My Sourdough Bread Sauce is a silky smooth, creamy sauce that is perfect for serving alongside your Christmas dinner. Get the recipe below.
A classic Christmas recipe
Bread sauce is a Sunday roast staple for lots of British people. It's a traditional sauce that can be served hot or cold and is delicious when paired with roast chicken or turkey (or a nut roast for fellow veggies and vegans).
It's not necessarily something that people eat every week but it's a very common side dish on Christmas day!
What I love about classic, British, Christmas recipes is that they often have really long histories. Much like the humble mince pie, bread sauce goes as far back to Medieval times. If a dish has managed to remain popular after all of that time you know it must be good.
What is bread sauce made of?
The clue is in the title - bread sauce is a sauce that is, well, made of bread! It might not sound like the most appetising thing but I promise you it is.
Bread sauce began as a way of turning stale, leftover bread into something delicious. The chunks of crusty bread get added to a mix of milk, milk, butter, onion, cloves, peppercorns, garlic and other herbs and spices. This is then left to simmer until the bread has soaked up the creamy sauce and turned into a rich, unctuous dish.
My favourite spice to add is a hint of nutmeg. It just makes everything taste like Christmas!
What does Sourdough Bread Sauce taste like?
I've been making bread sauce for years and there's not really an awful lot you can do to really jazz it up. It's a simple dish that doesn't need a lot of fussy ingredients added to it to make it better. It's delicious as it is!
But, given that we pretty much only bake sourdough bread at home, this year I decided to swap white bread for sourdough in my bread sauce recipe. The result is a sauce with a slightly more complex flavour. Rather than being really rich and creamy with a hint of spice, it has this slight tang to it which I think helps to cut through the other rich foods often served alongside it.
The hint of acidity helps to balance the buttery roast potatoes and the richness of the turkey meat which means you can eat more! My sourdough bread sauce actually helps you enjoy a big roast dinner without feeling like you've massively overindulged. It's for this reason alone that I think sourdough is the perfect type of bread to use when making bread sauce!
Can you use any other type of bread?
You can, in theory, make bread sauce with any type of bread you happen to have laying around. White and wholemeal bread are both ideal. I would avoid any flavoured or filled breads as the flavour is unlikely to transfer well. I'd also avoid seeded loaves as you don't want "bits" in your sauce. Bread sauce should be silky smooth and creamy when done right.
How do I make Sourdough Bread Sauce Vegan?
It's no secret that I follow a plant based diet. And, the good news for all my vegan readers is that this recipe is super easy to make vegan.
All you need to do is swap the butter for a non-dairy variety (I love Flora) and swap the cream for a plant based alternative like Elmlea plant.
The recipe
Sourdough Bread Sauce
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 100 g sourdough bread
- 300 ml milk or plant milk
- 1 large onion
- 10 whole cloves
- 0.5 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 bay leaf
- 50 g butter or non-dairy alternative
- 200 ml double cream or non-dairy alternative
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- To turn the bread into bread crumbs, tear it into chunks then pulse it in a food processor or blender until they are an even consistency. Then place to one side.
- Pour the milk into a heavy bottomed sauce pan.
- Cut the onion in half and stick the cloves in it then add this to the milk along with the grated nutmeg and bay lead.
- Season with salt and pepper then bring the milk to the boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
- Remove the onion and whole spices.
- Stir in the breadcrumbs and the butter.
- Keep the saucepan on a very low heat and stir occasionally until the bread has soaked up the liquid and it is thick. This should take 15- 20 minutes.
- Stir the cream through the sauce and make sure it is warm.
- Season and serve.
Nutrition
Can I make Sourdough Bread Sauce ahead of time?
If you want to be super organised on Christmas day then the good news is that you can make this Sourdough Bread Sauce in advance and just re-heat it on the day.
More Christmas dinner recipes
For the full range of festive recipes on the blog, check out the Christmas recipe archive.
Merry Christmas everyone!
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