Savory Cheese Soufflé Recipe

This savory cheese soufflé is easy to make and practically foolproof—we promise, it will rise to lofty and flavorful heights.

Why It Works

  • Cream of tartar helps prevent accidental overbeating of egg whites.
  • Whisking by hand gives you more control over your results. (The recipe will still work with an electric mixer, though.)
  • Greasing the baking dish and dusting it with grated cheese creates a beautifully browned crust.

The mere mention of the word soufflé wrenches my stomach and sends a ripple of nausea up my throat; blood presses against my arteries as my heart quickens; my upper lip slides up on one side in an anxious snarl and my nostrils flare to take in more air.

A large savory cheese souffle with someone holding a spoon of souffle above the dish.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Soufflé anxiety, or "soufflanxiety," as it's clinically known, is very much a real thing, suffered by millions of cooks all over the world. But my case is different. I'm not worried about soufflé itself—no, soufflé is easy, stupid easy, souffloopid easy. Anyone worried about a catastrophic soufflé collapse needs to find something else to fret about, because there's nothing hard about soufflé at all.

My soufflé anxiety is a form of PTSD—post-traumatic soufflé disorder—and it dates back to when I worked at Food & Wine magazine. I wrote a monthly column dedicated to nerdier culinary projects, like making tofu from scratch and all kinds of fermentations, each month consulting an expert to help me perfect the process in question. I'd finally decided to tackle soufflé, and reached out to Jacques Pépin, the legendary French chef, to ask if he'd mentor me. He agreed, and invited me to the International Culinary Center, (now the Institute of Culinary Education) where he's a dean, for a marathon soufflé-making lesson. Here it was, finally, my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hang out with Jacques Pépin while making soufflés.

A fully cooked cheese soufflé, nicely risen.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

The morning of our session, I woke up in my Brooklyn apartment, got ready to go, and set out the door. A quick train ride over the Manhattan Bridge, and I'd be at the ICC's Soho location. My train breezed over the bridge, entered the tunnel on the Manhattan side, and then lurched to a stop. Then it didn't move, and it didn't move, and it didn't move. Cut off from my cellular lifeline, I couldn't send a message to anyone about my status. I waited, tapping my feet, grinding my teeth, letting out forceful exhalations of impatience, and, almost definitely, punctuating the quiet with increasingly loud curses.

Eventually the train dragged itself into the station, and I bolted out and up to the street. I knew that if I sprinted the remaining few blocks, I could make up at least some of the lost time. So I ran...right into the biggest street construction site I've ever seen. It was impassable, a wall of barricades, trucks, cranes, and workers insisting I go in the wrong direction.

I like to tell myself that by the time I finally dashed up the stairs at ICC and into the kitchen-theater where Pépin was waiting, I was a good 10 minutes late. But I also know that I've had years to rewrite that day in my head, whittling down my lateness to a number I can live with. Pépin, for what it's worth, was nice about it, but I could tell he was pissed. Ugh, I just shivered writing that last line.

So...what's all this about soufflés being hard? They're not. The universe can conspire against you in many ways. It can stall your train, cut off your mode of communication, and throw literal roadblocks in your path. But it won't make your soufflé fall, especially if you follow my advice. And I've been taught by the best.

Breaking Down Soufflé (Without a Tragic Soufflump)

A soufflé is a fundamentally simple thing that leverages the power of eggs to achieve impressive results. All classic soufflés, sweet and savory, start with a base that provides richness and structure. In savory soufflés, like the cheese soufflé I'm demonstrating here, the base is a thick béchamel sauce, usually calling for about three tablespoons flour per cup of milk (though my recipe bumps this up to three-and-a-half tablespoons for just a slightly thicker and more robust result). For comparison, one to two tablespoons of flour thickens a cup of milk into a silky but pourable sauce, like the gravy you get on biscuits.

In sweet soufflés, the base is often pastry cream, though Pépin showed me in our lesson that you can just as easily sweeten béchamel and make a dessert soufflé from that.

A 2-image collage showing mixing yolks into béchamel base for soufflé.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Into that base, a few key ingredients are added. Egg yolks get whisked in for even more richness, and coagulation—as the eggs cook, they set, just like when you fry or scramble them, allowing the soufflé to hold onto its loft for at least some time before deflating.

Along with the yolks go any seasonings you may want; they're not essential beyond salt and pepper, but you can punch up the flavor with a spoonful of mustard or a few dashes of hot sauce if you want.

After that, stiffly beaten egg whites are mixed into that rich yellow base in two additions. The first is stirred in more aggressively to loosen the base enough to accept the second addition, which should be gently folded in without too much effort.

