Sentry Page Protection
MOO Alfredo Pasta & Sauce Mix — Just Add Water
There are some convenience foods that really are handy to have in the pantry.
Pasta and sauce packets are one of them.
They’re quick, they’re easy, they don’t need much thought and they can turn into lunch or dinner in a hurry. The problem is that, like so many convenience foods, we’re paying quite a premium for someone else to put a little pasta, milk powder, flour, cheese and seasonings into a packet for us.
So, of course, we can MOO it.
This Alfredo Pasta & Sauce Mix is made entirely from shelf-stable ingredients. There’s no fresh milk, cream or butter required. Everything can be packaged together ahead of time and, when you need it, you simply add water and cook.
That makes it more than just a money-saving recipe. It makes it a very handy emergency pantry meal too.
Keep a few packets on the shelf and you have dinner ready for those busy nights, no-spend days, camping trips, pantry challenges or times when getting to the supermarket simply isn’t convenient.
And the savings are pretty good too.
I estimate one batch costs around $3.60 to make and gives us the equivalent of three commercial pasta and sauce packets.
At around $4 each, those three packets would cost $12.
That means:
MOO version: 90 cents per serve
The equivalent quantity of commercial pasta and sauce mix costs approximately $12
Saving: 70 cents per serve
Saving over 12 serves: $8.40
That’s a 70 per cent saving, simply for mixing pantry ingredients together ourselves.
Emergency Pantry Alfredo Pasta & Sauce Mix
Keeping a variety of ready-to-use mixes in your emergency pantry makes sense. It takes the stress out of getting a meal on the table when you're in the middle of an emergency, whatever that emergency may be. Mixes that just need water and heating are ideal for the emergency pantry, and they give variety to the canned ingredients on your shelves.
Make up a few packets of Alfredo Pasta and Sauce Mix for your emergency shelf to add to your preparedness.
Makes approximately 4 meal sized serves
Ingredients
250 g dry pasta
2 tbsp plain flour
⅔ cup instant milk powder
½ tsp dried basil
1 tsp lemon pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup dried parmesan cheese
To Make the Mix
Combine the flour, milk powder, basil, lemon pepper, garlic powder, salt and parmesan.
Mix well.
Put the dry pasta into a large ziplock bag, jar or airtight container and add the Alfredo sauce mixture.
Seal and label.
That’s it. Your emergency pasta meal is ready for the pantry.
To Cook
You will need:
3-½ cups water
Bring the water to the boil in a large saucepan.
Add the pasta and Alfredo sauce mix and stir well.
Bring back to a gentle simmer and cook for approximately 12–15 minutes, stirring regularly so the sauce doesn’t catch on the bottom of the saucepan.
Cook until the pasta is tender and the sauce is creamy.
If the pasta needs a little more liquid before it is cooked, add hot water ¼ cup at a time.
Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.
The sauce will continue to thicken as it stands.
Bulk Alfredo Pasta & Sauce Mix
Once you know you like it, there’s no point getting all those ingredients out every time. If you like to get ahead with meal planning and pantry building, making your Alfredo Pasta and Sauce Mix in bulk makes sense.
Try a single recipe first and if you love it, go ahead and get out the ingredients and mix up a bulk batch. It will take you about three minutes longer to mix enough for six recipes, saving future you time and energy when you need a quick side dish or base for a complete meal (and yes, this mix can be used as the base for a complete meal).
Pasta and sauce packets are one of them.
They’re quick, they’re easy, they don’t need much thought and they can turn into lunch or dinner in a hurry. The problem is that, like so many convenience foods, we’re paying quite a premium for someone else to put a little pasta, milk powder, flour, cheese and seasonings into a packet for us.
So, of course, we can MOO it.
This Alfredo Pasta & Sauce Mix is made entirely from shelf-stable ingredients. There’s no fresh milk, cream or butter required. Everything can be packaged together ahead of time and, when you need it, you simply add water and cook.
That makes it more than just a money-saving recipe. It makes it a very handy emergency pantry meal too.
Keep a few packets on the shelf and you have dinner ready for those busy nights, no-spend days, camping trips, pantry challenges or times when getting to the supermarket simply isn’t convenient.
