White sauce pasta (Bechamel sauce pasta)

White sauce pasta is a delicious dish made of pasta, butter, milk, cheese & herbs. It is basically cooked pasta tossed in cheesy white sauce. White sauce is also known as bechamel sauce & is made using flour, butter and milk. It originated from the Italian & french cuisines and is a base for many other sauce recipes. It is used in the preparation of various dishes like pasta, lasagne and pies.

This cheesy white sauce pasta is a favorite with my kids and I make this with so many different variations. The recipe shared in this post is the basic vegetarian version. Feel free to tweak & add in your favorite veggies, shrimp or chicken.

I have flavored this white sauce pasta with just some oregano, pepper & red chili flakes. However you can also add Dijon mustard, mixed herbs or garlic for added flavors.

For variations use heavy cream or cheddar cheese or cream cheese to suit your taste. There are a lot of options to tweak this basic recipe.

Key ingredients for white sauce pasta

Using full fat milk and cheese are the key to making yummy and delicious white sauce. Usually cheddar cheese or parmesan cheese or a mix of many kinds of cheese are used to make this pasta.

But I have used cream cheese here since this is the only one I found without calf rennet.

You can also use the same recipe to make chicken pasta in white sauce, it turns out good with mustard and lots of black pepper.

More Pasta recipes
Masala pasta
Vegetable pasta in red sauce
Pasta soup
Red sauce pasta

White sauce pasta recipe

White sauce pasta

White sauce pasta is a vegetarian, creamy & delicious dish made of pasta & herbs tossed in bechamel sauce. 

Prep Time5 minutes

Cook Time15 minutes

Total Time20 minutes

Servings2

AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )

Ingredients for white sauce pasta

• ¾ cup pasta
• 1¼ cup milk full fat (refer notes)
• ¾ tbsp flour (whole wheat pastry flour, atta or organic plain flour (maida)
• 2 tbsps Cheese (skip if you do not prefer)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp oil or butter
• ¼ tsp pepper crushed
• ½ tsp red chilli flakes
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped (optional)
• ¼ tsp oregano
• Salt as needed

optional ingredients

• 1 cup Mix veggies (carrots, bell peppers, sweet corn & peas)(optional)

How to make the recipe

Cooking pasta

• Bring 4 to 5 cups water to a boil in a large pot along with salt.
• When the water begins to boil rapidly then add pasta and cook al dente. Drain off completely reserving 2 to 4 tbsp of water.
• If using veggies, chop them and set aside. You can also use frozen mix veggies like carrots, peas and sweet corn.

Making sauce for white sauce pasta

• Add 1 tsp oil to a pan and saute vegetables until al dente. Set these aside.
• Set the flame to low. Add rest of the butter to the pan and saute the garlic for a minute. Then add flour.
• Saute it in butter until the raw smell goes off. The flour may turn slightly lumpy. Just break up the lumps and continue to saute until it no more smells raw. Make sure the color of the flour doesn’t change.
• Pour ¼ cup of milk. Whisk continuously breaking up the lumps. I used a spatula to break up the flour.
• When you see the flour is well blended with milk, pour rest of the milk and mix well.
• Cook this until the sauce turns slightly thick.
• Add cheese if using and gently stir until the mixture reaches a thick sauce consistency. Next add oregano and pepper. Switch off the stove.

How to make white sauce pasta

• Add more salt if needed along with veggies & cooked pasta. 
• Mix well to coat the pasta with the creamy sauce. If the sauce is too thick then, you may add 1 to 2 tbsps of reserved hot pasta cooked water.
• Sprinkle red chili flakes.
• Serve white sauce pasta immediately.

Video

Video of white sauce pasta recipe

NUTRITION

Calories: 412kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 267mg | Potassium: 464mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 111.4% | Vitamin C: 11.5% | Calcium: 21% | Iron: 7.9%

Notes

For vegan white sauce pasta

1. If you do not prefer to use regular dairy milk in this recipe, then soak about 12 to 15 almonds for 2 to 4 hours in warm water.
2. Remove the skin and blend them with just 1/4 cup water to a smooth paste. Then mix with 1 cup water and make it 1 1/4 cup as needed in the recipe.
3. If your blender does not blend almonds well then you may need to filter the milk and use. A mini blender or a bullet works good for this.

Preparation

1. Add salt to 4 to 5 cups of water and bring it to a rapid boil .

2. Then add pasta. I used organic pasta. Cook as per instructions until done al dente.

3. Drain to a colander and reserve some water.

4. Pour oil to a pan.

5. Saute mixed vegetables until they are slightly tender yet crunchy. Set these aside.

How to make white sauce pasta

6. Add more butter and then saute the garlic for a minute. I did not use garlic. Then add flour. To make white sauce a generous amount of butter is used to dissolve the flour. I had to reduce it due to personal preference.

7. Saute well until the flour loses the raw smell.

8. Lower the flame completely and add ¼ cup milk.

9. Begin to stir with a spatula and dissolve the flour completely without any lumps.

10. Pour the rest of the milk and stir. Do not pour milk at this stage until you break up the lumps of flour and dissolve it completely.

11. Cook this until the sauce slightly thickens.

12. Add cheese if using. Also add pepper and oregano.

13. If needed add salt. Mix well until the cheese blends well. If the bechamel sauce is too thick you can add the reserved pasta cooked water/ stock. Switch off the stove.

14. Add vegetables and pasta to the white sauce.

15. Mix the white sauce pasta well. If needed you can add more pasta cooked water to make it creamy.

Garnish white sauce pasta with red chilli flakes and crushed pepper.