Okay, so it’s not really alfredo (or “Ameri-fredo” Sauce) because it doesn’t even have any cream, but it’s close enough that I’m going to call it that. This fake-out alfredo is a little lighter and doesn’t hit your belly like a ton of bricks. That’s a little more my speed.
This dish reminds me of the white vegetable lasagna that I used to love so much as a kid, except there’s no tedious layering going on. It definitely isn’t one of those quick one-dish meals that we all love so much, but sometimes a little extra time in the kitchen is totally worth it. I used four pots/dishes to make this pasta and I’m not the least bit sorry. How can you be sorry when you have pasta slathered with a creamy sauce and a ton of delicious little vegetable pieces that give every bite a new flavor and texture? You can’t. You just can’t be sorry about dirtying dishes when you have something so great (and I don’t even have a dishwasher, y’all!).
So, choose a day when you have some time and energy to make a masterpiece in the kitchen and make. this. pasta. Cooking can be therapeutic. Turn on some music and enjoy the process just as much as you do the end result.
Vegetable Alfredo Pasta Bake
Servings 8Ingredients
VEGETABLE MIX
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 small onion ($0.52)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 3 medium carrots ($0.36)
- 1 medium zucchini ($0.82)
- 1/2 lb. frozen broccoli & cauliflower pieces ($0.83)
- 1/4 lb. frozen chopped spinach ($0.41)
- Salt and pepper to taste ($0.05)
(not)ALFREDO SAUCE
- 4 Tbsp butter ($0.48)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ($0.04)
- 4 cups 2% or whole milk ($1.20)
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 2/3 cup grated parmesan ($1.09)
PASTA AND TOPPING
- 1 lb. pasta (elbow, shells, etc.) ($1.50)
- 1 cup shredded gouda or smoked mozzarella ($1.20)
Instructions
- Begin by making the vegetable mix. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté both in a large skillet with the olive oil over medium heat until soft. Add the frozen broccoli and cauliflower pieces and and the frozen spinach to the skillet. Continue to sauté until the frozen vegetables are warmed through.
- While the onions, garlic, frozen broccoli, and frozen spinach are cooking, peel and shred the carrots using a large hole cheese grater or box grater. Dice the zucchini into small pieces. Add the carrots and zucchini to the skillet and sauté for one to two minutes more. Season the skillet lightly with salt and pepper. Set the sautéed vegetables aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta according to the package directions (boil for 7-10 minutes, or until al dente). Drain the pasta in a colander.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. Add the butter and flour to a medium sauce pot. Melt the butter over medium heat and use a whisk to incorporate the flour as the butter melts. Allow the flour and butter mixture to begin to bubble. Continue to whisk and cook the mixture for two minutes. If it begins to brown, move on to the next step immediately.
- Whisk the milk into the butter and flour mixture. Also stir in the nutmeg, garlic powder, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Allow the milk to come up to a simmer over medium heat, making sure to whisk frequently to prevent scorching on the bottom. When the milk comes up to a simmer it will begin to thicken.
- When the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon, turn the heat down to low and whisk in the parmesan until it is melted and the sauce is thick. Turn the heat off.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Return the well drained pasta to the large pot with the heat turned off. Add the sautéed vegetables and the white sauce. Stir until everything is well combined and coated in the sauce. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish that has been coated with non-stick spray. Sprinkle the shredded gouda on top and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Serve hot.
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Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
Start by preparing the vegetable mix. For fresh vegetables, I used one small onion, four cloves of garlic, three carrots, and one zucchini. You’ll want to cut the onion and zucchini into a small dice, mince the garlic, and shred the carrots with a cheese shredder or box grater.
I also used some frozen vegetables because I didn’t want to buy an entire head of cauliflower or a whole bunch of broccoli. Plus this way they’re already chopped. These are both one pound bags, but I used half of the bag of broccoli and cauliflower (“winter blend”) and 1/4 of the bag of spinach. So, that’s 1/2 lb. of broccoli/cauliflower pieces and 1/4 lb. of frozen chopped spinach.
