As this past week came to a close, I still needed one more quick recipe to fill out our menu. I had already used up all but $7 of my $40 weekly grocery budget, so I knew I had to rely on things that were already in my pantry. I tend to collect half-used bags of pasta in my pantry, so I started there. I also had a couple of cans of quartered artichoke hearts that were purchased ages ago, but never got used. Jackpot! So, using the one-pot pasta method, I changed up the add-ins and made this 20 Minute Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pasta.
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I love this creamy one-pot pasta because it requires so few ingredients and I pretty much always have them on hand. The variations really are endless, so that prevents you from feeling like you’re always eating the same thing. This time around I tossed in half a bag of fresh baby spinach and a 15oz. can of quartered artichoke hearts. If you’re into spicy, a pinch or two of red pepper flakes would have also been awesome in this.
Tips for One-Pot Pasta
Simmering the pasta in a mixture that contains milk can be slightly tricky, but once you get the hang of it, it’s quite effortless. There may be a slight learning curve because every stove top is a little different and cookware varies. The trick is to keep the liquid simmering on the lowest heat setting. If the heat gets too high your milk will curdle and your pasta will likely stick to the bottom of the skillet. But get the heat just right and stir every few minutes, and you’ll have a nice thick, creamy sauce in no time.
Can I Use Frozen Spinach?
Yes! If you don’t have fresh spinach, you can replace it with frozen spinach. Thaw the spinach completely first, then squeeze out as much moisture as possible before adding it to the pasta (or else your sauce might turn slightly green).
What Kind of Artichoke Hearts Should I Use?
You can use artichoke hearts packed in oil or water for this recipe. You can even use marinated artichokes that are packed in oil with spices. That will just add even more flavor to the pasta! Whichever type you use, make sure to drain them well and give them a slight chop to make the pieces a little smaller.
20 Minute Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.22)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1.5 cups chicken broth* ($0.18)
- 1.5 cups milk ($0.47)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
- 8 oz. linguine ($0.50)
- 1/4 lb. fresh baby spinach (1/2 of 8oz bag) ($1.35)
- 1 15oz. can quartered artichoke hearts ($2.00)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.24)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and add it to a deep skillet with the butter. Sauté the garlic in the butter over medium heat for one to two minutes, or just until it’s tender and fragrant.
- Add the chicken broth, milk, salt, some freshly cracked pepper, and the pasta to the skillet (break the pasta in half first for easy stirring). Make sure the pasta is fully submerged, then place a lid on the skillet. Allow the skillet to come to a simmer, then immediately turn the heat down to low.
- Allow the pasta to simmer in the liquid for about 12 minutes, or until it’s al dente. Stir the pasta every few minutes to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Adjust the heat if needed to make sure the liquid maintains a gentle simmer. While the pasta is simmering, drain the artichoke hearts and then roughly chop them into slightly smaller pieces.
- Once the pasta is tender, turn off the heat. The sauce may still be slightly thin, but it will continue to thicken and absorb as the rest of the ingredients are added. Add the spinach, a handful at a time, to the hot pasta and sauce and toss it in the pasta until it wilts.
- Stir the chopped artichoke hearts into the pasta. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of grated Parmesan over the pasta, then stir slightly to incorporate the Parmesan. Top with an additional 2 Tbsp of Parmesan then serve.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make One Pot Spinach Artichoke Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Start by mincing two cloves of garlic. Add the garlic and 2 Tbsp butter to a deep skillet and sauté over medium heat for just one or two minutes, or until the garlic is soft and very fragrant (but not brown).
Then add 1.5 cups chicken broth, 1.5 cups milk (whole milk works best, but 2% will suffice), 1/2 lb. linguine, 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. The pasta is above the liquid in the photo for reference, but make sure it’s submerged in the liquid. Also, I find that breaking the pasta in half helps drastically with stirring the ingredients in later.
Place a lid on the skillet and let the liquid come up to a simmer. Once it reaches a simmer, immediately turn it down to the lowest heat setting that maintains the simmer. Let the pasta simmer for about 12 minutes, or until it’s tender. You’ll want to stir the pasta every few minutes to keep it from sticking. After about 12 minutes, the pasta should be tender and the sauce slightly thicker. It may still be a bit thin, but it will continue to absorb and thicken as you add the rest of the ingredients.
