The first named béchamel sauce appears in The Modern Cook, written by Vincent La Chapelle and published in 1733,[4] in which the following recipe for "Turbots (a la Bechameille)" appears: Take some Parsley and Chibbol,[5] and mince them very small, put in a Saucepan a good lump of Butter, with your Parsley and Chibbol, and some minced Shallots, season'd with Salt and Pepper, some Nutmeg, and a dust of Flour: Take a Turbot boil'd in Court Bouillon, take it off by pieces and put it into your Stew-pan: put in a little Cream, Milk, or a little Water, put it over the Fire, and stir it now and then, that your Sauce may thicken; then let it be of a good Taste, dish it up, and serve it up hot for a first Course.

For example, it is widely repeated in Italy that the sauce has been created in Tuscany under the name "salsa colla" and brought to France with Catherine de Medici, but this is an invented story,[7] and archival research has shown that "in the list of service people who had dealt with Catherine de Medici, since her arrival in France and until her death, there were absolutely no Italian chefs.

"[8] Both the béchamel recipe and its name have been adopted, even adapted, in many languages and culinary traditions.

Béchamel is referred to as: These adaptations have also caused various erroneous claims for the recipe's origin.

[20][21] It was introduced to Greek cuisine by the chef Nikolaos Tselementes in the 1930s,[22] notably in moussaka[23] and pastitsio.