3 essential sauces from scratch

Three sauce recipes for any occasion

It's amazing how a drizzle of sauce can take any meal from ordinary to extraordinary in moments. The right sauce or gravy instantly ties together all the ingredients on your plate. No matter what's for dinner, a drizzle of one of these sauces will provide the finishing touch to turn it into something special. Get three deliciously buttery sauce recipes, plus serving suggestions for each.

Lemon Butter Sauce

Time:15 minutesMakes: 3/4 Cup (185ml)Serves:4-5 peopleServing suggestion: Garlic and Herb Buttery Mash with Salmon and Lemon Butter Sauce

This zingy, citrusy sauce is best served with fish, chicken and other white meats. Also great with steamed vegetables.

It uses both the juice and zest of lemon. The juice adds some acidity to balance out the richness of the butter, and the zest really boosts the lemon flavour of the sauce. The recipe calls for chopped chives, but you could flavour the sauce with other herbs like thyme, tarragon or parsley. If you don't have any herbs on hand, you can also leave it out.

Creamy Mustard Butter Sauce

Time: 20 minutes

Makes: 1 cup (250ml)

Serves: 4 people

Serving suggestion:

Classic Buttery Mash with Meatballs and Mustard Butter Sauce

This tangy yet creamy sauce is great with meatballs, chicken, steak and red meats.

It doesn't have any cream, but the combination of butter and flour gives it a wonderfully creamy texture and flavour. Wholegrain mustard gives the sauce a nice texture, but if you don't have it on hand you can use just Dijon mustard. If you only use Dijon mustard, adjust the sauce's flavour by adding a touch more sugar to taste. Substitute the wine for stock to make an alcohol-free version of this sauce.

Gravy from scratch

Time: 15 minutes

Makes: 2 cups (500ml)

Serves: 6-8 people

Serve with: This gravy is a staple with any roast, whether it's chicken, pork, beef or turkey. Don't forget to add it over roast vegetables too, including potatoes, pumpkin, carrots and parsnips.

This gravy is fantastic because you don't need any drippings to make it, so you can make a large quantity to feed a crowd. Rosemary and thyme make this gravy beautifully fragrant. You can substitute the herbs with other flavours like sage. Use stock instead of wine if you don't want to add alcohol.