A 2-image collage showing folding egg whites into soufflé base with a spatula.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

That gentle folding is key, since you want to keep as many of the tiny air bubbles trapped in the beaten whites as you can. The more you mix, and the more vigorously you do it, the more air bubbles you lose.

Once in the oven, those air bubbles expand as gases and steam inflate them. That's what causes a soufflé to rise, and really, there's no stopping it—your beaten whites will contain air bubbles and those air bubbles will expand, and when they do your soufflé will push higher and higher in its baking dish. Sure, there are some factors that can affect exactly how this all plays out, but play out it will.

The last key ingredient in a cheese soufflé is the cheese. You can use various types, but a flavorful, good melter like Gruyère or cheddar is ideal.

Soufflé Ingredient Ratios (Soufflatios)

Pouring soufflé batter into the prepared baking dish from a bowl.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

I started my recipe research for this article by creating a spreadsheet that mapped nearly 10 different respected soufflé recipes against each other. My goal was to see where, and to what degree, their ratios and other key details, like oven temperature, differed. The answer: not a lot.

You have some room to play with a soufflé, a little more or less flour in your béchamel, maybe, or slightly different oven settings, but stray too far and you've left camp soufflé and veered into other territory. Add too much more flour, for example, and your soufflé is going to start to resemble a cake; too little and it'll be too thin to hold its shape, spilling up and over the sides of its container.

You could try to dramatically alter the number of eggs relative to the béchamel base, but that's a relationship that's pretty well established, and it delivers the results we all think of when we think "soufflé" (in truth, you can reduce the béchamel base all the way down to nothing and still make what's known as a soufflé omelette, a related, but different and less stable, preparation).

In my own recipe, I opted for an amount of flour in my béchamel that's leaning toward the high end of what's generally called for. It makes a soufflé that rises just a little less dramatically, but it still rises plenty, as you can see in the photos. In exchange, it has a bit more substance, which is what I like about it; a savory soufflé should feel like a meal, not a magic trick that puffs itself up before your eyes only to fade away and never make it to your stomach.

Soufflé Oven Temperatures (Is It Getting Soufflhot in Here?)

The oven temperature has a couple important effects on a soufflé. First, the heat of the oven is a critical "ingredient" for getting a soufflé to rise; it's what causes gases to expand inside all those trapped air bubbles and what converts moisture in the soufflé batter to steam. Together, those forces expand the air bubbles and cause the soufflé to swell. The hotter the oven, the more quickly and fully those air bubbles expand. My tests confirmed this: A 400°F (205°C) oven produced a marginally taller soufflé than a 375°F (190°C) oven did.

The heat also sets the proteins in the egg yolks and whites, allowing the soufflé to keep some of its height after cooling. Without the eggs setting, the soufflé batter would remain liquid and would immediately collapse back down to its original state as soon as it cooled. Even still, a soufflé will deflate as soon as it leaves the oven. The photos in this article were taken within about a five-minute window of the soufflé being removed from the oven, so the collapse shouldn't be dramatic (after all, that's why we use a base like béchamel in the mixture—to give it staying power), but it will happen noticeably and slowly as the soufflé cools. The soufflé, to be clear, remains delicious even as it loses its loft (it can also be partially puffed back up by briefly returning it to a hot oven).

Lastly, the heat browns the surface of the soufflé, giving it a deeper flavor, thanks to our good friend the Maillard reaction.

An overhead view of the browned top of a cheese soufflé.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

The oven temperature, therefore, allows us to balance a few different factors all at once. The hotter the oven, the more quickly and fully the soufflé will rise, and the faster it will brown and set on the outside. But the soufflé is also more likely to remain runny in the center, since it'd come close to burning on the outside if you were to leave it long enough to cook through to the center. If you like a soufflé with a custardy center, as I do, a hotter oven is more likely to give you that result.

A look inside a soufflé that was baked at a higher temperature and left slightly runny in the center.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

If you use a lower oven temperature, like 350°F or 375°F (175°C or 190°C), you'll get slightly less of a rise, and the soufflé will brown on the outside more slowly.

Looking inside a cheese soufflé baked at a lower temperature for a longer time that is fully cooked through the center.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

That buys you time to leave the soufflé in the oven longer, letting it cook through more fully to the center with less risk that the surface blackens in the process. If you like a fully set soufflé, a lower temperature might be your preference.