While the pasta is simmering, drain one 15oz. can of quartered artichoke hearts and roughly chop them so they are in slightly smaller pieces.
Add 4oz. of fresh spinach (half of an 8oz bag), working with one handful at a time, and mix with the hot pasta and sauce until it’s wilted (it took about two heaping handfuls for me and it wilts extremely fast).
Add the quartered artichoke hearts and stir to combine with the pasta and sauce.
Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of grated Parmesan over the pasta then give it a slight stir to mix it into the lower layers, then top with an additional 2 Tbsp of Parmesan. Add extra pepper if desired.
And that’s one big skillet full of insanely delicious and easy 20 Minute Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pasta. Finished in NO time.
Beth, my kids and I love your recipes! We add a few shakes of red pepper flakes to the cooking liquid before the pasta goes in and, if we can find, marinated artichoke hearts for even more flavor. This is in the rotation of yum in our house. Only thing I would NOT change with this recipe is use regular spaghetti as I did tonight, because it was in the pantry. Sticks together like a magnet with some frantic separation with two forks before it became mush. Fettuccine makes complete sense for this recipe, as written.
Really good! I changed multiple things, like adding lemon juice at the end and using a more sauce-grabbing pasta shape, but the original recipe helped lead to a tasty, easy meal.
Sad to say, but this was the first time I’ve had one of your recipes really not work out. The sauce was watery and tasteless, while the residual heat was not enough to cook the artichokes and spinach properly. I’m looking at a pot of inedible mess with no idea what happened. Very disappointed by this one.
I tend to be very precise when it comes to recipes, which means when I use 8 oz of pasta, it means I have 4 oz left and I can’t do much with that since I’m usually feeding two people. Any reason why I couldn’t just use all 12 oz? There seems to be a lot of sauce.
If you had a lot of sauce left over, go ahead and try it with 12oz. next time. :) If it ends up getting too dry before the pasta is tender you can always add a splash of water.
I’m so excited to make this tonight for Valentine’s day! (Get it, artichoke hearts? Har har har…) Anyway, wondering how I would go about using frozen instead of fresh spinach? Hoping you can advise… Thanks!
Sorry I didn’t get to this before Valentine’s Day! I think the only disadvantage to frozen spinach for this one would be the texture. Other than that, it should work fine.
Making this recipe for dinner tonight! We don’t have spinach in the fridge so I’ll sub kale, and add some smoke sausage on the side for my meat-loving family. Thanks for the clear directions and steps.
I just made this tonight and it was delicious! I subbed chicken broth for vegetable broth to make it vegetarian and it tasted great! I also added a chopped tomato which I would highly recommend doing, it added such a nice flavor. It even got a thumbs up from the kid who doesn’t like veggies or pasta very much. Definitely will become a go-to recipe!
Does this recipe do well with rice pasta? Wheat pasta doesn’t sit well with me and I wonder if the rice pasta will go mushy in this recipe.
Thanks! Love your blog!
Unfortunately I’ve never tried to cook rice pasta like this, so I’m not sure if it will absorb the milk the same way or get saucy like regular pasta does.:(
Made this tonight – used whole-wheat pasta and almond milk. Turned out great. Love your skillet meals. I live in a tiny studio apt with no kitchen – just have a electric skillet, toaster oven, microwave and slow cooker. So always looking for recipes that accommodate. This was perfect – and now i have three more meals done for the week.
Thanks for all your hard work.
Pasta was delicious and the leftovers were great too. Thanks for the great recipe!
I made this with spaghetti & frozen spinach ~ delicious!
Even adjusting for food allergies and what i had in my cupboard, this tasted great! My changes: 2 Cups broth, 1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Coconut Milk, nutritional yeast in place of the parm. I also added more garlic, salt and part of shallot as I cooked because I could smell the sweetness of the alt milk.
This was delicious. I love Mac and cheese but am trying to eat healthier. I added some shallot with the garlic, used 2% milk, added some flat leaf parsley with the Parmesan at the end. My husband loved it too. We will be making this a regular side dish for sure!
It was definitely more watery than I usually like. On the other hand, it was amazingly delicious! After I was done with the pasta, I was spooning the sauce into my mouth to not waste one little drop. I had to fight myself not to lick the bowl clean. Amazing!
I love this recipe.
We add some gorgonzola at the end. It goes perfectly with the artichokes and the spinach.