I began with the onion and garlic. Sauté them in a large skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil until soft. Then add the 1/2 lb. of frozen broccoli/cauliflower and 1/4 lb. frozen spinach. Continue to sauté until those are warmed through (I did not thaw them first). Use the time while these are cooking to shred the carrots and dice the zucchini.
Add the zucchini and carrots to the skillet and sauté just a couple minutes more. I wanted the vegetables to be slightly crisp still because they will cook a little further in the oven later. Plus, I just like my vegetables to retain a little crunch. Season the skillet with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set the skillet aside while you make the pasta and sauce.
Start the water for the pasta because that can cook while you’re making the sauce. To make the sauce, add 4 Tbsp of butter and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour to a medium sauce pot. Turn the heat onto medium and whisk the flour and butter together as the butter melts. Let the mixture begin to bubble, then whisk and cook for 2 minutes. This will slightly toast the flour to get rid of that gluey flavor. If the mixture begins to brown, move on to the next step immediately, or you’ll have a brown “white” sauce!
Whisk four cups of milk (2% or higher milkfat). Then whisk in 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Let the milk come up to a simmer over medium heat, making sure to whisk frequently to keep the bottom from scorching.
When the milk begins to bubble it will also begin to thicken – that’s when those starch granules in the flour plump up and make everything thick. It should get thick enough to coat a spoon like this (oops, I’m focused on the whisk and not the spoon! My bad.). Once you get here, turn the heat down to low.
Whisk 2/3 cup grated parmesan into the hot sauce until it is melted. This will further thicken the sauce. It will now coat a spoon a bit thicker! Turn the heat off.
By this time your pasta should be finished cooking. Make sure it drains really, really well. You don’t want a bunch of water trapped in the shells to make everything watery. I used this cool shape, but you can use elbows, shells, rotini, or whatever you want. Oh, you’ll want to preheat the oven to 375 now, too.
Return the drained pasta to the big pot that it cooked in (heat turned off) and add the prepared vegetables and the sauce. Stir everything really well or until everything is coated in the delicious sauce.
Pour everything into a casserole dish (this one is about 9×9 inches and it was full up to the top). Sprinkle a cup of shredded gouda (smoked mozzarella would also be nice) on top. Bake in the preheated 375-degree oven for 30 minutes.
And then OMG.
Eat it up! It’s so creamy and good with tons of vegetables. Yessss.
Look at the creamy goodness!
This was amazing! I am vegan, so I used almond milk instead of whole milk and nutritional yeast instead of parmesan. It turned out really well, it really thickened up nice. I was afraid the almond milk might be a little to bitter but it was great. I love your site, I basically don’t cook anything without looking here first!
Awesome! Good to know that the vegan substitutions worked – thanks for sharing!!
So question for you guys. I’m not a big fan of frozen veggies, yes I know they are just as good as fresh, but I think they are mushy. So would I use the same amount of fresh compared to frozen? Thanks for the wonderful recipes, keep ’em coming!!
Yep, the volumes should be about the same when you use fresh versus frozen. :)
While I didn’t make this actual recipe , I took the sauce recipe portion to make my Cajun Shrimp Penne. IT WAS AMAZING. I have been dying for a good homemade alfredo sauce and this nails it. It does take time and patience for it to thicken properly but it is worth it. I used minced garlic in place of garlic powder.
I seasoned the shrimp with cajun seasoning , paprika and black pepper then added the sauce and added pasta in a skillet together. My husband devoured it. If you are looking for a versatile easy to make sauce..look no further !
I made this last night. It completely filled my 9×13 pan but I did have enough sauce. It was delicious and I’ll probably play around with different vegetables during farmer’s market season.
Looks incredible! I love alfredo sause and with the veggies I bet it’s great.
This looks great! I will likely streamline to make fewer dishes to wash. First, I’ll cook veggies in my 12 inch cast iron skillet. Remove them to a bowl, and wipe out skillet. Then I’ll make the white sauce in the same skillet, add cooked pasta and veggies, stir and bake.
I do potpies and baked mac and cheese this way too.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for this suggestion! I never remember to use my cast iron pan.
We had this last night and it was delicious! I know that the sauce is key- it takes time to get it to the point where it will coat a spoon, but it’s so worth it!!!
