There can never be too much Red, White & Blue if you ask me.
So I’m bringing Americana to the dinner table with this fun colored spaghetti dish and a sauce that just may fool you into eating healthier.
Well maybe I will be able to fool you or maybe I won’t. One thing is for sure I will keep you distracted long enough you will forget about the extreme weather across the US. It’s been super-hot where we are and I know the East is getting pounded with rain.
So whether you are hibernating inside with the A/C cranking or you are taking cover from being pounded by water, maybe you’ll have the time to make this…right?
I posted the base sauce I used to make this lightened up Alfredo Sauce starting with this Roasted Cauliflower Sauce. I added a tablespoon and a half of Romano Cheese to everyone cup of Roasted Cauliflower Sauce for this healthier, lightened up faux Alfredo Sauce. You can add more cheese if you’d like or even Parmesan Cheese. I love Romano Cheese, it’s slightly saltier than Parmesan Cheese and has been my favorite since I was a kid. The amount of cheese I added won’t “cover up” the cauliflower taste, so if you don’t prefer cauliflower you may need to add more cheese, for me this was the right amount.
Now onto this super fun spaghetti…
- 1 lb cooked spaghetti
- 1 teaspoon Americolor Red-Red Food Coloring
- 1 teaspoon Americolor Navy Blue Food Coloring
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons water
- Rinse ⅔ of the spaghetti in water, then separate the spaghetti in half into two-gallon size zip closure bag.
- Place the red coloring into one, the blue into the other and mix each with two tablespoon water, blend gently until the colors are absorbed.
- You can rinse the excess color off the pasta before mixing them together.
- For the remaining ⅓ of the pasta, add the olive oil to it, so the other colors don't rub onto the natural color of the spaghetti.
- Mix the spaghetti noodles together just before serving, if you mix them ahead of time the colors may transfer to the other noodles.
Now you have all the inside info to make your spaghetti fun for every AMERICANA celebration or for anytime you want a fun meal. I love that it only take a few short minutes to do this! My kids loved this, they couldn’t get over how fun the noodles looked. I think they even ate their dinner faster than usual, needless to say they didn’t even realize the sauce was healthier! It was a a WIN-WIN! I just love when that happens.
Want to see more Red, White & Blue items…..
Here you will find my Red, White & Blue Deviled EGGS and that recipe is lightened up as well.
Here is a delicious Patriotic Cake with red white and blue frosting.
And….lots more ideas for July 4th here too.
Once I saw this rainbow spaghetti from Ali of Gimme Some Oven I just knew I had to make a Red, White and Blue Version.
Nutmeg Nanny says
I love this 🙂 such a creative idea!
Becca from ItsYummi.com says
Omgosh… How flipping fun is this?! LOVE the creativity, Diane!
Diane says
Thanks so much Becca!
Laura Pokas says
I absolutely LOVE the look, but I have a question: Have you taken a bite and looked in the mirror? Does the color come off on your teeth and tongue like it does when you bite into blue icing?
Diane says
no the color didn’t come off like it does with icing, I did rince the the spaghetti again as I mentioned so all excess color was rinsed. I actually just ate a bowl of the pasta and my teeth and tongue do not have any color on them.
Diane says
Hi Laura,
No the color doesn’t come off on your teeth. I rinsed the spaghetti as I mentioned so any excess is removed. I just ate a bowl of the spaghetti for lunch and checked again, teeth and tongue are normal 🙂
Laura Pokas says
AWESOME! Thanks for the quick response, Diane.
Laura Pokas says
Oh my…. you have opened up all kinds of possibilities in my mind. I am picturing a platter of Autumn colors come September/October – gold, orange, brown, red. Christmas colors. Bridal showers with wedding color pasta. Fun!
Diane says
Yeah, I’m with you on the possibilities…they really are endless.
Have a wonderful 4th of July 🙂
Michelle says
Wow how fun!! Love this idea!
Meike says
I love this idea! So do you reheat the pasta after it’s been colored? I imagine it cools off quite a bit (if not all the way) while coloring it?
Diane says
Yes, reheat it if it’s cooled off before serving it.
Rhonda Gales says
The red, white and blue spaghetti is perfect for my 4th of July BBQ. Spaghetti salad is always a favorite at my house, this is a nice twist.
Shana Chambers says
How much of the food coloring do you use?
Diane says
as it says in the recipe box, 1 teaspoon of Americolor Red/Blue coloring. If you use a different brand of color be sure to use concentrated gel coloring as they are more vibrant for best results with great color.
Jessie says
Can you do this with rotini for pasta salad?!
Diane says
Of course, use any shape pasta you’d like.