy Homemade Cheese Sauce for appetizers, cooked vegetables, pasta, and baked potatoes. It's ready in 5 minutes with just 3 ingredients.
Author: Meggan Hill
5 from 51 votes
Cook Time 5 mins
Total Time 5 mins
Servings 8 (¼ cup) servings
Course Appetizer, Pantry
Cuisine American
Calories 118

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • In a small saucepan, combine cheddar cheese and cornstarch. Toss until cheese is evenly coated.
  • Stir in evaporated milk and salt and pepper to taste (I like 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Heat over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, until cheese is melted and smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Reduce heat to low, cover, and keep warm until serving time. Or, transfer to a slow cooker on the "warm" setting for serving.

Recipe Video

Notes

  • Shredded cheese: It’s okay to use pre-shredded cheese here. Although they are tossed with agents to prevent the cheese from sticking together, it will still melt and thicken up fine. 
  • Yield: This recipe makes about 2 cups.
  • Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
  • Slow cooker: Make the recipe as directed below, on the stove, and then transfer it to your favorite slow cooker (I used one of the “mini sizes” and there is room for a double batch of this cheese sauce recipe). I’ve left it on the “warm” setting for a few hours and all it ever needs is a little stir. It works really well!
  • Spicy: You can stir in a can 4-ounce of diced green chiles, drained, for some extra flavor and heat. You can do that on the stove or in a slow cooker. If you add them to the slow cooker, just be sure the cheese sauce is back to “hot” before serving (the chiles might cool it down temporarily).

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cupsCalories: 118kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 7gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 176mgPotassium: 28mgSugar: 1gVitamin A: 283IUCalcium: 204mgIron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag @culinaryhill on Instagram so we can admire your masterpiece! #culinaryhill
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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Comments

  1. I thought this recipe was too good to be true but I went ahead and tried it. IT IS SO GOOD AND EASY!!!!5 stars

  2. So great! Super easy and delicious, and it’s alot! Can you use whole milk, I want to try a half recipe!5 stars

  3. Forgot to rate the recipe in my last comment… 5 stars for simplicity and speed, 5 stars for taste, 4 stars for texture… But not worth docking it overall!5 stars

  4. I love how dead easy this is! I had some cauliflower gnocchi in the air fryer and wondered what the heck I would eat it with them decided I needed a cheese sauce, and this hit the spot! I’ll use this as a quick Mac n cheese dupe for my daughter who’s currently obsessed with the powdered crap. And I love that it’s coeliac friendly…. Making a roux with gf flour just doesn’t work well for me. Thank you!!

  5. I think I may have used too much corn starch. I’ve seen this recipe sans corn starch, and I may try it that way next time. It’s still good–a a Dijon or dry mustard might be a good add-in, but delish!5 stars

  6. I don’t comment on blogs. I have to say after many failed cheese sauce recipes this is PERFECT. I’ve tried so many different things and this gets it just right and it’s so easy which is the best part. It has opened the door to try so many new things and cheeses. I have even begun grating my own cheeses to use with this recipe. Highly recommend!!!!5 stars

  7. The flavor and instructions are amazing! I found that the original size of the pretzels was fairly large so I cut each piece of dough in half. I literally couldn’t stop eating them!5 stars

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