Saucy Spaghetti Bake

4.96 from 45 votes

Uncooked spaghetti is added to a baking dish along with water, tomato sauce, and seasonings, and then it’s baked. Yes, you read that right: the spaghetti bakes in the oven! (How cool is that?) When you boil spaghetti, the water that you drain away has a ton of starch in it, but in this recipe the starch has nowhere to escape, so it cooks into the sauce and makes it extra luscious and creamy! Topped with a quick homemade alfredo sauce, this easy recipe will become a new weeknight staple.

Excerpted from Craving Vegan by Sam Turnbull. Copyright © 2023 Sam Turnbull. Photographs by Tanya Pilgram. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 55

Total Time: 1 5

Servings: 6 - 8

Author: Sam Turnbull

Ingredients

FOR THE SPAGHETTI:

1 lb uncooked spaghetti (see note)
1 jar 22 fl oz/ 650 mL prepared tomato sauce (Or 1 batch simple Tomato sauce- page 165 in Craving Vegan)
3 ½ cups water
¼ cup tomato paste
1 yellow onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced or pressed
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

FOR THE CREAMY ALFREDO SAUCE

¼ cup vegan butter
2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups plant-based milk (such as oat or soy)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried basil leaves
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
Make the spaghetti: in a large 4½-quart (4.5 L) casserole dish, combine the spaghetti, tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, onions, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes (if using). Use tongs to mix everything until combined. Cover and bake for 40 minutes, stopping halfway through to stir and make sure the pasta isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Make the alfredo sauce: While the spaghetti is baking, melt the vegan butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute while stirring. Sprinkle with the flour and stir to make a paste. Cook the flour paste for 1–2 minutes while stirring frequently to cook the flour. Whisk in the plant-based milk, nutritional yeast, salt, basil, onion powder, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce is nice and thickened, about 5 minutes. remove from the heat.
After the pasta has baked for the 40 minutes, remove the lid and spread the alfredo sauce over the pasta. return to the oven and bake another 10–15 minutes, until bubbly. Allow the pasta to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

Note: I like to make this recipe with a regular wheat pasta. some gluten-free pastas might work as well, but because the cooking times and starch contents vary, the results may differ.

Make Ahead: I prefer this pasta fresh, but if you have leftovers, allow the dish to cool before covering and storing in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Nutrition

Find it online:

https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/vegan-spaghetti-bake/