How to Fix Curdled Cheese Sauce

Many people use cheese sauce to add flavor to some of their homemade dishes. It is often used in such recipes as macaroni and cheese and scalloped potatoes. Knowing how to properly prepare the sauce is very important because curdled cheese sauce can ruin the entire dish. Fortunately, there is a way to fix the sauce if it does curdle.

How to Fix Curdled Cheese Sauce

1. Immediately remove the sauce from the burner and pour the cheese in another pan. This is done because the heat in the pan will cause the cheese sauce to continue to curdle.

2. Add two spoons of lemon juice to the cheese sauce. Curdling happens when the heat causes the milk proteins to separate from the cheese. The acid in the lemon juice interferes with the separation and detangles the protein molecules.

3. Stir in two spoons of cream if you do not have lemon juice available. The fat in the cream will stabilize the cheese sauce and will help to bring the temperature of the sauce below the curdling point. Don't add too much cream because it can alter the flavor and texture of the cheese sauce.