Easy wins again! I’m on day 6 of an 8 day work week, so that means two things: I’m tired and I’m hungry. Quick skillet pasta dishes like this Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta are perfect for such an occasion. They require only a few ingredients, cook up super fast, and leave me feeling full and happy! :)
Anyway, tomorrow is Monday (again) and the week will be long, so I hope this recipe helps make dinner time a little faster, easier, and more enjoyable for you this week! Enjoy!
What to Serve with Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta
This Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta recipe is kind of a meal on its own, but you may want to add a side dish, like crusty Garlic Bread, No Knead Focaccia Rolls, or a light Simple Side Salad. You can also beef up the recipe by adding some Garlic Herb Baked Chicken Breasts, or browning some Italian sausage in the skillet in the beginning, before the onion and garlic.
Can I Substitute the Cream Cheese?
This version of Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta uses just a touch of cream cheese and Parmesan to make a regular tomato sauce ultra-rich and creamy. If you’re not into cream cheese, you could also add a splash (1/4 cup or so) of half and half or heavy cream to achieve a similar effect.
Can I Use a Different Pasta?
I used regular pasta, but whole wheat would actually be pretty good in this and would add some extra fiber and nutrients to make it a more well rounded meal. You can also switch out the shape for another short pasta, like bowtie pasta or rotini.
Can I Use Frozen Spinach?
I was lucky enough to get spinach on sale for $0.99 per bag (score!), but if fresh spinach is just out of your price range, you can add about 8oz. frozen spinach that has been thawed and squeezed of its excess moisture. This would also be really good with sliced mushrooms. Just cook the mushrooms along with the onions and garlic in the beginning. Or, hey, you could always do a plain creamy tomato sauce. Nothin’ wrong with that!
Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. penne pasta ($0.75)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.28)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 15oz. can diced tomatoes ($0.59)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper (optional) ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste ($0.03)
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste ($0.08)
- 2 oz. cream cheese ($0.20)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.31)
- 4 oz. fresh spinach ($0.65)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and continue to boil until tender (7-10 minutes). Drain the pasta in a colander.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the creamy tomato sauce. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and olive oil to a large skillet and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent (3-5 minutes).
- Add the diced tomatoes (with juices), oregano, basil, crushed red pepper, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper to the skillet. Stir to combine. Add the tomato paste and a 1/2 cup of water to the skillet and stir until the tomato paste has mixed into the sauce.
- Turn the heat down to low. Cut the cream cheese into a few pieces and then add them to the skillet with the tomato sauce. Use a whisk to stir the sauce until the cream cheese has fully melted and the sauce is creamy. Add the Parmesan to the skillet and stir until it is melted into the sauce.
- Add the fresh spinach to the skillet and gently stir it into the sauce until it has wilted (2-3 minutes). Add the pasta and stir until it is well coated in the creamy tomato sauce. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Serve warm.
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Nutrition
Video
Love this dish? Try our Spinach Tortellini Skillet!
How to Make Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add 8oz. penne pasta. Boil the pasta until tender, then drain in a colander. You’ll prepare the creamy tomato sauce while the pasta is cooking.
Dice one onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Add them to a large skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent.
Add ½ tsp dried basil, ½ tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp salt, a pinch of crushed red pepper, some freshly cracked pepper, and one 15oz. can diced tomatoes (with juices) to the skillet and stir to combine.
Also, add 2 Tbsp tomato paste and ½ cup water to the skillet. This will help make the sauce thicker and with a more tomatoey punch. Continue to stir and cook over medium heat until the tomato paste has been mixed into the sauce.
Turn the heat down to low. Cut 2 oz. cream cheese into chunks and add it to the skillet. Stir or whisk the sauce until the cream cheese has melted into the sauce. It will look a little clumpy at first, but the cream cheese will eventually melt and the sauce will smooth out.
Once the cream cheese has melted in, add ¼ cup grated Parmesan. Stir until the Parmesan has melted into the sauce.
Add 4 oz. fresh spinach to the skillet. Stir the skillet until the heat from the sauce wilts the spinach (1-2 minutes).
Finally, add the cooked and drained pasta to the skillet and stir to combine.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
Shown garnished with another pinch of Parmesan and freshly cracked pepper.
Very yummy dish!! The spinach really pulled it all together. Mine didn’t look exactly like the pictures but I bet it tasted just as good.
I and my whole family loved this . So So Good.
Could you sub plain coconut yogurt or full fat coconut milk to make it diary free?? TIA :-)
I’ve never used coconut yogurt, unfortunately, so I’m not sure how that will work out. Coconut milk would make it nice and creamy, but you’d be missing that nice tangy flavor that cream cheese has. It might also make the sauce more watery than cream cheese.
Wow! Cooked this for my family and they lobed it! Simple enough so I loved it too. I actually added chicken cuts to mine, alongside would probably be good too. I also was short of tomato paste so I substituted with marinara and a little extra cream cheese. Served with breadsticks and some boxed red wine for myself and everybody was happy. Will make again :) 4.6/5 stars
Nice, simple recipe that comes together quickly after work. I substituted cream cheese with leftover ricotta. I also didn’t have fresh spinach, but used frozen. My husband loved it & I appreciate how versatile it is with ingredients.
Amazing & easy to cook recipe. Thank you so much for sharing
Just made this. It was super delish. I used fresh tomatoes instead, didn’t have any canned. I also put cilantro instead of basil, it’s what I had in the fridge.but it turned out great!! 😋 thanks for the recipe!!
Love this flavor! The recipe is great however I didn’t see the step by step pictures (I immediately printed it out and started cooking!) Those pictures are helpful! The recipe calls for 1 small onion… well to me a small onion is the size of a tennis ball. In the step by step photo you can see it’s about half of what anyone would consider a small onion. The recipe also calls for 1/2 cup water with the tomato paste. I feel like my pasta turned out more watery then I wanted. I would sub 1/3 cup white wine (which will help the paste to blend and then evaporate) if you prefer not to use wine while cooking I would add 1/4 cup water instead. Lastly I used a equal part mixture of Parmigiano and Pecorino cheese . Pecorino cheese tends to melt a little bit better and made the sauce more creamy ( even with the extra water) This recipe is a must try! Delicious!
Delicious! Definitely a keeper…whole family loves this!
I just made it. I will use this again esp during the week. I will look for other recipes on your site. Thanks
This is my new creamy tomato spinach pasta to go too… was a great hit with my husband. Really tasty. Thank You 😊
Yummy meal! Made this from a suggestion from my eldest child, good pick! I wasn’t aware it was meat-less which is even healthier and would have been perfect for a Friday Lenten meal. In the future, I’m thinking about adding the mushrooms as suggested and maybe grilled shrimp. A definite keeper. By the way, I could only get the spinach in two 6 ounce packages, I loved the extra spinach and wondered why I passed on spinach as a kid, I was missing out a lot all these years.
Easy quick recipe — I added some mushrooms as well and it was fabulous :)
We loved it! This was simple and fast. I added some shrimp and a little extra red pepper.
Parmesan is not vegetarian!! Its contains rennet which is made from baby cow enzymes so if you want this to be vegetarian you need to use another kind of cheese
Made it for our guest tonight. I am already craving. Super easy