A Note on Stomping (Stouflomping?) and Opening the Oven Door

Here's a bit of kitchen wisdom that needs to die with all the other kitchen wisdom that's been debunked in recent years: That old commandment not to open the oven door when cooking a soufflé, not to stomp in the kitchen, not to exhale too forcefully on it, etc. I call BS.

To prove it, I cooked two soufflés. One I left undisturbed for the duration of its cooking. The other I abused, opening the oven door every five minutes, slamming it closed, bumping the oven, doing everything I wasn't supposed to. They came out identical.

Like I said, a soufflé will rise.

Beating the Whites (Soufflex Those Muscles)

Brace yourselves: This is the section where I'm going to tell you the one thing you don't want to hear, which is that for the best soufflé, you'll likely get better results if you beat the whites by hand. You don't have to, but it's the one part of the process where you really can take more complete control if you use your own horsepower instead of outsourcing it to a motor. (Obviously, if you can't beat the whites by hand for physical reasons, it's totally fine to use an electric mixer; you will still succeed.)

I came to understand the advantages of hand-beating the whites while running my first test batches, during which I used a stand mixer. I'm not a pastry chef, you see, so, while I've beaten my share of egg whites in my life, I'm not as practiced at it as a pastry pro might be. And what I realized was a mixer makes it harder for those of us who don't beat egg whites every day to properly judge the stage the whites are at in any given moment.

I found myself staring down into the bowl as the beater battered around a blur of whites that was almost impossible to analyze. Worse, the mixer is so powerful that it takes the whites through their respective stages, from a loose foam to firm peaks, very quickly. It's a little too easy to stop the machine, see that it's only at soft peaks, turn it back on, and then discover that you've sped past stiff peaks to grainy ones that are falling apart.

This does not happen when you beat them by hand. With each snap of the whisk, you have immediate feedback on the status of the whites. You can feel when they're liquid, and when they're becoming a foam. As they begin to grow in stiffness, all you have to do is pause your hand for a moment and lift the whisk. Do the peaks slump over on themselves? Start moving the whisk again. The progression is slower than in the bowl of a stand mixer, so you're much less likely to pass your desired stage of firm and glossy whites without noticing it.

A 2-image collage comparing soft versus stiff peaks of egg whites.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

And it's really not all that slow: before you know it, the egg foam will form soft peaks (on the right in the image above) and then stiff peaks (as shown on the left). People act like it's some great tribulation to beat egg whites by hand, but it only takes a couple minutes at most, especially if you're using the right kind of whisk (a French whisk).

Jacques Pépin, incidentally, whisked all his egg whites by hand when I had my soufflé session with him, and he talked in greater detail about beating egg whites than I thought possible. He talked about why he prefers fresh, cold eggs for soufflé, since they're thicker and form smaller air bubbles. He described his whisking method, first beating quickly to loosen the whites before slowing down to aerate them, lifting the whites with the whisk and letting them splash back down on themselves without tapping the bowl too much with the tines, a whisking movement that's different (and easier) than the figure eight often used to beat cream by hand. He talked about how he'd beat older eggs whites to a different stage than newer ones, a master's dialing-in to compensate for whites that are less viscous.

Adding cream of tartar to egg whites before beating.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

He used an expensive copper egg-beating bowl, which helps form more stable beaten whites that are less prone to breaking and weeping (the copper interferes with too-strong sulfur bonds from forming). If you don't have one of those, you can add a little cream of tartar to the whites, an acid that also prevents those sulfur bonds from forming. Or you can skip those tricks and just beat the egg whites alone. In my tests, I noticed almost no difference between the sample with cream of tartar and the plain one, but then I didn't over-beat my whites in either case. If you want an insurance policy against messed-up egg whites, copper or cream of tartar are good ideas.

Say Cheese! (I Got Nothing for This One, so Sou Me)

Adding grated cheese to the soufflé base.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

One final consideration for your savory cheese soufflé: the cheese. You want a good melter with a low water content. That means a semifirm cheese that can be grated into shreds, like Gruyère or cheddar. I tend to reach for Gruyère because it's often used in classic French cooking and also one of my personal favorite cheeses.

A spoon lifting the side of a souffle in a ramekin to show a beautiful, crispy crust after dusting the ramekin side with parmesan cheese.

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

I also grate some Parmigiano-Reggiano to dust the interior of the buttered soufflé dish, which helps to form a delicious crispy crust, but I don't mix it into the soufflé itself. I made that mistake one night when experimenting with cheese options and ended up with a soufflé that had a broken, gritty texture. I've seen other recipes that call for it in the soufflé batter, and I'm sure it can work sometimes, but it's not a good melter, which means you risk ruining your soufflé.

