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This rich and creamy Chicken Cordon Bleu Sauce is the perfect finishing touch for both frozen and homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu. It’s smooth, savory, and comes together in minutes with simple ingredients.
Rave Reviews from Home Cooks
“This recipe makes Chicken Cordon Bleu wonderful. I have been using this recipe for over a year. This sauce is good on rice pilaf. I’m going to try it on noodles next. Thank you for this recipe.” – Colleen
“Oh, my – it’s delicious! We tried a few other sauces before finding yours, this is the one!” – Cathy
“OMG! Had two chicken cordon bleu pieces so halved the recipe. Needless to say, chicken was smothered in sauce…and not one drop of sauce left on my plate! This is a keeper. Easy to make too. Thank you!” – Phil
“YUMMY – this sauce is so good. It’s the magic key to making my kids eat steamed broccoli! They love it. And so do I.” – Lisalia
The Best Sauce for Chicken Cordon Bleu and Beyond
Chicken Cordon Bleu without a delicious, creamy sauce is like a French fry without ketchup. It just ain’t right. This easy sauce is the perfect complement to our Instant Pot Chicken Cordon Bleu. It also adds flavor and elegance to store bought Chicken Cordon Bleu.
But it doesn’t stop there!
I love putting this rich and creamy sauce over mashed potatoes, fried chicken, meatballs, and our easy chicken roll-ups.
🩷 Erica
Table of Contents
Ingredients
See the full ingredient list and amounts in the recipe card below.
- Butter: Every good gravy begins with some kind of fat. For this recipe I use plain ol’ butter.
- Chicken broth and chicken bouillon: You can also use “Better than Bouillon”. Any of these will just add more flavor to the sauce
- Cornstarch and whipping cream: Used to thicken the sauce and make it super creamy
- Seasonings: Just a little pepper and some dried basil (optional).
How to Make Chicken Cordon Bleu Sauce
What I love about this sauce is that it is SO easy to make and it doesn’t require a roux. You simply bring the ingredients to a simmer, then add the thickener a little at a time. By doing it this way you can easily control the thickness of the sauce and make it to your liking. I prefer a slightly thicker sauce so I use almost all of the cornstarch mixture but it can easily be cut back to make a thinner sauce.
- Combine cornstarch and heavy whipping cream in a small bowl. Whisk until blended.
- In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth, bouillon, and butter to a simmer. Reduce for 10-15 minutes.
- Slowly whisk in the cornstarch and cream mixture, then keep cooking and whisking until the sauce thickens.
- Once the sauce is heated through and thickened, stir in the pepper. Add basil for a brighter flavor, if desired.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can make the sauce up to 3 days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat over low heat, whisking constantly as it heats to restore the creamy texture.
For a lighter version, you can use half-and-half or whole milk. However, the sauce will be thinner. If you prefer a thicker sauce, make a slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk the slurry into the heated sauce and continue to heat and stir until thickened. Coconut milk can also be used, but the flavor will be slightly altered.
It can be refrigerated, but we don’t recommend freezing it. The cream separates and changes the texture. It is best enjoyed fresh.
Yes, this recipe uses cornstarch instead of flour to thicken the sauce making it naturally gluten-free. Make sure both the chicken broth you are using and the chicken bouillon do not contain gluten.
More Ways to Use Chicken Cordon Bleu Sauce
This sauce is, of course, essential for Chicken Cordon Bleu, but there are many delicious dishes that are made even better with this sauce. Here are some ideas:
- Use it as a pizza sauce! Spread this creamy sauce over pizza dough, then add mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms, onions, garlic, bacon, green peppers, parmesan cheese, red onions, all your favorite toppings, and bake. Delicious twist on traditional pizza!
- Give your ketchup and bbq sauce a break and use this sauce for chicken nuggets or chicken tenders. The kids will love it!
- Try it as a warm dip for French bread, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli or cauliflower.
- Serve it as a gravy or sauce over one of the recipes below:
Give this creamy Chicken Cordon Bleu Sauce a try and let us know how it turned out! Leave a comment and star rating below – we’d love to hear how you served it! 🩷
Chicken Cordon Bleu Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon basil (Optional)
Instructions
- Whisk cornstarch and heavy whipping cream together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Bring butter, broth, and bouillon to a simmer in a medium-sized pot and reduce for 10-15 minutes.
- Whisk in the corn starch and whipping cream mixture and continue to cook while whisking until the sauce until thickens.
- When sauce is heated through and thickened, add pepper. Basil can also be added if you would like a brighter flavor (optional).
- Serve over Chicken Cordon Bleu.
Video
Notes
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Make it all in one pan – To reduce mess, make your chicken cordon bleu in a skillet. I like using a cast iron skillet because it can go from the oven to the stovetop and stay in the same pan. After the chicken cooks, make the sauce in the same skillet. You will pick up those savory bits of chicken and it will make the sauce even better!
Try it in a saucepan – If you are baking or roasting your chicken cordon bleu, the sauce can easily be made in a saucepan on the stove.
Add more flavor – Add a bit of basil or some paprika to add another dimension to your sauce.
Nutrition Information
More Gravies and Sauces to Try
I don’t know about you but I am a meat and potatoes girl, which also means I love sauces and gravies on just about everything. Gravy was one of the very first things I learned how to make when I was growing up and it is something that I have perfected. Here are some of my very favorite sauce and gravy recipes (along with a helpful roux resource):
How to Make Beef Gravy
Turkey Gravy
Country Gravy (with Chicken Fried Chicken)
How to Make Cheese Sauce
Ravioli Sauce
Brussels Sprout Sauce
Homemade Alfredo Sauce
How to Make a Roux
I have tried this same recipe many times in the sauce never thickens.
If it’s not thickening, you can always add more cornstarch mixture. It will thicken right up. Just add a little at a time because it will thicken quickly. It’s a quick fix. Hope this helps!
Can I replace the heavy cream with evaporated milk?
Yes, that is totally fine, the taste will be different so you may want to add some butter to the sauce to give it more of a rich flavor similar to the whipping cream. Hope this helps!
I need help figuring out what I did wrong with this sauce..It broke down on me and looked like cottage cheese floating in butter. Tasted wonderful but looked terrible. What should I have done differently? I would love to make it again and have it creamy.
My guess is that the sauce wasn’t constantly whisked while cooking. It needs to be whisked until smooth, like a gravy. When the cream is added it needs to be added slowly and whisked constantly. Hope this helps for next time!
Amazing flavor and instead of heavy whipping cream I used extract creamy unsweetened oat milk. It was delicious!
Great substitution idea for those that are dairy free, thank you!
How would unsweetened almond milk be in this recipe instead of heavy cream?