HelloFresh offers a Cream Sauce Base (also known as a béchamel sauce) for many of its recipes, including sauces for pasta, toppings for salads and soups, and other delicious recipes.
The HelloFresh cream sauce is a great base to host a wide variety of flavors, and its rich, creamy texture makes it a go-to if you need to thicken a soup or build a luscious sauce from scratch.
But you can’t just order from HelloFresh every time you have a craving! You might be wondering, what can I substitute their cream sauce base with?
The best homemade HelloFresh cream sauce base substitute is smoothed-out ricotta cheese. Using plain yogurt or silken tofu are also great homemade substitutes that offer a neutral base for you to build layers of flavor from. Use a delicious premade boxed/jarred cream sauce like Knorr’s Culinary Cream Base or Raos’s Roasted Garlic Alfredo as excellent substitutes that are ready in no time!
HelloFresh Cream Sauce Base Substitutes
1. Ricotta Cheese – Best Homemade HelloFresh cream sauce base alternative
Ricotta cheese makes a great substitute for cream sauce because it comes out to a similar creamy texture and has a subtle, neutral flavor.
To prepare ricotta cheese as a substitute cream base, simply blend it with an immersion blender (or in a regular blender) until it reaches a smooth, creamy texture throughout, which usually only takes 1-2 minutes.
You can add additional cream or milk one tablespoon at a time if the sauce seems too thick. Be sure to add salt and pepper.
Ricotta works best as a substitute when you’re making white sauces that need to be thick and creamy to cling to your dish.
Good recipes include mac and cheese, lasagna, moussaka, scalloped potatoes, or any other baked dish (especially ones with cheese!).
2. Yogurt
Yogurt is another great substitute for cream sauce, although it does have a slightly looser texture and tangier flavor.
Luckily, that flavor is easily overtaken by any other stronger ingredients you use to build your sauce from.
Blend about ½ cup of plain yogurt with 1-2 teaspoons milk or cream using a whisk or fork to get it to your desired consistency. Add some salt and pepper to build flavor.
You can also skip the milk and use Greek yogurt if you want a thicker starting base to work from. Just be sure to give it a little mix so it’s homogeneous.
3. Cream
Cream works as a great flavor substitute for HelloFresh sauce base, although it is much thinner, so keep that in mind when working with it.
Cream works best as a substitute when it’s used for marinades, salad dressings, or soup bases and thickeners. Plain cream is not recommended for casseroles or souffles, as it may be too thin.
You can thicken the cream up a little bit by heating about ½ cup on the stovetop and stirring in 2-3 tablespoons of flour at a time for 3-4 minutes on medium heat until you get the consistency you need. As always, don’t forget to add seasonings!
4. Milk and Cornflour
An easy substitute for the cream sauce base is to heat about a cup of milk with 2-3 tablespoons of cornflour mixed with equal parts water until thickened to your desired consistency. This takes about 3-5 minutes on the stovetop at medium heat.
The cornflour offers a slightly sweet flavor, but you can easily offset this with seasonings like pepper and nutmeg for a richer flavor.
This substitute works great in baked pasta and vegetable dishes, or as a soup thickener! Milk and cornflour works especially well in a sweet summer corn chowder.
5. Silken Tofu
Silken tofu is a mild, creamy, protein-rich substitute with absolutely no dairy, so it’s perfect for a vegan diet. Silken tofu is very soft and easily replaces cream in most recipes.
Simply puree silken tofu in a food processor or blender for 1-3 minutes until smooth and creamy, like a thick liquid. You can use it chilled, warm, or even at room temperature.
Substitute tofu in a 1:1 ratio for your cream base sauce and add seasonings as necessary.
If you choose to use a firmer tofu, blend it with 1-2 teaspoons of soy milk (or another milk substitute) at a time in a blender until you reach the desired consistency.
Silken tofu works as a great substitute base for creamy pasta and vegetable sauces. You can also add it to soups and curries for great texture.
6. Soubise Sauce
Soubise is a classic French sauce made with onions, butter, and cream. The onions get cooked down in butter until soft and are then cooked further with heavy cream for several minutes.
Once everything is well blended, you puree the mixture with an immersion or regular blender until smooth and velvety.
Soubise is less starchy than béchamel and works as an excellent substitute with an added onion flavor perfect for savory dishes.
This substitute makes a great sauce for meats, pasta, or vegetable casseroles. It bakes up well in the oven, so you can use it for any baked dishes.
