This is a cosy Creamy Pasta Bake “formula” you can make with what you’ve got! Based around a creamy white sauce that makes anything delicious, you just need butter, flour, milk, stock powder (bouillon) and some kind of cheese – but even these have subs. Everything else is up to you!
Use any pasta, long or short. Any cooked or raw meat (chopped or ground/mince). Sausage, ham, canned fish, any vegetable (fresh, frozen, canned, pickled, dried), pickles and olives. You’re only limited by your imagination! (And what’s in your pantry 😂)
Pasta Bake you can make with ANYTHING
This is a recipe for a creamy white sauce to make a big pasta bake using anything you’ve got. Just look in your pantry. Cans of corn? Frozen veg? Random bits of ham, some cooked and raw meats, cans of tuna, salmon or other fish?
How about some floppy “about-to-die” bits of veg – zucchinis, carrots, celery, eggplant. Half used jars of olives and pickles, pizza topping leftovers, and any pasta you’ve got, long or short.
Basically, ANYTHING that’s smothered in this creamy white sauce, then baked until bubbly and golden is going to taste sensational.
Welcome to the first in a series of “Make this with anything!” recipes, coming to you over the next few weeks!
The Creamy Pasta Bake “formula”
Here’s the formula for this “anything goes” creamy pasta bake:
Creamy Pasta Sauce
“Make This With Anything” creamy pasta bake is based on a creamy white sauce that makes anything taste great! Here’s what you need – and it’s highly flexible so read the notes underneath for alternatives and substitutions for every ingredient.
Pasta – any long or short pasta except tiny rice size pasta like risoni/orzo (use this recipe instead).
Butter – substitute with olive oil + switch 1 cup of flour for cream (if you can). Butter is flavour, so try not to skip this. Sub with margarine.
Flour – any type of flour fine here. Default is plain white / all purpose flour. Sub with cornflour/cornstarch (for GF option)
Milk – any type. Dairy, non dairy, full fat, low fat, fresh, long life, milk powder (reconstituted). 1.5 cups milk can be substituted with water.
Stock powder OR bouillon cube – chicken or vegetable. Sub with 1/2 cup extra parmesan + salt to taste.
Parmesan – fresh (from the fridge) is best, but even long life will work here (ie the parmesan sold in the pasta aisle). Sub with 1 tsp extra stock powder.
No stock powder OR parmesan? Add shredded cheese instead!
Add Ins – meat, vegetables, bacon, ham, fish. Fresh, cooked, canned, frozen, pickled! See below for more info for things that require cooking vs things that don’t require cooking.
Here’s what I used for the pasta bake in the top 2 photos: shredded cooked chicken, chopped cook pork, sliced red onion, frozen peas, carrots and corn. YES I seriously just raided my fridge!
How to make creamy pasta bake with anything
Firstly, gather your Add Ins and determine if there are ingredients that need cooking. The pasta bake is only in the oven for 25 minutes or so which is not enough time to cook raw meat and vegetables so they need to be cooked before mixing with the pasta and sauce. See list below of things that should be pre cooked.
Then use one of these methods:
1. No cook Add Ins
For things like canned tuna, frozen and canned corn, baby spinach, olives.
Make the creamy sauce, then just pour it over the cooked pasta and Add Ins, mix it up then bake.
2. Raw Add Ins
For all raw meats and raw vegetables, like zucchini, bell peppers/capsicum, mushrooms.
Chop everything up then cook it on the stove with a splash of oil, pinch of salt and pepper;
Mix in the flour, then add the milk and creamy sauce flavourings;
As it heats up, the flour will thicken the sauce;
Pour it over the pasta, mix than bake.
3. Roasting Vegetables
Roasting adds terrific flavour to any vegetable, so I highly recommend it for roast-able veg like pumpkin, eggplant, sweet potato, and even broccoli and cauliflower.
