Stress eating, what? Who, me? Noooo, never. Okay, maybe. As the countdown to my move out of state begins and everything seems to be going haywire, I find myself needing a little comfort food. My usual go-to comfort food is pasta with butter, Parmesan, and salt and pepper, but today I decided to go a little further and make this super creamy Spinach Alfredo Pasta.
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What is in Alfredo Sauce?
So, to be honest, this is not really an alfredo sauce (I actually wanted to call it “faux”-fredo), but sometimes recipe names are a bit figurative. Real alfredo has like, a stick of butter, a pile of Parmesan, and sometimes (especially if you’re in America) a whoooole lot of heavy cream.
I swapped the heavy cream for whole milk, reduced the butter by a lot, and used a little cream cheese to help thicken and stabilize the sauce. So, it’s no longer technically an alfredo, but hey, it’s close enough for me to pretend and feel like I’m eating something super-indulgent.
Does it Reheat Well?
This Spinach Alfredo Pasta is definitely better when fresh, although I would NEVER turn down the leftovers, so if you’re cooking for one or two consider cutting the recipe in half. Luckily, this one is super easy to scale up or down. Just change the number of servings in the “servings” box on the recipe card below and the ingredients will auto-adjust.
Can I Use Frozen Spinach?
Yes, you can use frozen spinach if necessary, just keep in mind that the texture will not be as nice as the fresh spinach. To use frozen spinach, thaw it completely, then squeeze out as much extra moisture as possible (or else it may turn your sauce green). Add the squeezed frozen spinach at the same point the fresh spinach is added in the recipe below.
Spinach Alfredo Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- 12 oz. penne pasta ($0.74)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.27)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 2 cups whole milk ($0.62)
- 6 oz. cream cheese ($1.50)
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan ($1.23)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.05)
- 4 cups baby spinach ($1.33)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil to cook the pasta. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. Add the butter and minced garlic to a deep skillet or pot and sauté over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or just until the garlic is soft and fragrant, but not brown.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the milk to the skillet along with the cream cheese (cut into chunks). Heat the milk and cream cheese while whisking, until the cream cheese has fully melted into the milk.
- Whisk in the grated Parmesan cheese and continue to whisk as the sauce comes up to a gentle simmer. When it reaches a simmer, the sauce will thicken. Turn the heat down to low to keep the sauce warm. Season the sauce with 1/4 tsp salt and a generous amount of freshly cracked pepper.
- Add the fresh spinach to the sauce and stir it in until it has wilted and become limp.
- Finally, add the cooked and drained pasta to the spinach alfredo sauce and stir to combine. Serve immediately.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step-by-step photos!
How to Make Spinach Alfredo Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Start by cooking 12 oz. penne pasta according to the package directions (boil a large pot of water, add the pasta, and continue to boil until al dente). While the pasta is cooking, start the “alfredo” sauce. Mince two cloves of garlic and add them to a deep skillet or pot with 2 Tbsp butter. Sauté over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or just until the garlic is soft and fragrant, but not brown.
Add 2 cups of whole milk to the skillet and turn the heat down to medium-low.
Also add 6 oz. cream cheese, cut into chunks. Heat and stir or whisk the milk and cheese until it is fully heated through and the cheese has melted into the milk. You’ll want to use a whisk once the cheese begins to melt.
Whisk 3/4 cup grated Parmesan into the milk sauce. Continue to whisk while the mixture heats, allowing it to come up to a gentle simmer. When it reaches a simmer, the sauce will thicken. Once the Parmesan has fully melted in and the sauce has thickened, turn the heat down to low to keep the sauce warm. Season the sauce with 1/4 tsp salt and a generous amount of freshly cracked pepper.
Now it’s time to add the spinach. I buy these huge bags of fresh spinach, which are the same amount as those large tubs you can buy, but it’s only $3.99 (the large tubs are usually more like $5.99). Anyway, add about 4 cups of spinach to the hot alfredo sauce…
And stir it in until it has wilted and limp. This should only take a few minutes.