Soubise will also add nice, oniony flavor to creamy soup bases, like baked potato soup or chowder.
7. Stock and Olive Oil
Substitute the HelloFresh cream sauce base with stock (vegetable/chicken/beef), olive oil, and flour for a dairy-free substitute that doesn’t use any specialty ingredients.
This substitute tastes great and has a surprisingly similar flavor to the cream sauce base you know and love–but it comes with a little work!
To make this substitute, cook equal parts oil and flour in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk until smooth for about a minute or less.
Add about half a cup of stock as soon as the mixture comes together and cook to the desired thickness, about 3-4 minutes. Add seasonings to build layers of flavor in this substitute.
The stock and olive oil sauce works great because you get a similar texture and flavor as a regular cream sauce base.
Use this for baked casserole dishes, a sauce for poultry or fish, or an excellent thickener for soups and pasta sauces.
8. Alfredo Sauce – Best Premade HelloFresh Sauce Substitute
Alfredo sauce can work as a great premade substitute for your HelloFresh cream sauce base, depending on the recipe.
Pick up your favorite brand of Alfredo sauce from the store and replace it 1:1 with the cream sauce.
Some of our favorites include
- Raos (Roasted Garlic is the best!)
- Bertolli (Aged Parmesan for a more neutral flavor and Garlic Alfredo for a little punch)
- Walden Farms Alfredo (this option is fat free with no calories and no carbs!)
Alfredo is already heavily seasoned and often has parmesan cheese cooked into it, so make sure you use it in recipes that already use seasonings like oregano, garlic, and other classic Italian spices.
Jarred Alfredo sauce works well as a cream sauce base substitute for pasta sauces, creamy soups, lasagna, scalloped potatoes, or even on the side of your favorite protein. You can also use Alfredo as a dip, or thin it out and use it as a salad dressing.
9. Knorr Culinary Cream Base
Another great premade option is to pick up Knorr’s delicious Culinary Cream Base powder mix online or at your grocery store!
This cream base works great for soups, baked pasta or vegetable dishes, dips, sauces and more. You mix the powder with warm water until it’s smooth and creamy and then add your own seasonings and ingredients for a customized sauce.
This premade sauce mix cuts a major step out of your cooking process and comes with delicious results.
Keep in mind that premade sauce mixes may have more salt and other ingredients you can’t control, so always taste as you go for best results.
10. Jotis Béchamel Mix
Jotis Béchamel Mix is a great HelloFresh cream sauce base substitute and you can pick up right online.
The sauce is made by blending béchamel mix with cold milk for a few minutes until thick and creamy. Then you add seasonings and cheese as desired!
This cream base substitute is perfect for lasagna, moussaka, pasta, vegetables, soup thickeners, sauces, or even souffles!
This mix saves you time and energy by cutting out the cooking process and adding the perfect texture to whatever dish you’re adapting it for.
What is a Cream Sauce Base?
You may have tried the HelloFresh Cream Sauce Base in recipes like the roasted bell pepper pasta, poblano mac and cheese, or even the gnocchi.
Were you ever curious what exactly that sauce base was made of? It’s surprisingly simple!
The cream sauce base is often referred to as a béchamel sauce and is considered one of the five “Mother sauces” of France.
It’s typically used to make cheese sauces and other white sauces, plus it’s a perfect creamy and flavorful thickener for soups and chowders.
Cream Sauce Base Ingredients
HelloFresh’s cream sauce base is a thickened mixture of butter, flour, milk, and seasonings (typically salt, pepper, and sometimes nutmeg).
You can substitute plant-based milks for cow’s milk, olive or vegetable oil for butter, and/or cornstarch or cornflour for the all-purpose flour.
You might want to check out our HelloFresh Parmesan Crusted Chicken Recipe.
HelloFresh Cream Sauce Base {CopyCat}
Make the HelloFresh Cream Sauce Base at home with simple ingredients for a delicious base in lasagna, mac ‘n’ cheese, scalloped potatoes, soups, sauces, salad dressings, and more! This recipe is fast and tastes just as good as the original. We think you’ll love it!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ⅛ tsp fresh-cracked black pepper
- Pinch of nutmeg
Instructions
- Melt the unsalted butter in a small skillet or saucepan on medium heat.
- Sift the flour and whisk into the melted butter until smooth.
- Whisk milk into the pan slowly until all the lumps are gone.
- Cook the mixture for about 1 minute, stirring occasionally.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for 2 minutes, until thick.
- Once thick, add seasonings to taste.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 84Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 305mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 1g
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