How To Make a Roux

Roux is flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth, and cooked to the desired level of brownness. A roux can be white, blond or brown.

Ingredients

1 cup Flour
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1 stick Butter

Now, this was a HUGE batch. Here is another method with a deeper explanation from the viewpoint of a Chef. It's also a smaller batch.

A roux recipe is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat, which is cooked on a pan over low heat.

Jason Hill of Chef Tips shows you how to make roux. There are three types, or stages, of roux: white, blonde and brown. The white and blonde roux is used for white sauces and white soups, while the brown roux is used for dark sauces and dark soups.

Today we're making a blonde roux, which you can use in a variety of soups and sauces, including my creamy potato soup recipe.

Jason's roux recipe calls for:

4 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 tablespoons of butter

This roux will thicken 2-4 quarts of soup or sauce.

Add butter to a frying pan, which has been preheated on low. When the butter is melted, slowly whisk in the flour. Add flour in stages just in case it gets too thick.

After 3-5 minutes, you'll notice a nutty aroma. That way you know your flour is starting to cook and it's done.

This roux recipe is your first step in making a soup or sauce. You can set this aside at room temperature while you begin preparing your soup or sauce.

To make a brown roux, cajun roux or gumbo roux, you should use pork fat instead of butter. You also need to cook it until it reaches a dark brown, which could take up to 50 minutes.