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!
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Stainless Steel Pots and Pans
- Whisk
- Measuring Cups Spoons
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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.
I originally made this using the diced tomatoes on sale (kroger organic) and it did not taste good, way too acidic and just not good. I tried it again with the some crushed tomatoes that were more expensive (Polpa Di Pomodoro) and the flavor was night and day. Tastes delicious. I also swapped regular penne for banza (the garbanzo bean pasta) because it has more protein per serving. I am trying to lose weight, while also staying vegetarian and increasing protein like this helps a lot- I don’t get hungry immediately. It comes to 342 cal per serving and 17.1 grams of protein.
Great recipe! Very easy to make with products that I tend to have in my pantry. I did this dish with the homemade garlic bread and the meal was fantastic! Everyone went back for seconds. I’ll definitely do it again.
Even though I used a jar of pasta sauce to speed things up, this recipe came out great. Super easy and delicious with with lots of red chili flakes that gave it a punch. Even my picky 13 year old asked for seconds! Thank you!
A whole house hit, great taste and super simple to make. Even my mother in law who isn’t a fan of chunky tomato said she would just eat around them, it was that good!
I have made this for years now. I can’t thank you enough for this recipe. I add thyme, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, a pinch of sugar. I add chicken, meatballs, shrimp, anything. Sometimes I use fresh tomatoes, sometimes canned. It’s so versatile & you really can’t mess it up. All of my guests give rave reviews time after time. One night I even made it spicy and went into labor. So thank you, with all my heart.
This is my favorite pasta dish! I spice it up even more with a little chili powder& extra chili flakes! Sometimes I add an additional can of Rotel tomatoes.
This is my family’s favorite pasta dish! I make it very often. Delicious! I omit the frozen spinach and use the drained pasta water instead of plain water. I also use different types of pasta, like Radiatore or Rotini.
Thank you for this great recipe!
I love Paste !!! will be my next breakfast recipe , thanks for sharing
So tasty!!
Made this dish with my roommates and it was a fan favorite. :) Followed the recipe to a T. Well done!
Made a double batch of this, with mushrooms and some chopped rotisserie chicken added. That made it a great one dish meal for my family, and with enough left over to make a couple of work lunches for me during the week. Great and simple recipe.
Why use 6 units of measurement instead of just saying grams everywhere so its clear?
Because in the US we don’t use grams as a unit of measure. It would make more sense to you but if this recipe was in grams i would be totally lost haha
I made this tonight and it was delicious! I used linguine and added some chicken sausage.
Can I sub the cream cheese with whipped cream?
You could do heavy cream, but you probably won’t want to do a sweetened whipped cream that is normally used for dessert. Even with heavy cream it will change the flavor slightly (less tangy) and the sauce won’t be as thick.
Hey, I want to make this but with fresh tomatoes to utilise our produce. How should I go about doing that? Should I blanch and dice the tomatoes and then add them or I could put them in the oven and they’d become a sauce that way so I could add that? Also if I add fresh tomatoes would I still need to add tomato paste?
Unfortunately, that’s quite a big change to the recipe so I’d need to test a few methods to see how they turn out before offering advice.
Did you try it with fresh tomatoes? I have some grape tomatoes I wanna use for this too! 😁
I’m not sure if you found your answer, but this is what I plan to do tomorrow..
I’m going to make a recipe for “diced tomatoes” in the afternoon, so I will have the “can of diced tomatoes” for dinner. The diced tomato recipe seems really simple, just a bit of extra work 😉
I will then just make the recipe as normal.
Easy and tasty