Creamy Christmas Fettuccine Pasta Recipe (2024)

This is the season of giving and family gatherings; with Christmas just around the corner; it's time to add some Christmas cheer to your dinner table. We know it could be a challenge to look for something quick and delicious special enough for this festive holiday. With our creamy fettuccine pasta recipe, you can put together a meal in no time that both looks amazing and tastes divine! The creaminess of these noodles comes from vegan parmesan cheese, bechamel, and plant milk combined with fresh basil and spinach—that bring out all the flavors that scream "Christmas time!".

This fettuccine pasta recipe can make a simple main meal during Christmas celebrations. You can serve it with a side of romanesco broccoli, a Winter Kale salad, or Roman-style artichokes. If you want to make it extra special, you can make your own homemade noodles.

Our sun-dried tomato pesto and our creamy sun-dried risotto recipe inspired this recipe. You could say this is a vegan version of an alfredo with sun-dried tomatoes.

🧾 Ingredients

Make this spinach fettuccine recipe with just a handful of simple ingredients.

• Sun-dried tomatoes - to make the rose pasta sauce, use packed dried tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes in oil, or pesto.
• Non-dairy milk- we used cashew milk, but any plant milk will work. The creamier, the better.
• Vegan bechamel sauce - make our bechamel recipe, or use any store-bought plant-milk-based white sauce.
• Vegan Parmesan cheese - check out our simple, 5 minutes vegan parm recipe.
• Fresh basil - adds a distinctive herbal touch to this dish.
• Spinach - use fresh spinach.
• Red onion - we like the sweetness it adds to the recipe; shallots have a similar sweetness profile.
• Fresh garlic - adds flavor and intensity.
• White wine - helps to deglaze the onions and garlic to add complexity to the sauce.
• Fettuccine - use your favorite brand, or make your own fresh noodles. Use gluten-free pasta to keep the recipe GF-friendly.

Add tomato paste for added flavor and color. See the recipe card for quantities.

🔪 Instructions

This spinach fettuccine recipe involves three simple steps.

Step 1: Add all the creamy rose sauce ingredients into the immersion blender jar.

Step 2: Blend until smooth and reserved.

Hint: cook pasta in salted water in a large pot until al dente while you make the rose sauce and sautée the onions, so you save 7-8 minutes and make everything more fluid.

Step 3: Sautée the chopped red onions on medium heat for a couple of minutes, add garlic, and finalize with the white wine. Stir constantly, and reduce heat.

Step 4: Strain the fettuccine pasta, saving one cup of starchy water for later. Immediately toss the sautéed onions with the pasta.

Hint: we try keeping most of our recipes oil-free. Since the sun-dried tomatoes we used to come in an oil, we drained them and skip the oil, all together. You don't need olive oil or butter for sautéeing because the white wine will deglaze any sticking from the skillet.

Step 5: Top the pasta with a generous amount of the creamy rose pasta sauce and fold, adding half of the reserved pasta water.

Step 6: Add the fresh spinach and let cook for 2 minutes while carefully stirring with kitchen tongs.

Step 7: Combine well until the spinach is completely thawed.

Step 8: Adjust with salt and pepper and prepare for plating.

Hint: we like serving this spinach fettuccine recipe with chopped sun-dried tomatoes, vegan parmesan cheese, and halved cherry tomatoes for a fresh tomato flavor. Chopped parsley is also an excellent option.

🍶 Substitutions

• Sun-dried tomatoes - to make the creamy tomato sauce, we used tomatoes in oil (so we didn't have to use any extra olive oil), but you can also use packed sun-dried tomatoes. Make you hydrate them in warm water for at least 5 minutes.
• Vegan bechamel sauce - we wanted to make a creamy tomato pasta sauce without cream since heavy cream and cream cheese are the standard components for thickening creamy pasta sauces. We have used regular store-bought rice, almond, and cashew milk cream. they all work.
• Spinach - you can use fresh arugula, kale, or Swiss chard instead. Remember that spinach is softer than other leafy greens, so you might need to cook the bowl for extra 1-2 minutes until wilted.
• Vegan parmesan cheese - you can use nutritional yeast, as it holds most of the cheese flavor of vegan parm.
• Pasta - we like fettuccine for this rosa sauce, but penne pasta is also a great option. Use your favorite pasta, as they will all work. If you use fresh noodles, you only need to bring them to a gentle boil for no more than 2-3 minutes.
• Red onion - yellow, green, or white onions also work.
• Garlic - if you don't have fresh garlic, you can use garlic powder and Italian seasoning for extra flavor.

🥡 Variations

Spicy - add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes into the blender to add a spicy note; otherwise, you can add them directly to your serving plate.

🍽 Equipment

1. Large pot- to boil pasta
2. Immersion blender - or any blender will work.
3. kitchen tongs - to handle the pasta.
4. Skillet - to sautée the onions and finalize the dish.

🥡 Storage

Store this pasta in a BPA-free airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Don't freeze cooked pasta; it won't thaw well.

You can store the leftover rose sauce in the fridge for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Then let thaw overnight before using.

Hint: if you want to add more color to the rose sauce, you can add regular tomato sauce, tomato paste, or canned crushed tomatoes.

❓ FAQ

🎄 More Christmas recipes

Try our Vegan Vegetable Casserole, which never fails as the main dish for holidays.

A nut roast or baked maple-glazed tofu, are also great options to pair with stuffed baked onions.

⭐ If you try this Alfredo with sun-dried tomatoes recipe, let us know! 💬 Leave a comment, rate it, and don't forget to tag us @ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!

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