And the savings are pretty good too.
I estimate one batch costs around $3.60 to make and gives us the equivalent of three commercial pasta and sauce packets.
At around $4 each, those three packets would cost $12.
That means:
MOO version: 90 cents per serve
The equivalent quantity of commercial pasta and sauce mix costs approximately $12
Saving: 70 cents per serve
Saving over 12 serves: $8.40
That’s a 70 per cent saving, simply for mixing pantry ingredients together ourselves.
Emergency Pantry Alfredo Pasta & Sauce Mix
Keeping a variety of ready-to-use mixes in your emergency pantry makes sense. It takes the stress out of getting a meal on the table when you're in the middle of an emergency, whatever that emergency may be. Mixes that just need water and heating are ideal for the emergency pantry, and they give variety to the canned ingredients on your shelves.
Make up a few packets of Alfredo Pasta and Sauce Mix for your emergency shelf to add to your preparedness.
Makes approximately 4 meal sized serves
Ingredients
250 g dry pasta
2 tbsp plain flour
⅔ cup instant milk powder
½ tsp dried basil
1 tsp lemon pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup dried parmesan cheese
To Make the Mix
Combine the flour, milk powder, basil, lemon pepper, garlic powder, salt and parmesan.
Mix well.
Put the dry pasta into a large ziplock bag, jar or airtight container and add the Alfredo sauce mixture.
Seal and label.
That’s it. Your emergency pasta meal is ready for the pantry.
To Cook
You will need:
3-½ cups water
Bring the water to the boil in a large saucepan.
Add the pasta and Alfredo sauce mix and stir well.
Bring back to a gentle simmer and cook for approximately 12–15 minutes, stirring regularly so the sauce doesn’t catch on the bottom of the saucepan.
Cook until the pasta is tender and the sauce is creamy.
If the pasta needs a little more liquid before it is cooked, add hot water ¼ cup at a time.
Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.
The sauce will continue to thicken as it stands.
Bulk Alfredo Pasta & Sauce Mix
Once you know you like it, there’s no point getting all those ingredients out every time. If you like to get ahead with meal planning and pantry building, making your Alfredo Pasta and Sauce Mix in bulk makes sense.
Try a single recipe first and if you love it, go ahead and get out the ingredients and mix up a bulk batch. It will take you about three minutes longer to mix enough for six recipes, saving future you time and energy when you need a quick side dish or base for a complete meal (and yes, this mix can be used as the base for a complete meal).
Single Batch Makes 4 serves 1 pantry meal |
Four-Batch Mix Makes 16 serves 4 pantry meals |
Six-Batch Mix Makes 24 serves 6 pantry meals |
250g dry pasta |
1 kilo dry pasta |
1.5 kilos dry pasta |
2 tbsp plain flour |
1/2 cup plain flour |
3/4 cup plain flour |
2/3 cup instant milk powder |
2-2/3 cup instant milk powder |
4 cups instant milk powder |
1/2 tsp dried basil |
2 tsp dried basil |
1 tbsp dried basil |
1 tsp lemon pepper |
1 tbsp + 1 tsp lemon pepper |
2 tbsp lemon pepper |
1/2 tsp garlic powder |
2 tsp garlic powder |
1 tbsp garlic powder |
1/2 tsp salt |
2 tsp salt |
1 tbsp salt |
1/2 cup dried parmesan cheese |
2 cups dried parmesan cheese |
3 cups dried parmesan cheese |
Don't Forget the Label
There is nothing worse than pulling a homemade convenience mix out of the pantry six months later and having absolutely no idea what to do with it.
Ask me how I know.
Write the cooking instructions straight onto the bag or add a label:
ALFREDO PASTA & SAUCE
Add 3½ cups water.
Simmer 12–15 minutes.
Add extra hot water if necessary.
Stand 5 minutes before serving.
Simple.
Why I Like Complete Meal Packs
You could keep a big jar of Alfredo sauce mix and measure out a portion whenever you need it.
But for an emergency pantry, I prefer making complete meal packs.