Chop into 2.5cm/1″ pieces;
drizzle with oil, salt and pepper (add a sprinkle of dried herbs if you want)
roast at 220°C/430°F for 20 minutes, tossing in the last 5 minutes, until caramelised on the edges;
meanwhile, make creamy white sauce; and
pour over pasta and roasted veg, toss and bake.
Pasta Bake Add ins – cook vs no cook
1. No cook Add Ins
Add Ins that do not require pre cooking are things like:
cooked chicken or other meats, ham, corn, canned salmon and tuna, cured meats
fresh or frozen spinach (or other leafy veg)
frozen peas, corn and diced veg*
grated carrot, zucchini
canned, jarred and pickled vegetables – corn, sun dried tomatoes, capsicum/bell peppers, pickles, olives
2. Add Ins that require cooking
Add Ins that require cooking include things like:
raw meats, fish, prawns/shrimp, bacon, sausages
vegetables – zucchini, carrot*, bell peppers/capsicum, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, sweet potato, eggplant
onion, garlic
* Frozen diced veg tends to be softer once thawed, giving it a head start with cooking. So small frozen veg doesn’t need to be precooked, whereas fresh does.
The recipe video below shows me making this a creamy pasta bake with chicken, bacon and baby spinach where the chicken and bacon is cooked in the same pot the sauce is made. Here are the Add Ins I used:
What pasta to use for pasta bakes
This pasta bake can be made with any pasta, long or short, including:
short pastas – penne, ziti, macaroni / elbow pasta, rigatoni (pictured above), spirals, shells, wheels, orecchiette, bow ties (pictured below)
long pastas – spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine, parpadelle, egg noodles
only the exception is Risoni/Ozro and other tiny pasta – use this recipe instead.
Make this with a mix of pasta using whatever opened packets you’ve got in the fridge!!
Also, while pasta bakes are traditionally thought of as made with short pastas, they are SO GOOD made with spaghetti and other long pastas (see this Bolognese Baked Spaghetti for a sneak preview!).
Pasta Bake TIPS
6 – 8 cups of add ins is the cooked quantity, so be mindful of vegetables that shrink a lot once cooked (eg mushrooms, spinach). For leafy greens like spinach, assume they will shrink to about 1/5th of the raw volume, and mushrooms shrink to about 1/3.
Saucy and flexible!This recipe makes a generous amount of sauce, so there’s plenty of flex for how much Add Ins you use.
Storage – keeps VERY well because it’s an extra saucy pasta bake (pasta absorbs liquid very quickly, most pasta bakes are dried up and sad the next day whereas this is not).
Freezing pasta bakes – freeze cooked leftovers, or freeze unbaked (best method – cool all components, assemble then freeze)
Bake from frozen – it will takes ages (over an hour!) but can be done!
Undercook the pasta by 2 minutes per packet because it will cook more in the oven. This way, your pasta won’t be mushy and overcooked – and it keeps better too.
Some pasta bake combinations
In case you happen to be one of the few people in the world who currently has access to every and any ingredient your heart desires, here are some suggestions for combinations:
Chicken, bacon and spinach (per video below) – 500g/1.2lb chicken thigh or breast, 200g/7oz bacon chopped, 120g/4oz baby spinach
Tuscan Chicken with mushroom and spinach – 500g/1.2lb chicken thigh or breast, 300g/10oz sliced mushrooms, 120g/4oz baby spinach (remember, mushroom shrinks a LOT!), 270g/9oz sun dried tomatoes (drained)
Salmon or Tuna Mornay (per video below) – see recipe (canned tuna or salmon and corn)
Sicilian Tuna – 2 big cans of tuna + jar of sliced olives (drained) + sun dried tomatoes + frozen spinach (thawed and stirred through)
Italian Beef or Pork and spinach – 500g/1lb beef or pork mince (ground beef) + 2 tsp Italian herbs +pinch red pepper flakes + 350g/12oz frozen spinach
Sausage and kale – 500g/1lb Italian sausage, + 4 cups kale
Tuscan vegetable – 8 to 10 cups (2lb/1kg) mix of capsicum/bell peppers, red onion, zucchini, mushroom, eggplant (veg shrink when cooked)
Fishermans Pasta Bake – 500g/1lb white fish, 2 cups frozen diced veg (corn, carrot, peas), 1 leek (or onion)
Ground chicken or pork (mince) with mushrooms – 500g/1lb pork or chicken, 500g/1lb mushrooms, sliced (mushrooms shrink a LOT)
Chicken and broccoli – 500g/1 lb broccoli florets, 500g/1.2lb chicken thigh or breast
I hope you find this creamy pasta bake “formula” useful. And share what combinations YOU come up with!! I’d love to hear! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Here’s the recipe video to make the sauce and pour it over things that don’t require cooking (like canned salmon or tuna, corn, olives):
And here’s the recipe video to make a creamy pasta bake where you start with raw things like chicken and vegetables that need cooking:
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Creamy Pasta Bake “formula” – make this with ANYTHING!
