Thick White Sauce

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

3. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together78,219 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

4. Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together50,459 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together85,593 recipes

   Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter

Forms the fat base with flour and adds richness and flavor to the sauce.

Flour

Its starch thickens the liquid into a smooth, body-filled sauce when heated.

Milk

Provides the liquid that the flour-butter base thickens into a creamy sauce.

The step that matters