10 Pantry Sauces for Beginners (No Special Ingredients)
Master 10 essential sauces using only pantry staples! Perfect for beginners - no special ingredients or equipment needed. Build your sauce-making confidence!
Tips & Techniques
Simple Garlic Butter: Melt 1/2 cup butter, add 3 minced garlic cloves, salt, and parsley. Perfect for pasta, bread, and vegetables.
Basic Tomato Sauce: Sauté garlic in olive oil, add canned tomatoes, salt, pepper, and dried basil. Simmer 15 minutes. Classic pasta sauce!
Honey Garlic Glaze: Mix 1/4 cup honey, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 2 cloves minced garlic. Heat until slightly thickened. Great for chicken and salmon.
Lemon Butter Sauce: Melt butter, add lemon juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper. Perfect for fish and asparagus.
Teriyaki Sauce: Mix 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp cornstarch. Heat until thick.
Simple Brown Gravy: Make roux with butter and flour, whisk in beef broth, season with salt, pepper, and onion powder.
Garlic Aioli (Mayo-Based): Mix mayo, minced garlic, lemon juice, and salt. Ready in 2 minutes! Great for sandwiches.
Balsamic Glaze: Simmer balsamic vinegar with brown sugar until reduced by half. Drizzle on everything!
Simple Peanut Sauce: Mix peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, and water until smooth. Perfect for noodles.
Herb Oil: Blend olive oil with fresh herbs (basil, parsley), garlic, salt. Drizzle on everything for instant flavor.