Creamy Spinach Pasta
If I could choose the only way to have my greens, then it would be this spinach rigatoni pasta in a creamy, garlicky cream cheese parmesan sauce. Sundried tomatoes add a pop of brightness to the sauce, making this spinach pasta an easy weeknight dinner.
Adding Spinach to creamy pasta makes it healthy and filling. This pasta has simple has flavors and comes together in no time. The cream cheese in the sauce adds a bit of tang and gives richness to the sauce. Don’t forget to check the Garlic Cream Cheese Pasta recipe, which also is one of our absolute favorites.
Want to make your pasta a lot more healthy with a lot more nutrients? Easy, add the evergreen Spinach to your pasta. And it makes it tastier too I feel. You get your daily intake of greens along with pasta.
Looking at the host of vitamins and antioxidants that spinach has, adding it can only be so good right. It just tilts the nutrition balance of the pasta dish to awesome. For many people, who look for the health and nutrition side of a pasta dish, they couldn’t have been more satisfied looking at a spinach pasta.
Ingredients
- Pasta – Any short pasta would work in this recipe.
- Baby Spinach – Is more tender and has a sweeter taste so this is what I usually go for.
- Cream cheese – Helps to make the pasta more creamy and just makes a very desirable sauce.
- Parmesan – The classic choice for cheese in pasta and you simply cannot go wrong with parmesan in pasta.
- Flour – While the milk and cream help to get the creamy feel, have added flour to thicken and get the right consistency.
- Shallots РSaut̩ing them lightly to get the flavors to the sauce.
- Garlic – Love the flavor of garlic in pasta sauces.
- Butter & Olive Oil – Combining butter and oil increase the burning temperature of the butter and makes sure it doesn’t burn and spoil the taste of the dish.
How to make
- Cook pasta – Pasta needs to be cooked as per instructions specified in the packet. Take half of the boiled pasta water and reserve it to be used later especially when you need to water it down.
- Sauté for flavor – Onions and garlic when sauteed release their flavor to the oil. It also takes off the harshness of raw onions and garlic. First heat oil and butter together. Mixing oil with butter doesn’t let the butter burn easily. Sauté onions and then add garlic and sauté after adding flour.
- Add milk – Keep at low heat during the next steps. While adding milk, you need to add it slowly while whisking at the same time to avoid any lumps. Also add 1/2 cup of pasta water. Add cheese and seasoning too and mix everything well. Add spinach and let it wilt and then mix everything.
- Pasta – Add the cooked pasta and stir so that the pasta gets coated with sauce well.
Serve With
Pasta is best served with some grilled meat like Easy Grilled Chicken, Grilled Shrimp, Grilled Rosemary Chicken Kebabs, or Grilled Teriyaki Chicken or with bread like No-Knead Rustic White Bread.
Store
You can store this pasta in the refrigerator in an air-tight container or zip-lock bag. This can be refrigerated for up to 4 days only as it contains cooked onions and garlic which makes this perishable.
Other Spinach Recipes
There are so many ways you can use spinach. I have used it soups – Red Lentil Soup With Spinach & Healthy Spinach Soup, used it as a stuffing in chicken – Mushroom Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast, as a wonderful filling in Spinach Corn Sandwich, a delicious appetizer – Creamy spinach stuffed portobello mushrooms.
Creamy Spinach Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounce Dried pasta
- 1.5 pound Baby Spinach
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 1 small Onion
- 1.5 tablespoon Garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons Flour
- ½ cup Chicken stock
- salt and pepper to taste
- â…“ cup Chopped sundried tomatoes
- 4 ounce Cream Cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan (more for serving)
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- Cook pasta as per package instruction. Reserve 1 cups of pasta water to use later.
- In a bowl add soft cream cheese, parmesan cheese and 3/4 cup warm pasta cooking water. Whisk everything until smooth. Alternatively, put everything in a blender and process it until smooth.
- Saute onion and garlic in butter until onion softens. Add spinach and cook on low heat until spinach is cooked and completely wilted.
- Keeping the heat low, add flour, Italian seasoning, chilli pepper flakes, and let it cook for minute without turning it brown. Keep stirring it to avoid is getting stuck to the pan.
- Slowly add chicken stock to the pan, followed by the cream cheese mix. Mix slowly to form a lump free sauce.
- Add cooked pasta, chopped sundried tomaotes to the sauce. Toss to coat and switch off the flame.
Could I use evaporated milk instead?
Yes, It should work.
What can I use instead of cream cheese
Sour cream will work in a pinch. or substitute with heavy cream and reduce milk to 1/2 cup.
Great meal! Easy, tasty, fast.
I halved the recipe. Plenty for 4 servings. Made two substitutions (fat-free milk, and regular fresh spinach because it’s what I had).
Keep plenty of the pasta water to add as needed. It’s liquid gold.
Very good and easy recipe. I added some chopped up sun dried tomatoes for a little zing. Very creamy.
This was divine! Using frozen spinach and regular onions I was able to make this entirely from pantry staples. Will definitely make again.