Don’t forget the salt- it will be missed without it! We used cayenne pepper and it gave the dish a nice “bite”.
Definitely going to be part of our regular meal rotation!
(Oh- if you’re wondering what kind of pasta we used, it was 16oz. of Rotini and there was plenty of sauce!)
I made this tonight instead of doing my taxes like I should have. It turned out pretty well, but I felt like it was missing something–and in writing this, I realized that I’d forgotten to add salt and pepper to the veggies, so that might have been the little extra “oomph” it needed. Of course, that didn’t stop me from eating A LOT of it :).
I did add in mushrooms and used spiral pasta. I didn’t have any of Ari’s issues with it being dry, even with the extra veggies, but I definitely could have used a 9×13 pan! Thanks for the recipe!
Yum. Made this tonight and it was delicious. Thanks. Even got my vegetable hating son to eat some.
How long do you think it would last in the fridge? Would it survive freezing?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried freezing it yet, although I will today and I’ll report back in a couple days. It should be good in the fridge for 4-5 days.
So I made this last night, and had to use shredded mozzarella instead of the Gruyere, so that may have changed the flavor a little. I like it except it isn’t nearly creamy enough! I had enough of the pasta mixture to fill a 9X13 pan (anyone want to come over for some? hah.), and think maybe the sauce/pasta ratio was off somehow.. if I did it over again, I might just use 1/2 lb of pasta instead of a full lb. (I used macaroni btw).
Interesting! I bet the pasta shape does make a big difference because mine was very saucy. :)
Hi Beth, just wanted to say I love your recipes and take them to work all the
time. I come back to your site 2 or 3 times a week. Keep all the great recipes coming!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it. Lol we have been trying to cut back on our budget, so I have been pretty much solely using your site to meal plan. I spent only $70 for two weeks of meals with lots of leftovers ( for a family of 3,) last meal plan! :)
Thanks Jamie Lynn. I was just being totally lazy! Coincidentally, I had just finished putting Taco Chicken in myfitnesspal when I read your message. Their recipe import feature is pretty cool. I’ll ck out the other calculators too. Thanks again!
SO making this. Soon. This looks absolutely delish!! Next time I go shopping I’m definitely getting what I don’t already have to make this. For Sabrina: You can use a recipe calorie calculator to easily find the nutrition content for exactly what you use for your recipe. You can Google it and find one, you can also use the MyFitnessPal app if you have a smartphone to create a recipe and it will calculate the nutrition info for you. I also use SparkRecipes.com to do the same thing. Input your ingredients (you can look them up by the brand usually) and it will calculate for you. Very helpful when you slightly variate from the original recipe or use a different brand of frozen stuff, etc.
8+ years later, an update: I have been using this as a base recipe ever since I found it. The alfredo is simply AMAZING and I cannot ever eat a store-bought alfredo again. I love this with zucchini and bell peppers, and I like adding a protein (andouille sausage is my JAM in this recipe!). A good, hearty pasta shape – my new favorite is cavatappi – works really well in this. I also have not made this into a casserole – just stir everything together in a large skillet and top each individual serving with a bit of extra grated parmesan. Thanks, Beth, for introducing me to my most favorite recipe ever!!
We had black bean pizzas 2 nights in a row & my husband wanted to know if we could have them a third! I’ve got Sweet Chili Chicken in the crockpot overnight & Chicken Taco Rice Bowl ready to go on in the morning. All that to say we love your recipes! I’m looking forward to this one as soon as we can eat up the others but have a question: have you ever considered putting nutrition info? I can figure it myself but it would be a bonus if it was already done (lazy, aren’t I?) It would also be nice if you came & cooked them for me but in guess that would be a little too much to ask! :0)
Yes, I’ve considered it, but decided against it long ago. I can’t guarantee the info, so I don’t feel comfortable posting it (wrong stats can be dangerous for those with health conditions). I feel much better about letting readers choose nutrition calculators that they trust. There are several on the internet these days. :)
Do you have a nutrition calculator you particularly like? I have tried a few and I am never all that confident in their consistency.
I don’t really trust them either, but I’ve listed a couple popular ones on my FAQ page. I hope that helps! :)
Thanks! Appreciate the suggestions.