The flour, seasonings, parmesan and milk powder can settle differently in a large container, so dividing the mix immediately makes sure every batch gets the right proportions.
It also makes dinner almost thoughtless.
Take one packet from the pantry.
Add water.
Cook.
Dinner is done.
No measuring, no searching for ingredients and no wondering whether there’s enough milk in the fridge.
Make It Your Own
The basic Alfredo pasta is lovely as it is, but it can also become the base for lots of quick pantry meals.
Try adding what you have on hand:
Use what you have. That’s the whole idea.
A Pantry Full of Meals, Not Just Random Ingredients
This is something I think is really important when we talk about building a pantry. We stock ingredients because they give us options - when they are ingredients stocked with a purpose.
A useful pantry isn’t simply shelves full of random ingredients.
It contains meals.
Ingredients that you know how to turn into breakfast, lunch or dinner without making another trip to the supermarket.
Having flour, pasta and milk powder on the shelf is useful.
Having those same ingredients already turned into a just-add-water Alfredo Pasta & Sauce meal is even better.
It saves money.
It saves time.
It removes one more reason to resort to takeaway.
And on a busy evening when everyone is hungry and you’re tired, that little packet sitting on the pantry shelf can feel like a very good investment indeed.
There is nothing worse than pulling a homemade convenience mix out of the pantry six months later and having absolutely no idea what to do with it.
Ask me how I know.
Write the cooking instructions straight onto the bag or add a label:
ALFREDO PASTA & SAUCE
Add 3½ cups water.
Simmer 12–15 minutes.
Add extra hot water if necessary.
Stand 5 minutes before serving.
Simple.
Why I Like Complete Meal Packs
You could keep a big jar of Alfredo sauce mix and measure out a portion whenever you need it.
But for an emergency pantry, I prefer making complete meal packs.
The flour, seasonings, parmesan and milk powder can settle differently in a large container, so dividing the mix immediately makes sure every batch gets the right proportions.
It also makes dinner almost thoughtless.
Take one packet from the pantry.
Add water.
Cook.
Dinner is done.
No measuring, no searching for ingredients and no wondering whether there’s enough milk in the fridge.
Make It Your Own
The basic Alfredo pasta is lovely as it is, but it can also become the base for lots of quick pantry meals.
Try adding what you have on hand:
- A small tin of chicken
- Tuna or salmon
- Tinned mushrooms
- Peas
- Corn
- Dehydrated vegetables
- Leftover cooked chicken
- Chopped ham
- Bacon
- A handful of frozen vegetables
- Extra parmesan
- A sprinkle of chilli flakes
- Fresh herbs from the garden
Use what you have. That’s the whole idea.
A Pantry Full of Meals, Not Just Random Ingredients
This is something I think is really important when we talk about building a pantry. We stock ingredients because they give us options - when they are ingredients stocked with a purpose.
A useful pantry isn’t simply shelves full of random ingredients.
It contains meals.
Ingredients that you know how to turn into breakfast, lunch or dinner without making another trip to the supermarket.
Having flour, pasta and milk powder on the shelf is useful.
Having those same ingredients already turned into a just-add-water Alfredo Pasta & Sauce meal is even better.
It saves money.
It saves time.
It removes one more reason to resort to takeaway.
And on a busy evening when everyone is hungry and you’re tired, that little packet sitting on the pantry shelf can feel like a very good investment indeed.
Cath's Pantry Tip
For long-term convenience, I'd actually make the six-batch quantity and package it into six individual jars or bags rather than keeping it in one large jar. The parmesan, flour and seasonings are different weights and particle sizes, so they'll settle.
Individual portions mean grab one packet + 250 g pasta + milk + water and dinner is sorted.
It would also make a terrific MOO convenience food recipe — essentially your own pantry version of those packet pasta-and-sauce mixes, only cheaper and with ingredients you control.
Individual portions mean grab one packet + 250 g pasta + milk + water and dinner is sorted.
It would also make a terrific MOO convenience food recipe — essentially your own pantry version of those packet pasta-and-sauce mixes, only cheaper and with ingredients you control.
Related Articles |