White Sauce Spaghetti is one of our favorite meals as a family. 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 on days when you are running out of groceries.
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. You can also use half and half or heavy cream to make this soup more velvety and creamy! If you would like to make it healthier 2% milk works too for this recipe. 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 peas, but you can add any veggies of your choice. I love to add broccoli, bell peppers, zucchini, asparagus, and mushrooms to this pasta 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.
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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