Finally, add the cooked and drained penne pasta and stir until everything is combined and coated in the thick sauce.
And that’s it! Now you’re ready to get your pasta on.
Seriously though, this Spinach Alfredo Pasta is rich and creamy without being like, “OMG I just ate a brick.”
I’m all about that cracked pepper. 🤤
I was so excited to eat this after a long day at work..but for some reason the sauce would not thicken for me either. I tried adding some flour like someone suggested and it would not dissolve. I’m sure this is delicious, but have no idea how to thicken the sauce. I’m pretty experienced with cream sauces and this one baffled me.
if you want to use flour, you have to do it at the beginning, in the butter and garlic. if you want to thicken it after cooking, you have to use corn starch slurry.
I keep instant potato flakes on hand just to thicken sauces and soups (like clam chowder). No lumps and doesn’t alter flavor. You don’t have to mix it with liquid first and you can add it at the very end of cooking. I usually start with a heaping tablespoon, stir it in, and then add more, teaspoon by teaspoon until it’s as thick as I want.
Another great recipe from the best site! Sauce took a lot bg time to thicken, but it happened eventually. Most important factor in cooking is patience. Though I read a comment above recommending corn starch and water… I might do this next time.
This is a fantastic recipe. My husband and I both loved it! Going by some of the comments, I thickened the sauce. I added 2 tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp of cold water to a small bowl and whisked this together. I then added this cornstarch mixture to the sauce right after the step where the milk is added. I continued to whisk until it began to simmer as stated in the recipe.
If i add chicken will it be good ???
Sure!
We loved it. Have shared it with other family members and Friends.
Yum! This was great. I sauteed some apple chicken sausage that I bought on sale and added it to the pasta when it was finished.
This was delicious!! I just made this and I’m so obsessed this now a staple comfort meal for me.
The second time i made this, it wouldn’t thicken. i don’t measure anything, so probably too much milk. Anyway, the third and fourth time i made it, i put a little flour in with the butter and garlic, maybe a teaspoon or 2, and cooked it before adding the other stuff. the sauce was super thick this way.
Did I miss something?? Because the sauce never thickened. It’s basically a super cheesy soup. I’m sure it’s good, but… not in this case.
It looks so delicious. Can’t wait to make it. I like pasta so much. Thanks for sharing it with us..
Made this last night and it was soooo good! I grabbed a 16oz box of pasta at the store so I split this into 6 portions. I only had frozen spinach on hand so used 2 cups of that and threw it straight into the sauce without defrosting. I’ll either defrost and squeeze out the water next time or use fresh because I think it watered the sauce down a bit (not too bad though!).
If anyone is interested in calories, a serving ended up being around 500 calories for me, but that’ll depend on what ingredients you use. Will definitely make again!
Hey, Beth!
I’m a long time fan of your recipes, and I just wanted to say THANK YOU for the automatic imperial to metric conversion on this one. It would be great if you could somehow implement that into all your recipe posts, we Europeans like your cooking too :)
I plan on it! :) It’s a new feature offered with the recipe plugin I’m using, but unfortunately I have to go into each and every 1000+ recipes on the site to turn it on and double check units. :P So, it might be a while!
Alfredo sauce is fattening but also incredibly expensive! This sounds like just the replacement, can’t wait to try :)
Heyas! I was coming to say thanks for the lower budget version here, and found I was already late in mentioning it. But I’m here to join RIN is saying so. Thank you very much.
the recipe looks so delicious !
can i replace the spinach with broccoli ?
should i cook the broccoli first or how ?
please, thanklyou ^^
Yes, you can definitely do broccoli. I suggest adding the fresh broccoli florets to the boiling pasta water for the last minute or two, just to cook them lightly. Then just drain them with the pasta and add it all to the sauce.
Ahh, and for the non-veg folks, I added 6-7 strips of already-cooked bacon :) for a two person version
YUM!