White sauce spaghetti is a delicious creamy white sauce recipe made with butter, flour, and milk, along with a few herbs and spices. This white sauce pasta recipe is very versatile, and you can add a lot of vegetables to make it healthy.
White Sauce Spaghetti is one of our favorite family meals. It is easy and delicious, and so creamy that our toddler loves it, too. This white sauce pasta needs very few ingredients and can be made when you run out of groceries.
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What is White Sauce?
Bechamel Sauce is popularly known as White Sauce. You make this sauce using equal parts of butter flour and add milk. I like to season my white sauce with salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and mixed Italian herbs.
You might confuse white sauce with alfredo sauce, but they both are different. While White Sauce is very light and creamy, Alfredo Sauce uses heavy cream, which makes it heavier and a lot more indulging.
Ingredients to Make White Sauce Spaghetti
- Spaghetti - Spaghetti is a long round noodle-like pasta. If you don't have this pasta, you can use any other pasta that is available
- Butter - The butter adds to the delicious nuttiness to the recipe, so we will be using butter to make the our white sauce
- Flour - Plain Flour aka All Purpose Flour is used as the thickening agent to make this sauce. If you are gluten-free, then you can use gluten-free plain flour which works well for this recipe.
- Milk - Full Fat Milk, makes this sauce lusciously creamy. The milk reduces in a beautiful creamy sauce when simmered with the roux made with butter and flour.
- Herbs/ Spices - Salt, Freshly Cracked Black Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Red Chili Flakes, fresh Parsley/thyme, and Mixed Italian Seasoning works great to season this sauce.
- Vegetables - I am adding brocolli, red and green bell peppers, but you can add any veggies of your choice.
- Cheese - Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese right before serving adds a delicious sharpness to this pasta! Also, I like to add freshly grated parmesan from the block, as it melts beautifully, and doesn't make the sauce clumpy!
Variations to Make White Sauce Pasta
- To make this sauce lighter and healthier use olive oil instead of butter, or use 1 part butter, 1 part olive oil to 2 parts of flour.
- White sauce traditionally uses full-fat milk but, to make this Vegan, you can use Soy Milk. It is creamier and more nutritious than other plant milks and works great in savory recipes. The key to making sure while using plant milk is to make sure you use unsweetened and unflavored plant milk.
- You can also substitute plain flour with gluten-free plain flour. If you are making this for your toddler, I suggest substituting plain flour with whole wheat flour.
Seasonal Vegetables You can Add to Your White Sauce Pasta
During the spring and summer months, we get delicious seasonal and colorful seasonal produce. You can add vegetables like different bell peppers, asparagus, fresh corn, peas, and zucchini.
While during the fall and winter months, you can broccoli and spinach, along with many more fresh herbs. Add fresh thyme to the butter before adding the flour. It brings out the most beautiful flavor in the pasta sauce.
Expert Tips
- Always make your sauce first and then start cooking your pasta. Add your cooked pasta using tongs or a strainer spoon. The pasta sauce sticks to the pasta beautifully.
- Make this sauce as a part of your meal prep for the week. It keeps well in the refrigerator for about 4-5 days. Once you make the sauce with butter, flour, milk, and salt cool it down. Transfer it to a glass container. Add beeswax paper or plastic wrap in contact with the sauce. This will ensure the sauce doesn't form a skin on top of it. And, also helps slow down the oxidization in the sauce.
- Reserve 2 Cups of Pasta Water to adjust the consistency of the pasta sauce. The more the white sauce sits, the thicker it gets. If you are making pasta ahead of time, using pasta water while reheating the pasta, gives the sauce a good consistency and keeps it creamy and delicious.
- Add vegetables to make this pasta healthier. The crunch from vegetables adds a beautiful texture to this creamy sauce and it is a nice way to get your family to eat a few extra veggies.
- During the spring and summer months, add some lime zest at the end. This adds a refreshing floral aroma and zingy taste to the pasta which makes it even more delicious.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the pasta, hot right off the pan. I like to add seasonings like red chili flakes, and oregano. You can also add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Storage Instructions
Store the pasta in an airtight container for 3-5 days in the refrigerator. Add a splash of water before reheating, and to make the pasta saucy. Freeze the white sauce pasta for 3 months. Thaw the pasta on the countertop, for 2 hours. Then add water, and heat the white sauce pasta until creamy again. Serve hot.
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White Sauce Pasta
These nutrional values are automatically generated. Use them for estimation only.
Equipment
- 1 Heavy Bottom Pan
- 1 12 inch Frying Pan
Ingredients
Roast the Veggies
- ½ Tablespoon Butter
- ½ Cup Veggies I am adding Broccoli, Red and Green Bell Peppers
- Pinch Salt
To Make White Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Butter
- 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 2.5 Cups Milk Full Fat
- 1 Tsp Oregano
- 1 Tsp Red Chili Flakes
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1.5 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tsp Salt
- ¼ Cup Parmesan Cheese
To Cook The Pasta
- 6-8 Quarts Water
- 8 Oz Spaghetti
- 2 Tsp Salt
Garnishes
- 1 tablespoon Parsley Finely chopped
- ¼ Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
Roast the Veggies
- Add butter to a pan. Then add chopped veggies to the melted butter.
- Let the veggies roast for 3-4 minutes. Add a pinch of salt. Give it a toss.
- Take the veggies out in a bowl. Set it aside.
Make the White Sauce
- In the same pan,add butter on a low flame.
- Once the Butter melts, add flour. Microwave 2.5 cups of milk for 2-3 minutes.
- Stir continuously for 45 seconds, until the flour becomes pale yellow and cooked.
- Add warm milk to the pan slowly, stiring it continuously.
- Bring the sauce to simmer on a medium low flame. You will notice the sauce starts to thicken.
- Now add in salt, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and red chili flakes.
- Add ¼ cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Turn Off the stove once the sauce is thick after simmering for about 10 -12 minutes.
Cook the Spaghetti Or Any Pasta of Your Choice
- To cook the pasta, add 6qts water to another heavy bottom pot on high flame, cover, and bring it to a boil.
- Now that your pasta water will be boiling properly, add salt and uncooked pasta. Cook the pasta as per the package instructions.
- Add ½ cup of pasta water to the white sauce, and simmer on low. The starch in the pasta water helps the sauce to stick to the pasta well.
- Once your pasta is cooked, use tongs or strainer laddle to trasfer the pasta to the sauce. Make sure you are only adding pasta and not a lot of pasta water along with it.
- Mix everything well, and add your garnishes on top. I like to garnish my pasta with fresh parsley,red chili flakes and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Please read the instructions thoroughly
- To Make this sauce vegan and gluten-free read the instructions under the heading Variations to Make White Sauce Pasta
- Pair the white sauce pasta with garlic toast and wine.
Kimberly
I love the idea of this recipe, but step one is confusing as it says to make white sauce add butter and olive oil, but nowhere else does it mention olive oil.