I looove ricotta cheese. It’s flavor is light and fresh flavor, making it great for warm weather dishes. So when I saw ricotta on sale at the store, I jumped at the chance to make this recipe for Spinach Ricotta Pasta that has been swimming around in the back of my head for a while.
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Customize Your Spinach Ricotta Pasta:
The simplicity of this pasta dish means it’s really easy to customize by swapping out or adding ingredients to make it your own.
Can I Use a Different Vegetable?
I added my favorite versatile vegetable, frozen spinach, to help get a little green and fiber into the meal. If you’re not into spinach, you could try frozen broccoli florets, but I’d make sure to chop them up into smaller pieces before adding them in.
Can I add Meat?
You can bulk up this spinach ricotta pasta and transform it from a side dish to a main dish by adding some chicken. Simply dice up some chicken breast and sauté it in the skillet with the olive oil and garlic in the beginning. You can do the same with shrimp, but remove the shrimp from the skillet after cooking, and add it back to the finished pasta dish to avoid over cooking the shrimp.
Use Good Ricotta
And one last note: all ricotta is not equal. I’ve had some brands that are so good I could eat it with a spoon and others that are just dry and tasteless. It may take some experimenting to find one that you really like (I used Breakstone for this recipe). And for this Spinach Ricotta Pasta recipe in particular, full fat ricotta is definitely best (lower fat ricotta can sometimes be gritty or chalky).
Easy Spinach Ricotta Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. uncooked fettuccine ($0.75)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1/2 cup milk ($0.24)
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta ($1.22)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 1/4 lb. frozen chopped spinach ($0.40)
Instructions
- Place the frozen spinach in a colander to thaw while you work on the pasta and sauce.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then add the pasta. Let the pasta boil until al dente, then drain in a colander. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water to help loosen the sauce later if needed.
- While the pasta is boiling, prepare the ricotta sauce. Mince the garlic and add it to a large skillet with the olive oil. Cook over medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes, or just until soft and fragrant (but not browned). Add the milk and ricotta, then stir until relatively smooth (the ricotta may be slightly grainy). Allow the sauce to heat through and come to a low simmer. The sauce will thicken slightly as it simmers. Once it’s thick enough to coat the spoon (3-5 minutes), season with salt and pepper.
- Squeeze the thawed spinach to remove as much excess water as possible (squeeze it in your fist), then add it to the ricotta sauce. Stir until the spinach is distributed throughout the sauce. Taste and adjust salt or pepper if needed. Turn the heat off.
- Add the cooked and drained pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. If the sauce becomes to thick or dry, add a small amount of the reserved pasta cooking water. Serve warm.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Spinach Ricotta Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Before you begin, take about 1/4 lb. of frozen spinach out of the freezer to thaw. Place it in a colander to thaw so that excess moisture can drain away. The amount is flexible, so I just estimated 1/4 of a one pound bag. Begin boiling a large pot of water for the pasta. Once boiling, add 1/2 lb. of pasta to the water and boil until the pasta is just tender. I love this Delallo pasta because it has this great rough texture that helps grab pasta sauce. It’s the best (not a paid advert!).
Once the pasta is done cooking, drain it in a colander, but save about 1/2 cup of the cooking water to help loosen the sauce later if needed.
While the pasta is cooking, you can quickly assemble the ricotta sauce. Start with two cloves of garlic, minced, and 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Place both in a large skillet and sauté over medium-low heat for one to two minutes, or just until it’s soft and fragrant. Try to avoid letting it brown.
Whole milk ricotta is going to make the best sauce, so I highly suggest it for this recipe. Every brand is a little different, as well. It’s been such a long time since I’ve bought ricotta that I forgot which is my favorite brand, but this one was decent, IMHO.
Add one cup of the ricotta and 1/2 cup of milk to the skillet with the garlic and oil. Stir the ingredients together until they’re relatively smooth. The oil may sit on top and the ricotta may still be a bit lumpy or grainy, but that’s okay. Let the sauce heat through and come to a low simmer. It will thicken a little as it simmers.
Once the sauce is thick enough to coat the spoon, season with 1/4 tsp salt and some freshly cracked pepper. Prepare the spinach by squeezing out as much moisture as possible. I just grab it in my hand and squeeze into a fist and let all the water drip out. Once it’s fairly dry, stir it into the sauce.
Stir the spinach into the sauce until it’s well distributed throughout. Turn the heat off.
