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.
I followed the recipe as written except for using frozen spinach as that’s what I had on hand. I expect I’d like it much better with fresh spinach, but I’m currently committed to using up ingredients I have on hand so thats what I used. I’d bought jarred artichokes for another recipe that I never made, wanted to do something with them and found this recipe. I did add about a dozen grape tomatoes to the skillet as they were going wrinkly and needed to use them up(zero food waste for the win!).They added some color to the dish. I will definitely add more spices next time as I felt it was slightly bland as written, hence the 4 stars instead of 5. But it’s a good starting point to build around. Will definitely make this with fresh spinach next time.
I took added a few things and now regret adding the carrots. Too sweet. I followed the cooking instructions but with the added ingredients I also had to add more liquid. Make sure you add the spinach at the very end otherwise it gets too mushy. Still tastes good though. Thanks for the recipe! Will make it again.
I added some rotisserie chicken and it made a very filling and delicious meal. I would advise you to have everything prepped ahead of time. Especially if you are doing anything else, like garlic bread. It all moves very fast once you get going.
Yuck. Came out looking great but the taste was something else. I love everything in the dish. I was hoping the next day would be better but it was worse. A big waste of money. Sorry, not for us.
I loved the idea of the one pot dish, but my sauce was way too thin. Perhaps because I used protein pasta?? Not sure…The flavor was good. And, I added shrimp which was nice.
Hi Angela, Protein pasta does not release the starches necessary to thicken a sauce. You might consider removing the pasta once cooked, and reducing the sauce by itself over medium heat.
Delicious. Made this nondairy with almond milk and almond “parm”. I added red pepper flakes because we like a little spice. I think the only thing that could improve the recipe would be roasted garlic to give it a little more depth. I love easy one pot meals and I will 100% make this again!
I killed the budget by adding bacon and chicken, but this was awesome.
Delicious! I didn’t have any milk, so I used 2.5 cups broth and 1/2 a cup of half and it turned out great.
I doubled the recipe, and used a smaller shape pasta. I had no problems with clumping, I did have to add more milk and broth to cover 2 lbs of pasta, but it came out delicious. Super and easy meal to make during the week.
Things I did differently:
I use onion, celery and carrot in almost every dish
I didn’t have spinach on hand, so I used bokchoy
I am a garlic girl, so I added 2 heads of garlic 🙈
I love your recipes and use them frequently, thank you so much!
I’ve always wanted to know, what is the max amount of cooked garlic you can add to a dish before it’s too garlicky. I bet it’s infinite 😂🧄
NEVER. ENOUGH. GARLIC 😬😂
It was a battle to keep the pasta from sticking together. This is not a ‘put the lid on and walk away for 12 minutes’ kind of dish. I was constantly working the pasta with tongs, fishing the sticky pasta out and separating them, but even then they wanted to clump together into tough fasci. I finally did get them to be individual strands.
I doubled the garlic and added two anchovies. I often add a pinch of red pepper flakes to pasta dishes, but since it was a creamy sauce I omitted them. The final flavor was quite nice.
I used bow tie pasta, added a bit of italian seasoning and a bit of sun dried tomatoes chopped up. Bow tie pasta took about 20 minutes to get tender. I took this to a lunch potluck and everyone loved it.
This was really good and really easy. Which are my top two important things with recipes. I didn’t have fettuccine and used tricolor rotini noodles. And it was still delicious. Near the end I decided to throw some shrimp in as well. It would be equally good with or without.
This is my go-to recipe. I make it almost every week. So easy and delicious – also super simple to make vegan. I love adding roasted chickpeas on top for extra protein. Whenever I make this, my roommates always grab a bowl.
Good pasta, just changed the broth to vegetable better than bouillon.
This was awesome, can’t wait to make it again!