Easy bread sauce

Easy bread sauce
Prepare
less than 30 mins
Cook
10 to 30 mins
Serve
Serves 6-8

Classic bread sauce is a British classic perfect with any white meat, but especially Christmas turkey!

It can easily be made ahead of time too, win-win.

By James Martin

From Saturday Kitchen

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Ingredients

Recipe tips

Method

  1. Press all the cloves into the whole peeled onion and place in a saucepan. Add the bay leaf, peppercorns and milk. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat. Set aside for 15 minutes.

  2. Pass the liquid through a sieve into a saucepan or remove the onion, bay leaf and peppercorns. Stir the breadcrumbs into the milk and place over a low heat for 5-10 minutes or until the breadcrumbs have absorbed all the liquid and the sauce is the desired consistency (see tips section for if you are making the bread sauce ahead of time). Stir occasionally.

  3. Stir in the butter and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Recipe tips

Make ahead and freezing tips

If you are making this a day or two before you want to eat it, make the sauce a little looser than normal as it will thicken further when reheated. Reheat in a saucepan over the hob or a bowl in the microwave.

Bread sauce freezes very well for up to 2 months, so next time you have some white bread spare, whizz up some crumbs to make your Christmas bread sauce. Make the bread sauce according to the recipe then cool thoroughly. Transfer to a lidded freezer-proof container, cover, label and freeze. Thaw overnight in the fridge then reheat in a non-stick saucepan with extra milk over a low heat until hot throughout. You can also reheat in the microwave on HIGH, stirring regularly.

If you have leftover bread sauce on Christmas day, you can keep it covered in the fridge for a couple of days and serve gently warmed in a saucepan or microwave, with cold meats, or reheated turkey and trimmings.

Ingredient swaps

White bread works best for bread sauce, but brown breadcrumbs can also be used for a more earthy flavour. For an extra rich bread sauce, swap some of the milk for cream instead. A little freshly grated nutmeg or a pinch of ground mace make a delicious addition. If you don’t have any cloves, try using a pinch of ground allspice instead. The flavour isn’t quite the same, but it has a similar warm undertone.

Why do we have bread sauce at Christmas?

It is a classic accompaniment to roasted poultry, such as turkey or chicken. Breadcrumbs act as a thickener and also make the sauce (and meal) more filling, so a smaller amount of meat goes further. It’s also worth noting that traditionally it was a good sauce to serve with lean meat that might otherwise be dry – especially when cooked in old fashioned range or over an open fire.