Savory
The Five French Mother Sauces Explained
A plain-language tour of béchamel, velouté, espagnole, tomato sauce, and hollandaise, and why nearly every Western sauce descends from one of them.
The complete library of sauces, syrups and toppings
Clear ratios, real techniques and honest troubleshooting for the sauces, glazes, syrups and dessert toppings home cooks actually make — not another recipe feed.
Popular: Gravy Caramel Teriyaki Ganache Hollandaise Maple syrup
Featured guides
Six good places to start, touching all five clusters of the library.
Savory
Technique
How to Fix a Broken or Split Sauce
Why emulsified and dairy sauces separate, and the specific rescue technique for each failure.
Sweet
Simple Syrup Ratios for Drinks and Desserts
The 1:1 and 2:1 ratios, when to use each, and how long simple syrup actually keeps.
Sweet
Chocolate Ganache: Ratios for Glaze, Filling, and Frosting
One chocolate-to-cream formula, adjusted three ways, to get a pourable glaze, a firm filling, or a whippable frosting.
Condiment
Teriyaki Sauce: Japanese Origins and Home Versions
How teriyaki developed as a cooking technique before it became a bottled sauce, with a from-scratch version.
Technique
How Long Do Homemade Sauces Last in the Fridge
Realistic fridge life for cream-based, tomato-based, vinegar-based, and egg-based sauces.
Five ways into the library
SauceSweet organizes 45 in-depth guides into five editorial clusters. Each one covers a different corner of sauces, syrups and toppings.
Savory
Classic Savory Sauces
Mother sauces, gravies, pan sauces and the fixes for when they go wrong.
Sweet
Sweet Syrups & Glazes
Simple syrup, maple syrup, fruit syrups and glazes for meat and baking.
Sweet
Dessert Toppings & Fillings
Ganache, caramel, whipped cream, curd and the ratios behind each one.
Condiment
Global Sauces & Condiments
Teriyaki, chimichurri, mole, curry bases and dipping sauces from around the world.
Technique
Techniques & Pairing Guides
Emulsification, reduction, thickening, storage and how to pair a sauce with a dish.
What's inside every guide
The same dependable structure from the first guide to the forty-fifth, so you always know where to look.
Numbers you can scale
Every guide includes a table, checklist or side-by-side comparison, so quantities and differences are clear at a glance.
Troubleshooting built in
A common-mistakes list and a short FAQ in every guide cover what usually goes wrong and how to fix it.
Dated and sourced
Each guide shows when it was published and last reviewed, and names the kinds of references it relies on. See our methodology.
Quick answers
Short answers to common questions, with the full guide one click away.
My hollandaise or mayonnaise split. Can I save it?
Usually, yes. In a clean bowl, start a small new emulsion with one fresh egg yolk (for hollandaise) or a teaspoon of mustard and a few drops of water (for mayonnaise). Then whisk the broken sauce back in a few drops at a time. Read the full rescue guide.
How long do homemade sauces last in the fridge?
It depends on the type. As rough guides: cream-based sauces about 3–5 days, egg-based about 3–4 days, and tomato-based or oil-and-herb sauces about 5–7 days. These are general estimates, not guarantees. See the full table.
What is the difference between 1:1 and 2:1 simple syrup?
A 1:1 syrup uses equal parts sugar and water. It pours easily and suits iced tea, lemonade and most mixed drinks. A 2:1 syrup is richer and thicker. Compare both ratios.
Do I need an account to use SauceSweet?
No. Everything is free to read and there are no accounts. If you save favorites, they stay only in your own browser. Read our privacy policy.
How SauceSweet is put together
Every guide is written in-house, checked against published culinary references, and dated so you know when it was last reviewed. See our editorial policy and methodology & sources for details, or use corrections to flag something that needs a fix.