Finally, stir in the cooked and drained pasta and toss to coat in the sauce. If the sauce becomes too thick or dry, add a little of the reserved pasta cooking water to help loosen it up some.
While it’s totally against “tradition”, I find that breaking long pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine in half before cooking it helps me stir in other ingredients later. The strands are still fairly long so they look nice on the plate, but the slightly shorter length helps other ingredients to incorporate into the mix. Can you tell that these are half length noodles?
So there it is. This Spinach Ricotta Pasta is a light yet creamy weeknight pasta that can be thrown together in the time it takes for the pasta to cook. Perfect as a side to grilled or roasted meats, or as a vegetarian main dish when served in larger portions. Pair it up with a medley of grilled vegetables and you’ll be in heaven!
I’m going to make this tonight , I bought some pappardelle pasta that I think will go great with this recipe. One thing from reading all other comments , I thought I would share, is that when using ricotta cheese on any recipe you must add nutmeg!, it gives it that “missing thing ” flavor …..I’m going to add it when I make it tonight. Thank you for this recipe!
I’ve been using your recipes for about a year now. I love them all. I’m just sat down to enjoy this recipe. I used 1/2 lb of spinach instead of the recommended 1/4 because I had extra to use, and added 1lb mushrooms. Delish!
Pretty good. I added shrimp for some yummy flavor.
Everything is pretty great except the grainy taste of the ricotta is a little off putting. Otherwise great easy meal
This was delicious! I accidentally put in twice as much spinach so it became very thick, however I added a little more milk and it was great. Kids liked it, it was inexpensive and super easy. Thanks
I am currently making this now. Like other reviewers, I also found it to be a little bland so I added a little lemon juice, onion powder and Italian seasoning. In addition, I added fresh spinach and mushrooms. It is fantastic so far and super easy!
I came across this recipe a while back and finally got around to making it for lunch today b/c I had half a container of ricotta that needed to be used up, lest it go to waste! Overall, it was quick & easy to make, but missing something. Wish I would have read the comments first. I would have doubled up on the garlic and added a bit more salt. I had some half & half left, so I used that with milk to make 1/2 c, so the sauce was nice & creamy when I tossed it with the spinach. I also had 1/2 roasted spaghetti squash, so that’s what I tossed in the sauce. I served it with pre-cooked shrimp. (I always have a bag in the freezer, and they are quick to thaw by running over cold water.) For the shrimp, I just tossed them in a skillet with EVOO to heat them up a bit. I will try the recipe again, with more garlic & salt next time I make it..
This was not good! Mine did not look like this at all. I followed the instructions exactly and it just ended up like noodles with clumps of spinach. No sauce.
Haha, my Nonna would have freaked out, and said that that ricotta was overcooked! She prepared/fried/ otherwise had ready what she wanted to add to the sauce. Then added it, to ROOM temperature, (or still warm from the cheese maker!), ricotta.
Then she added the hot water from cooking the pasta. That’s it. Any more heat or cooking, and she would say ‘No! No!
Rubber-ah Ty-ah!’
I always did it her way… my Mum tried doing it the way it is in this article… it was nice, but not that soft pillow-y ricotta mouthfeel.
Quick & easy. Nextime I will add more garlic. A little bland.
This time I added sauteed mushrooms & parmesan cheese.
I tossed in some shrimp with this and it was amazing!
I tried this and it tasted a bit gritty (from the ricotta) and very very bland. It also seemed like an overwhelming amount of spinach, and I even used a little less than recommended! But definitely light and airy.
I just made this as written out and I HIGHLY recommend adding a little spice to it whether it be cajun seasoning (like I used) or red peppers. Overall it is nice and light, I just thought it needed something more to it though
Made this tonight with fresh ricotta from our co-op. The sauce was delicious as is although I had to add a bit more salt than I’d prefer and a lot of pepper (which I love). That being said, I like to add a lot of veggies in any recipe I use so kale instead of spinach, mushrooms and roasted butternut squash. Probably could have done with a fresh squeeze of lemon but I have no complaints.
This was a great last minute dinner with what I had on hand . For that reason the milk became cashew milk , spinach turned into chopped green chile ,and the fettuccine changed into linguini . It was easy, quick , and delicious . Thanks and YUM ! !
Made it, love it, and so did my husband!
Quick and easy dinner meal. Thank you!