Ingredients
- 500g / 1lb pasta (any short or long except risoni/orzo) (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp salt (for water)
Creamy Sauce (Note 2 for subs)
- 4 tbsp (60g) butter , unsalted
- 2 garlic cloves , minced (optional, sub 1 tsp powder)
- 5 tbsp flour , any (GF option Note 2)
- 5 cups (1.25 litres) milk , any fat, any type
- 2 tsp stock / bouillon cube or powder , chicken or veg
- 3/4 cup (75g) parmesan
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Choose ONE flavouring (optional)
- 1 tsp EACH thyme and parsley , or any other dried herbs
- 1/2 tsp EACH mustard, garlic, onion powder
Add Ins
- 8 cups Add Ins – raw or cooked meats, bacon, ham, diced vegetabes (frozen, canned, fresh), canned or fresh fish (Note 3)
For Cooking RAW Add Ins (like raw chicken, mushrooms, zucchini)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Cheesy Topping
- 2 cups (200g) cheese , shredded (Note 4)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Pasta – Boil water with 1 tbsp salt. Add pasta, bring back up to boil then cook per packet directions MINUS 2 minutes. Should be just cooked, still slightly firm in middle. Drain, return to pot.
Cooking RAW Meat & Vegetables
- Heat half butter & 1 tbsp oil in a large pot over high heat. Stir in garlic for 10 seconds, then cook your raw meat and vegetables with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Meat must be fully cooked – will not cook further in oven.
- Add remaining butter, melt. Mix in flour, then follow Creamy Sauce step 2 onwards.
Creamy Sauce
- Start here if you have NO COOK Add Ins (like canned tuna): Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and stir for 10 seconds, then stir in flour.
- While mixing, gradually pour in about 1/3 of the milk. Once the flour-butter mixture is incorporated into the milk, pour in remaining milk and mix.
- Add remaining milk, stock powder, parmesan, pepper and herbs (if using) and mix. When the milk starts to heat up, mix constantly to make sure the white sauce doesn’t catch on the base.
- After 4 – 5 minutes, the sauce should be thick enough that you can draw a path across the back of a spoon (see video).
Assemble & Bake
- Return cooked pasta into pot. Mix with sauce and no-cook Add Ins.
- Spread in large casserole dish, top with cheese and bake 25 minutes until golden and bubbly. Serve!
Recipe Notes:
- Butter – sub margarine. Sub with olive oil + switch 1 cup of the milk for cream (if you can, to make up richness/flavour). Butter is flavour, so try not to skip this.
- Flour – any type of flour fine here, white, wholemeal, self raising, gluten free. Cornflour/cornstarch gluten free sub: Mix 3.5 tbsp with splash of water and add that in with the milk.
- Milk – any type. Dairy, non dairy, full fat, low fat, fresh, long life, milk powder (reconstituted). Up to 1.5 cups milk can be substituted with water.
- Stock/bouillon powder or cube or seasoning – chicken or vegetable (Vegeta is my fave). Sub with 1/2 cup extra parmesan + salt to taste.