Of course, if you want to risk ruining your soufflé, that's your choice. But then don't blame the soufflé if things go wrong, because, like I said, a soufflé won't ruin itself.

February 2019

Recipe Details

Savory Cheese Soufflé Recipe

Prep 15 mins
Cook 45 mins
Active 30 mins
Total 60 mins
Serves 2 servings

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons (45g) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the dish

  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese, for dusting the dish

  • 3 1/2 tablespoons (1 ounce; 28g) all-purpose flour (see note)

  • 1 cup (235ml) whole milk

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 teaspoon (5ml) Dijon mustard (optional; see note)

  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper or two dashes hot sauce (optional; see note)

  • 4 large egg yolks

  • 5 large cold egg whites

  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional; see note)

  • 3 ounces (85g) freshly grated Gruyère or other semi-firm cheese, such as cheddar

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) for a more browned soufflé with a slightly looser center or 375°F (190°C) for a more gently cooked soufflé that sets all the way through. Set oven rack in lowest position. Grease interior of a 48-ounce ramekin with softened butter. Add some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, rotating ramekin all around so cheese sticks to every part of buttered surface; add more cheese if you don't have enough or discard any excess. Wipe rim of soufflé dish and transfer prepared ramekin to the refrigerator until ready to use.

    A 2-image collage showing greasing and dusting the soufflé dish.

    Serious Eats/Vicky Wasik

  2. In a small saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat (do not allow it to brown). Add flour and whisk to form paste. Continue to cook, stirring, until raw flour scent is gone, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, add milk in thin, steady stream, or in increments of a couple of tablespoons at a time, whisking thoroughly and getting into all corners of pan to maintain a lump-free texture. Sauce will initially become very thick, then get thin once all the milk is added.

  3. Heat, stirring, until sauce comes to a simmer and begins to thicken slightly. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring and scraping the sides and bottom of pan, until sauce is nicely thickened, about 3 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Transfer béchamel sauce to a large heatproof mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly.

  4. Whisk Dijon mustard (if using) and cayenne or hot sauce (if using) into béchamel. Then, while whisking constantly, work in egg yolks one at a time until thoroughly blended. Set soufflé base aside.

  5. In a large mixing bowl, using a French whisk, electric hand blender, or stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, combine egg whites with cream of tartar (if using) and beat until firm, glossy peaks form.

    A 3-image sollage of beating egg whites with a whisk until firm, glossy peaks appear.

    Serious Eats/Vicky Wasik

  6. Add 1/3 of beaten egg whites to béchamel base and stir well until whites are thoroughly combined and soufflé base has a looser consistency. Mix in Gruyère. Using a silicone spatula, gently fold remaining beaten egg whites into soufflé base until just combined.

    A 2-image collage showing a hand using a spatula to gently fold egg whites into soufflé batter.

    Serious Eats/Vicky Wasik

  7. Remove soufflé dish from refrigerator and set on rimmed baking sheet. Scrape soufflé batter into prepared baking dish, filling it up to the inner ridge, not to the top (discard any excess). If desired, using an offset or other spatula, gently smooth and level surface of the soufflé batter.

    A hand using an offset spatula to smooth the top of the soufflé batter.

    Serious Eats/Vicky Wasik

  8. Transfer soufflé to oven and bake until well risen and nicely browned on top, about 30 minutes at 400°F for less set and 35 minutes at 400°F for more set, and 35-40 minutes at 375°F for fully set.

    Placing the soufflé in the oven to cook.

    Serious Eats/Vicky Wasik

  9. Immediately transfer soufflé to table and serve before it deflates too much, scooping out portions onto each diner's plate.

    A hand with a large server removing a serving of cooked soufflé.

    Serious Eats/Vicky Wasik

Special Equipment

48-ounce ramekin, French whisk or electric hand mixer or electric standing mixer

Notes

If desired, you can decrease the flour to 3 tablespoons (24g) for a slightly thinner béchamel sauce and a slightly lighter, but less sturdy, soufflé.

Mustard and cayenne pepper or hot sauce add subtle flavor to the soufflé but are not absolutely necessary.

Cream of tartar is not required, but it can help prevent accidentally overbeating the egg whites; if you have it, you might as well add it.

Read More

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
718 Calories
51g Fat
20g Carbs
43g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 718
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 51g 66%
Saturated Fat 28g 138%
Cholesterol 581mg 194%
Sodium 1058mg 46%
Total Carbohydrate 20g 7%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 7g
Protein 43g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 697mg 54%
Iron 3mg 16%
Potassium 632mg 13%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)