Gordon Ramsay Bread Sauce Recipe

Gordon Ramsay’s bread sauce is thick, creamy and warmly spiced, made by infusing whole milk with a clove-studded onion, bay leaf, thyme and peppercorns for at least an hour, then stirring in fresh white breadcrumbs and butter. It takes about 10 minutes of active cooking, but the hour-long infusion is what makes it taste like something instead of warm milky bread.

The recipe comes from Great British Pub Food, where he serves it with roast chicken and gravy as a Sunday lunch. He also serves it alongside roast grouse with Madeira sauce in the same book, so it’s not just for Christmas turkey. In Ultimate Cookery Course he writes about cloves being “essential in dishes as diverse as bread sauce, roast gammon, apple crumble and mulled wine” but warns to “go easy with them, as they can easily overpower.”

The step everyone skips is the infusion. Ramsay brings the milk to a boil with the studded onion and aromatics, then takes it off the heat and leaves it for at least an hour. He says it “will happily sit for a few hours.” That slow steep is what pulls the clove, thyme and bay flavour into the milk. Without it you’re just adding breadcrumbs to hot milk and wondering why it tastes bland.

Gordon Ramsay Bread Sauce Recipe

Recipe by Sophie LaneCourse: SaucesCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4-6

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Calories

155

kcal

Total time

1 hr 15

minutes

Gordon Ramsay’s bread sauce from Great British Pub Food. Clove-studded onion infused in milk for an hour, finished with fresh breadcrumbs, butter and nutmeg. Thick, creamy and properly spiced.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, peeled and halved lengthways

• 5-6 cloves

• 600ml whole milk

• 1 bay leaf

• Few thyme sprigs

• 1 tsp black peppercorns

• 120g fresh white breadcrumbs

• 50g butter

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

• Infuse the milk: Stud the onion halves with the cloves and put them into a saucepan with the milk, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and a generous pinch of salt. Slowly bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and set aside to infuse for at least an hour.
• Build the sauce: Strain the milk into a clean saucepan, discarding the onion, cloves and herbs. Reheat gently, then stir in the breadcrumbs and butter.
• Thicken and season: Simmer gently for a few minutes, stirring, until the sauce thickens. If it’s too thick, thin with a splash of hot milk. Season well with salt, pepper and a generous grating of nutmeg.

FAQs

Why does Ramsay infuse the milk for a full hour?

Dropping cloves and bay leaf into hot milk and immediately adding breadcrumbs gives you a sauce that tastes of warm milk with a faint background hum of spice. The hour-long infusion pulls the flavour out of the aromatics properly, so the milk itself tastes of clove, thyme and bay before the breadcrumbs ever go in.

Ramsay says the milk “will happily sit for a few hours,” so you can do this step in the morning and finish the sauce before serving. The longer it sits, the deeper the spice flavour gets.

Why stud the onion with cloves instead of dropping them loose?

Studding pushes the cloves into the onion flesh so they stay together as one piece. When you strain the milk, everything comes out cleanly. Loose cloves sink to the bottom, hide in the breadcrumbs and give you a sudden intense hit of clove in a random mouthful, which is exactly what Ramsay warns about in UCC: “go easy with them, as they can easily overpower.”

Five to six cloves for 600ml milk is the right balance. More than that and the sauce starts tasting like a dentist’s office.

Does bread sauce keep well?

It keeps in the fridge for a day or two. Reheat gently with a splash of milk because it thickens as it cools and sets almost solid. Stir constantly over a low heat until it loosens back to a smooth, thick pouring consistency.

You can also make the infused milk up to two days ahead and keep it strained in the fridge. Add the breadcrumbs and butter fresh on the day. That way the spice flavour is deep but the texture stays smooth.

What does Ramsay serve bread sauce with?

In GBPF he serves it with roast chicken and gravy as a proper Sunday lunch. He also lists it alongside roast grouse with Madeira sauce, which shows it’s not just a Christmas side. It belongs on the table any time you’re roasting poultry.

For a full Sunday roast spread, serve it in a warm jug alongside the gravy. At Christmas, put it next to the cranberry sauce so guests can spoon both onto their turkey.