- Parmesan – fresh (from the fridge) is best, but even long life will work here (ie sold in the pasta aisle). Sub with 1 – 1.5 tsp extra stock powder.
- No stock powder OR parmesan? Add 2 cups shredded cheese instead!
- cooked chicken or other meats, ham, corn, canned salmon and tuna, cured meats
- fresh or frozen spinach (or other leafy veg)
- frozen peas, corn and diced veg*
- green onion, red onion, grated carrot, zucchini
- canned, jarred and pickled vegetables – corn, sun dried tomatoes, capsicum/bell peppers, pickles, olives
- raw meats (ground/mince^ or chopped, chicken, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, pork), fish, prawns/shrimp, bacon, sausage
- fresh vegetables – zucchini, carrot*, zucchini, bell peppers/capsicum, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, sweet potato, eggplant
- onion, garlic
- Chicken – boneless thigh best, followed by breast and ground/mince
- Ground/mince meat – chicken, beef, pork, turkey, 500g/1lb, recommend adding 1/2 tsp each onion, garlic, paprika and thyme for extra flavour, plus 3/4 tsp each salt and pepper
- Chopped meats – use steaks, chops (cut into bite size pieces or strips), pork tenderloin
- Fish – any white fish fillet or salmon. Sear whole fillets then flake and stir into sauce. Or cook cubes of fish with the sauce, like in the video with chicken.
- Do not use stewing meat – it will be tough and chewy
- Chop into 2.5cm/1″ pieces;
- Drizzle with oil, salt and pepper (add a sprinkle of dried herbs if you want)
- Roast at 220°C/430°F for 20 min, tossing halfway;
- Add to pasta, mix up with sauce, bake per recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Dozer – I love you, but if you shred that toilet paper, I will never forgive you.
Delicious as always. Easy and so convenient is these days of self-quarantinng. No trips out. Also, Dozer isn’t interested in the TP. He wants to know whose puppy picture you have on the wrapping! (Wish I could send you a pic of my Obe in a surgical mask. He was NOT happy! Thanks and stay safe.
Milk and flour are in short supply here, but I’ve got plenty of bouillon paste, so I’ve been making cornstarch-thickened gravy in place of cream sauce in savory recipes. Works great for strata too!
I used mushrooms, bacon, onion, celery and frozen peas & carrots, the aforementioned gravy, and topped with cheddar cheese and panko for a crispy lid. It was great. Thanks for the base recipe!
You’re so welcome Lisa!! N x
I want to know if I could use Parmesan in grated or in powder.
As for cheese powder, is it okay to Mozzarella shredded for the topping.
Thank you.
So glad I have recently found you! And with what’s going on in the world, you are so helpful with these “whatever you got” recipes.
You are always so thorough and detailed, which is what a novice like me needs.
I want to try this. But funny enough, I have more heavy cream than I have milk. I tore apart everything you said with substitutions… but I don’t know if I should simply swap out cream for milk. If I do that, would I need to skip the flour, or have different amounts?
Though I love cooking, and am not half bad, I rely heavily on recipes. I’m not an experimenter in the least.
Stay safe out there. And thank you again for all this deliciousness!
Hi mpotter! I would use half cream and thin it out with half water to make up the “milk” component here. Love to know how it goes for you! N x
Thank you for your quick reply regarding my cream substitution. It turned out I was able to get more milk by the time I made this tonight.
We liked the flavoring, but it did not turn out *quite* like I was hoping. As I said, I’m not an experimenter. I used defrosted shrimp, and diced ham. It wasn’t until after dinner I thought that I probably should have reduced liquid by maybe 1/4 cup because it was very soupy and defrosted shrimp always has a lot of water… next time!
I also had planned on using my spinach that I recently froze in batches; but wondered if I would have had to defrost it first, and didn’t. That probably would’ve soaked up some of the soupy.
But it was flavorful & my daughter was a little enthralled with the rigatoni (I’d never used that before).
