A good sauce is a core component of culinary culture. Knowing how to make a handful of them can elevate your kitchen game to unforeseen heights.

Now, we don’t expect you to pull a Béarnaise sauce out of your hat at a moment’s notice. But you should be able to whip up a solid tomato-based sauce for pasta, or a good teriyaki sauce for rice and veggies or skewered proteins. We know, there are great pre-made options out there, from complex fish sauce to throw-it-on-anything Japanese Barbecue Sauce. Yet, you know as well as we do that when you pull it off from scratch, it’s more rewarding and can even taste better.

If you’re game for making some sauces, it pays to have the right gadgetry. A good saucepan will get you to your delicious destination. You’ll also want some good mixing devices and a decently stocked spice cabinet. Aside from that, it’s mostly just about settling into a quality recipe and assembling the liquid gold.

Here are some of the best sauce recipes to have on hand as you cook your way through 2022.

Sometimes simple is just what the doctor — or chef — ordered. This reliable New York Times recipe can be slathered on just about anything. It has a little kick, along with some nice sweetness and a subtle bit of tang.

Jamie Oliver has his sauces down and this basic tomato sauce is among the best and most utilitarian. As the chef says, you can batch it up and keep in the fridge for a week or even freeze for several months.

To many cooks and to Francophiles especially, Béchamel is the queen of sauces. We like this Seattle Times recipe, on its own with some pasta or worked into a lasagna with some mushrooms or meat.

South Americans are especially fond of chimichurri, the coarse green sauce that’s pure magic atop the right protein or starch. We love this take from El Che Steakhouse in Chicago. The best versions of the sauce are so flavorful you can simply spread some on a slab of rustic bread.

A good teriyaki sauce can accompany everything from tofu and baked fish to any number of rice dishes. This recipe from food.com is particularly solid. Note that it yields about 1.5 cups of sauce.

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