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!
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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
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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’ve made this quite a few times now. Absolutely delicious. Only thing I do differently is cook sweet Italian sausage with it. Sooooo good!
I never tought spinach, pasta and tomato would have been a match so phenomenal! I just made it for lunch and me and my mum loved it!
Greetings from Italy!
I made this last night – fantastic! There wasn’t even any leftovers!
My daughter made this recipe and the whole family loved it! Made a meal out of it by topping it with cooked chicken and a splash of olive oil. Easy and quick, but most of all delicious!
Love this recipe! Tonight I tried it out with gnocchi and it was delicious.
Hi! I just wanted to let you know I featured this dish on my daily dinner ideas blog, What to Make for Dinner Tonight. Come check ‘er out!
I’m a huge fan of your blog and can’t wait to share my “Budget Gourmet” eBook with you :)
http://whattomakefordinnertonight.com/creamy-tomato-spinach-pasta/
Awesome, thanks!
Hi i wanted to try this recipe the only issue i have is i dont have tomato paste. I do have spaghetti sauce and tons of canned tomatoes. What do you recommend?
I would try a can of the diced tomatoes and maybe 8 oz. of the tomato sauce. The tomato paste just helps thicken up the sauce a bit, so adding some tomato sauce may help in the same way.
This recipe is so delicious, I blogged about it! This one is going in my recipe box. The only thing I changed is that I used cream cheese from a tub, because that’s all I had on hand. Still tasted great to me! I served it with garlic bread and a side salad. I can’t wait to add this dish in my supper rotation.
This recipe looks really yummy and I’d like to try it out! But my family are a bunch of meat-lovers. What kind of meat would you recommend to go with this?
You could add some shredded meat from a rotisserie chicken for a super quick fix. Shrimp would also be great!
Thank you so much for a fast answer! I suppose I’ll go for the super quick fix this time.
This is a pretty good recipe. We enjoyed it. I like how much more spinach we are eating now since we started making your recipes!
Thank you!
This recipe is delicious!! I followed this recipe as written and I am in love! I love spinach and with the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and cream cheese is simply divine. I served the dish with a side salad and garlic bread. I cannot wait to make this again!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Had very little in the pantry so when I found this I was thrilled that I had all the ingredients. I used fat free sour cream (instead of cream cheese) and spaghetti sauce (instead of tomato paste) with 1/4 cup water to get more juice for the sauce. I added small chopped eggplant and green peppers to the onions + garlic mix which gave it a lot of volume and helped clear out my crisper before heading out of town. Overall delicious, easy + so quick to make! Thank you!
I’m going to have to do this with spaghetti squash rather than the pasta (wheat allergy over here – bummer!) and either some ground beef or chicken. I’m thinking chicken would be best for this. Awesome, thank you! The pasta thing and the cream cheese are all I have to change. That’s rare for us!
Loved this recipe! I put a cooked, chopped up chicken breast in with the onions and garlic before adding the tomatoes. Other than that, I followed the recipe to a T. Thank you for the recipe!
Followed the recipe to a “T” last night and it was excellent.