Thanks a million again for such great recipes….
(I spent HOURS on your site today looking at all your suppers I haven’t yet seen)
I made this tonight with small pasta shells, and I roasted the various ‘bits and bobs’ of my vegetables in the crisper – cauliflower, capsicum (yellow and red) pumpkin, zucchini. plus spring onions, smoked chicken, frozen corn and about 1/3 cup pepperoni. Delicious! thanks so much for your recipes and inspiration.
YUM! Sounds fantastic Jeanette!! N x
Hi Nagi, thanks for this easy formula for delicious quick dinners. After a tiring day, I made this recipe last night with a can of salmon, frozen peas and corn. Very yummy and plenty left over for a few more meals. Happy Easter!,
That’s great to hear Marg!! N x
Stellar taste and easy prep! Best of both worlds. Thank you Nagi.
Nagi, I’m so grateful to you for all you do! You give me confidence to cook bravely! Thank you so, so much! I wish I could send you a picture of the TP isle here in Asheville, NC, USA…totally empty! It’s not just Aussies who are freaking out! I’m so glad to have you “in my life”! Ronnie Presley Asheville, NC,USA
Oh no, not there too!?! I’m sure we will all laugh at this one day! N x
This was so good!!! My family loved it! Only thing I changed was I increased the garlic to 6 cloves. Added onion, chicken, bacon and spinach. Everyone was already talking about the time next I make it what other veggies and meat I can add. Lol!
Delicious. Even the fussiest member of the family gobbled it down. I used fresh salmon, peas & corn. Thanks Nagi
WOOT! Winner Christie! N x
I have made this twice. The first time I used pasta and assorted vegetables with chicken and ham. The second time I used 2 cups brown rice pre cooked until a little nutty, plus veges, chicken and ham. The rice cooked a bit more in the oven but it was an amazing “white risotto”! Every recipe of yours is soooo good. Thanks heaps 😊
OMG
Made it with chicken, pancetta, onion, garlic, zucchini, mushrooms, capsicum.
Delish! And even though it tastes cheesy and creamy, it didn’t rest heavy in my belly like a creamy pasta do often can.
A new favourite!
YUM!!!! Loving this combo Melissa!! N x
I’ve just made a version of this with bbq chicken, bacon, broccoli, capsicum, peas & corn. My 6 year old asked for seconds. It is literally the first time in his life that he has done that and I’ve put a lot more time and effort into a lot more meals than is required for this one. Nagi, you have once again taken a staple recipe, utterly perfected it and then had the ability to relay it in a foolproof and entertaining manner.
Thankyou so much for another recipe that makes several in my repertoire completely obsolete. Keep up the great work!
Nice Rob, that’s so great to hear!!!! N x
This recipe is a keeper. I have been doing similar recipes like this for years but this gives me ideas to improve things and we really need this right now. If you ever publish a cookbook, I’ll be the first in Calgary, Alberta to buy it. Thank you.
That’s great to hear Lynda – thanks so much for letting me know! N x
Made this last night with chicken, mushrooms and frozen vegetables. Didn’t have parmesan so used cheddar and mozzarella. Turned out great! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Perfect Caroline -it’s so versatile! N x
Another hit!! Thank you for your work! You have bought happiness into our home. xoxo
That’s so nice to hear Kenji, thanks so much!! N x
Thank you. You are a God send and I truly appreciate all that you share with us.
Hi Nagi! Am planning on making this and was wondering if it’s necessary for the flavourings to be in dry form. Can I use chopped fresh herbs, onions or garlic instead? I’m in a country where its easier to get some of these flavourings in fresh form.
Hi Caroline, yes you can – you just want to watch they don’t burn as they’ll go bitter 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi! Made this today with rigatoni, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and spinach…. delicious. Thank you!
Sunds divine Bina! N x
Excellent!
Thank you so much for all your efforts compiling such helpful information and keeping us fed and happy with so many great recipes!
You’re so welcome Lorri! N x