Bread sauce is a simple classic British side served on Christmas Day next to turkey slices. This sauce is made with stale bread and milk that is cooked with onion and spice to infuse.
Christmas dinner isn’t complete without bread sauce! This bread sauce is SO good, your gran will never have to make her famous cranberry sauce ever again. (Sorry gran!) In fact, once you taste this bread sauce, you’ll want to put it on everything.
WHAT IS BREAD SAUCE?
Bread sauce is a classic British dish that dates back to medieval times. Back then, people would use bread to thicken their sauces, hence the name. Making bread sauce from scratch is very easy and comes together in less than 30 minutes (not to mention it tastes a million times better than any of the pre-made bread sauce mixes). It also uses everyday ingredients like milk, butter, and spices sitting in your cupboard.
HOW TO SERVE BREAD SAUCE
Bread sauce can accompany any kind of fowl (e.g. chicken, goose, etc.), but I prefer pouring this rich and creamy sauce over my roasted turkey. While it’s best served warm, it also tastes fabulous cold on a turkey sandwich the next day, that is if you have any bread sauce leftover.
HOW TO MAKE BREADCRUMBS
As the name suggests, bread sauce uses bread – but not sliced bread. Bread sauce is made with breadcrumbs, which is what gives it its thick texture. You can always buy pre-made breadcrumbs at the store, but making your own breadcrumbs is very easy and less expensive (and everyone can use a little extra money in their pockets around the holidays). It’s also a great way to use up old bread. To make your own breadcrumbs, cut up the bread and leave it out overnight. Before making the sauce, add the now stale bread to a food processor and pulse until you have coarse breadcrumbs.
If you forget to leave your bread out overnight, you can always cut the bread into chunks and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 120 C. After the bread is toasted, transfer to a food processor and pulse until you have coarse breadcrumbs.
This bread sauce is incredibly versatile and can easily be adjusted to suit your family’s taste preferences. For example, if you want a stronger onion flavour, slice the onion before adding it to the milk. Adding garlic is optional as well but gives a lovely flavour to your bread sauce.
Another reason I love this recipe: it can be prepared up to three days in advance, which means more time to spend with family and friends and less time in the kitchen. That’s what the holidays are about, right? When you’re ready to serve, reheat the bread sauce in the microwave or on the hob. Enjoy!
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Bread Sauce
Ingredients
- 500 ml 2 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion whole
- 2 garlic cloves
- 9 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 100 grams fresh breadcrumbs
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon table salt
Instructions
- Stud the onion all over with cloves.
- Over low-medium heat, simmer milk with butter, onion with cloves, garlic and bay leaves.
- Strain and return liquid into the pan. Add breadcrumbs and stir for a few more minutes. Season with nutmeg and salt and serve.
Anthea Holloway
We love bread sauce in our family and I always make it from scratch although you can buy the packet variety which, we think, is nothing like as tasty.
Leila Benhamida
I.never tried bread sauce before or heard of it. Sounds nice .
Helen of Fuss Free Flavours
Bread sauce is something that looks like it shouldn’t taste good, but is such a delicious addition to a perfect Christmas dinner. I find it is a good left over food if too much is made, and even good cold.