Vegan bechamel pasta bake with rainbow vegetables and a delicious dairy-free, vegan bechamel sauce. A wonderful Vegan comfort food dish that’s easily customizable, dairy-free, and can be made gluten-free.

I don’t think there could be a more perfect time to share this vegan bechamel pasta bake recipe. As I’m typing this, I’m wrapped in a blanket, my fingers, and toes numb from the cold. So basically, the perfect time for a hearty, winter warming comfort food dish.

This plant-based creamy vegan pasta bake is made up of your favorite pasta, a healthy blend of rainbow vegetables, and a homemade vegan bechamel sauce. It’s then topped with an optional sprinkle of your favorite dairy-free cheese and voila.

Marinara sauce-style pasta sauce bakes tend to be my usual go-to (like for this Vegetarian One-Pot Pasta bake) but every now and then I crave something a little bit more homely and “creamy” and bechamel sauce is a personal favorite of mine. This vegan bechamel sauce is obviously 100% dairy-free and yet is super creamy and moreish (basically addictive!).

Plus, this vegan pasta bake is also extremely customizable. I’ve included a list of my suggested vegetables for this dish (which include red and yellow peppers, leek, carrot, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, and onion). However, feel free to swap the veggies with any of your favorites – I love to mix things up with sweetcorn, aubergine, etc.

What is Béchamel Sauce?

Béchamel sauce  – otherwise known as white sauce – is usually made up of a roux (flour and fat mixture) mixed with milk, and a variety of spices. This white sauce is then most commonly known for its use in lasagne, moussaka, and as the base for gratin dishes.

This Vegan bechamel sauce is made in a similar way, swapping out the dairy for a delicious dairy-free alternative that has quickly become one of my favorite vegan pasta sauce options when I’m wanting some comfort food. I’ve kept the spices/additional flavorings here very true to the original.

However, one of the great things about ‘white sauce’ is that it is so easily customizable. Because the base sauce (the flour, butter & milk mixture) is a blank canvas for taste, it can be dressed up in a variety of ways.

Adding plant-based cheese and some nutritional yeast makes for a wonderful vegan cheese sauce, you can add in tomatoes for a creamy tomato pasta sauce. At one point I added in some homemade pesto for a really creamy pesto sauce (it was divine) –  there are so many options to jazz this up for a variety of vegan pasta recipes (and other recipes too, of course).

How To Make This Vegan Bechamel Pasta Bake With Rainbow Vegetables

]This healthy pasta bake is incredibly simple to make and is made up of only a few steps:

• Cook the pasta: I used a wholewheat penne for this dish. I prefer to use wholewheat whenever possible however, the choice of pasta is up to you; from farfalle, fusilli, rigatoni, macaroni etc.
• Preparing the béchamel sauce: This can be done on the same day as you’re making your pasta bake. However, it’s worth noting that you can also make this sauce and keep it refrigerated for 4-5 days. It can also be pre-prepared and can be portioned and frozen for other vegan recipes.
  Note* The sauce can be reheated in a pan, whisking as it heats to remove any lumps.
• Choosing Your veggies of choice: Easy pasta bake recipes are a great dish to be easily customised with a variety of your favourite vegetables. This version is absolutely rainbow veggie-packed. However, for a super simple version  you could go even stick with a simple combination of garlic bechamel, mushroom and herbs for a mushroom alfredo style dish.
• Chopping and preparing vegetables: Although this dish is being baked in the oven, I like to pan-fry my veggies for a few minutes to steam them and begin the softening process. This is especially true when using harder vegetables like cauliflower/broccoli.
• Combine all in a large oven-proof dish and bake to perfection: Optionally sprinkle with some delicious plant-based cheese. I used a simple single one here, however, a mixture of vegan mozzarella cheese, cheddar and/or a smoky cheese can work perfectly.

Vegan Bechamel Sauce Ingredients

• olive oil – you can also use a vegan butter but I love this olive oil version
• wholewheat flour, sifted
• 4 cups oat milk – I used homemade, you could also use unsweetened soy milk or coconut milk, however, this will affect the flavour slightly
• nutritional yeast
• salt, black pepper, nutmeg and bay leaves

The Vegetables:

• red and yellow bell peppers
• leek and carrot
• cauliflower and broccoli
• mushrooms
• onion and garlic
• olive oil

It’s possible to omit any of the veggies or add your favorites. For instance, you can add green peppers and spring onions.

Pasta:

• wholewheat penne pasta

You can use different shapes of pasta (like farfalle, fusilli, rigatoni, macaroni) as well as regular or gluten-free/brown-rice pasta. 

Toppings (optional):

• vegan cheese – this can be a single type of a mixture of dairy-free mozzarella, smoky cheddar cheese and/or vegan feta.

The Vegetable Pasta Bake method

Begin by preparing the pasta according to the package instructions. Once cooked, drain and rinse to remove any excess starch.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat up 2 tBsp olive oil. Then add the wholewheat flour and mix well. Keep on stirring until the oil gets absorbed by the flour and you obtain a golden paste-like mixture.

Add the nutmeg, salt, and pepper and stir again to incorporate into the mixture.

Add the homemade oat milk (or alternative unsweetened dairy-free milk), nutritional yeast and bay leaves. Mix well and bring to a boil. Then let simmer for 5 minutes.

Note* The sauce will take some time to thicken so don’t worry if it doesn’t immediately. Unlike dairy-based bechamel, where I like to add the milk gradually, with the sauce thickening between each addition of milk, this recipe works really well by including it all at once but it will take longer to thicken. 

Stir occasionally. Once you’ve obtained a creamy sauce, remove it from the heat. Also, remember to remove the bay leaves.

Note* The bechamel sauce can be pre-prepared and kept refrigerated for 4-5 days. It can also be frozen and defrosted before using. To reheat the sauce just heat in a pan while whisking, to remove any lumps.

Chop the peppers, carrot, onion, mushrooms, garlic, and leek. Cut florets from the cauliflower and broccoli.

In a large pan, heat up 2 tBsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped veggies and stir well. Cover the pan with a lid and continue to cook, leaving to steam for 3 minutes so the veggies begin to soften.

When everything is cooked, assemble in an oven-safe baking dish or a casserole dish.

First, spread out the pasta, then the vegetables, then pour over the béchamel sauce. Optionally, you can sprinkle with some vegan cheese.

Bake the vegetable pasta bake in the oven at 355ºF/180º C (fan-assisted) for 20 minutes. You can also add the cheese in the middle of baking so it remains more stretchy and not fully crispy and baked. Alternatively, for a more crispy top then grill the pasta bake for a couple of minutes at the end of the cooking process, and serve immediately.

More Simple Pasta Recipes

• Easy Garlic and Olive Oil Pasta (Pasta Aglio e Olio)
• Easy Garlic Lemon Pasta (Pasta al Limone)
• Vegetarian Minestrone Soup
• Beet Pasta (Pink Pasta Recipe)
• Tomato and Eggplant Pasta (Pasta Alla Norma)
• Vegetarian One-Pot Pasta Bake
• Baked Feta and Cherry Tomato Pasta

If you give this Vegan Pasta Bake Recipe a try then let me know your thoughts in the comments. You can also tag me in your recreations @AlphaFoodie.