Quick and creamy, Spinach Pasta puts a delicious main dish on the table in about 30 minutes!
Fresh or frozen spinach, a shortcut cream cheese parmesan sauce, and tender pasta make for an easy weeknight meal.
Here’s Why We Love This
- It needs just a few ingredients that you likely have on hand.
- Spinach pasta is great for busy nights, it’s fast to make!
- If you like creamed spinach, you’ll love the flavor of this dish.
- Keeping a package of frozen spinach on hand makes this easy to make any time.
- This is a yummy meatless main dish but you can also add cooked shrimp or leftover chicken.
Ingredients
SPINACH: Use either fresh or frozen spinach. If using frozen, be sure to squeeze it well. If using fresh, cook it in a pan first and then squeeze it.
SAUCE: Using cream cheese in the sauce means no need for a roux. Flavored spreadable cream cheese will work too (like herb and garlic) but won’t be quite as thick.
To stretch the sauce for a larger crowd, whisk in some heavy cream and let it simmer a few minutes before adding the parmesan cheese.
PASTA: Any medium pasta works. Penne, farfalle, and rotini are great choices. This sauce also works well with cheese filled ravioli.
How to Make Spinach Pasta
- Prepare pasta & cook al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking soften the onion in a pan.
- Add cream cheese and, once melted, stir in broth & spinach.
- Toss the sauce with cooked pasta and parmesan cheese.
Tips for a Great Pasta Dish
- Be sure to salt the pasta water for the best flavor.
- Frozen spinach can be swapped for fresh spinach. Cook 1 lb of fresh spinach in a non-stick pan until wilted. Cool slightly and squeeze dry.
- Squeeze out spinach before adding to the pan to remove extra moisture.
- For a smooth sauce, melt the cream cheese before adding the broth.
- Do not rinse the pasta, this will help the sauce stick to it.
More Meatless Mains
If you’ve got spinach to use, find our favorite frozen spinach recipes here.
- Creamy Mushroom Gnocchi – with a rich & velvety sauce
- Fettuccine Alfredo – a classic favorite
- Vegetarian Chili – so heart & flavorful!
- Roasted Vegetable Feta Pasta – budget-friendly
- Easy Lentil Shepherd’s Pie – perfect for a crowd
- Creamy Bow Tie Pasta
Did you make this Creamy Spinach Pasta? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Quick and Creamy Spinach Pasta
Ingredients
- ½ pound medium pasta penne, bow ties, or rotini
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 10 ounces frozen spinach thawed and squeezed dry
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook al dente (firm) according to package directions.
- While pasta is boiling, cook onion in butter over medium heat until tender. Add garlic and cook just until fragrant.
- Add cream cheese to the pan and whisk until melted and smooth. Add chicken broth a little bit at a time and add spinach. Simmer 3-4 minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Stir in pasta simmer 1 minute more. Stir in parmesan cheese, season with salt & pepper to taste and serve.
Notes
- Be sure to salt the pasta water for the best flavor.
- Frozen spinach can be swapped for fresh spinach. Cook 1 lb of fresh spinach in a non-stick pan until wilted and tender. Cool slightly and squeeze dry.
- Squeeze out spinach before adding to the pan to remove extra moisture.
- For a smooth sauce, melt the cream cheese before adding the broth.
- Do not rinse the pasta, this will help the sauce stick to it.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Can I substitute the chicken broth? Thanks.
Sure you can! Vegetable broth or mushroom broth would be great. If you replace it with milk, you’ll need to add some extra seasonings.
Quick easy and all ingredients available. Thank you. This is a go-to with no fuss – a couple of pots – but great for single me. I will make this again with whatever pasta I have.
I am so glad you loved this recipe Alice!
This is the sort of recipe that is heavensent when times are tough. Particularly when you got to utilise some left-overs, but you can’t make things fall into line in your head. I had this planned in advance for the week ahead, since I had some fettucine left over from a previous recipe. A last minute call into work meant this was moved forward to the start of the week, and it worked a treat.
There was a reason that I got so many portions of frozen spinach in the freezer. Those suckers can really pad out a meal when the time comes, and even with the slight sliminess aside they have a smooth texture that makes a meal enjoyable.
It just goes to show that you don’t need an elaborate meal with a couple of dozen ingredients to hit a satisfactory mark. After the slog at work, after a relaxing prayer session, just something so simple like this – the visual of garlic, onion, and butter simmering together – is something that brings me inner peace. It also helps that it tasted good.
Thank you so much for the wonderful review and kind words Mikey. I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I love spinach so this recipe was great, I did add nutmeg to it.
That sounds delicious, thanks for sharing!