“Life is a combination of magic and pasta”. – Federico Fellini

This yummy, nutritious recipe of chicken pasta in white sauce is a heart warmer. I’m posting this specially for my little niece who loves white sauce. White sauce recipes are usually very popular with kids. The addition of mustard or ketchup gives the sauce some extra kick and chicken stock increases the nutritional value.

You’ll find the classic recipe of the white sauce and its different variations here. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For Pasta:

1 packet (500 g) penne pasta
1 teaspoon salt
1 table spoon olive oil

For Chicken in White Sauce:

1/4kg boneless chicken
1/2 can button mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano or other mixed dry herbs
1+1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt (omit salt from sauce if chicken stock is also salty)
1 table spoon mustard sauce or ketchup.

This Is What You Do:

Bring water to boil in a wok or large saucepan. Add salt and pasta to it. Boil till the pasta is tender (around 10 minutes) but not mushy. Drain and return to the wok, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and mix, this will prevent pasta from sticking together.

Cut chicken into bite size pieces, mix with sliced mushrooms, I tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt , 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon dry herbs. Heat a frying pan on medium heat, stir in the chicken mix and fry till the chicken and mushrooms are golden.

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on low heat, add flour, salt and pepper and stir vigorously till the mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat, add milk slowly while stirring. Add chicken stock and mustard and keep stirring. Return to heat, cook and stir till the sauce thickens to your desired consistency. Add fried chicken and mushrooms to the sauce.

Serve hot over pasta. Garnish with chopped spring onions and parsley. If the sauce thickens by the time you serve it, add more chicken stock and reheat over low heat.

Makes one big family bowl (for 5-6 people)

9 Replies to “Chicken Pasta in White Sauce”

  1. Nice recipe! I’ve been looking for a good bechemel+chicken+pasta combo. Most sauces go for wine or cream, neither of which work for me. My nephew and niece came round to try this: thumbs up! Oh yes and thanks for the tips on bechemel. The sauce came out really smooth.

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much, Kit Johnson, for your very reassuring feedback! 😊 I’m delighted to know you and your nephew n niece enjoyed cooking this recipe. I also got it right after several trial and errors. What finally worked was adding some pasta water to make the smoothest sauce ever 😊
      Best regards!

      Reply

  2. I just tried the recipe and let me tell you that it has been a long time, me or anyone from my family have tasted such delicious and appetizing pasta. However, I have some questions that I would like to have answers of.
    1- Would the cornstarch replace the flour? because in my case, flour gave a bit of a non-smooth texture.
    2- What do you think if we develop a sauce with the mushroom and chicken and add that to the rest, I am certain that it’s gonna add more to the flavor.

    Anyways, thanks a lot for this

    Reply

    1. Thanks a million, Walid ! Your feedback is very encouraging 🙂 yes, you can make white sauce using corn starch but the quantity would be different from flour. 1 tablespoon of corn starch for 1 cup of milk. Dilute it in a little warm milk before adding to the hot milk and butter mix. Stir as you would stir custard till it thickens. The taste would be slightly different too.
      Check my detailed post on Béchamel sauce and its variations http://www.foodaholic.biz/white-sauce-or-bechamel-sauce/

      Reply

  3. Hey Maria thanks alot I tried the pasta and it was a hit, I only had difficulty making white sauce because the butter absorbs the flour and it didn’t bubble it was slumpy. Let me know the trick

    Reply

    1. Hi Komal, thankyou so much for trying the recipe and your lovely feedback 🙂 White sauce or Bachamel sauce looks very simple but is really kind of tricky. Timing and your stirring skills matter a lot. There is a post in Tips and Tricks section on the blog specially dedicated to making white sauce. Check that out, hope it will help. Also if the lumps continue to annoy you, simply whiz the sauce for a few seconds in the blender or foodprocessor and pour through a seive. But that should be the last remedy to fix it. Tell me how it went after reading the tips next time. xx

      Reply

  4. Wonderful and yummy! Thanks.

    While cooking the chicken, I added little ginger paste, garlic paste and chopped onion with some cube potatoes and finally it came excellent!

    Reply

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