Y’all know I love one pot pasta meals, and I know a lot of you do too. They’re quick, easy, and pack a lot of flavor into only one little dish that needs to be cleaned at the end. Creamy one pot pastas, in particular, have become my go-to comfort food. This time I paired the tangy flavor of sun dried tomatoes with garlic and Parmesan for a simple but indulgent One Pot Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta.
Changes to the Original Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Recipe:
Many readers were having trouble with the original recipe, so I reformulated it a bit based on my experience creating one pot pastas since this recipe was originally posted (it’s now based on my One Pot Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta). In particular, many people were having trouble with their milk curdling or the sauce not coming out smooth. Here is what I changed to create better and more consistent results:
- The milk is now added after the pasta simmers so the high heat and acidity from the tomatoes will not cause curdling.
- A small amount of cream cheese is added to the sauce to help stabilize and emulsify the Parmesan into the sauce.
- I also added a healthy dose of dried basil for a little more flavor!
Can I Substitute the Cream Cheese?
Cream cheese is great and keeping milk based sauces smooth and to help cheese melt smoothly without clumpig. If you just can’t stand cream cheese, you can replace half of the milk with heavy cream. This reduces the water content in the sauce, which will help the Parmesan emulsify properly.
Can I Add Meat?
Yes, this recipe is extremely flexible and can be made with or without meat. If you’d like to add chicken, you can dice up the chicken and sauté it in the skillet with the garlic in the beginning, or simply add sliced grilled chicken to the finished pasta. Italian sausage might also be great with this sun dried tomato pasta. Simply brown it in the skillet in the beginning with the garlic. Bacon would also be quite tasty. Brown the bacon in the skillet before the garlic, and drain off the excess fat before continuing with the recipe.
Tips for Cooking One Pot Pastas:
Getting one pot pastas just right can take some practice, so if you find you’re having trouble, here are a few tips:
- Stir every few minutes to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot, or to itself.
- After the pot has been brought to a boil, turn the heat down to low, or just above low, so the liquid is still simmering. If the liquid is not simmering, the pasta will not cook. The temperature setting can vary depending on your stove top and cookware.
- Use heavy cookware. Skillets and pots that are thin on the bottom don’t heat evenly and do not yield good results with the one pot cooking method because some areas of the pot will be simmering, while other areas are not.
- Keep the lid in place at all times when not stirring. This holds in the steam and helps the pasta cook more evenly.
- Watch the pasta. One pot pastas are a little like riding a bike. You have to observe and adjust as you go. If the liquid is almost all absorbed before the pasta is tender, add a little more water. If the pasta is almost tender, but there is still a lot of liquid, allow it to simmer without a lid for the last couple of minutes.
One Pot Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- ½ cup sun dried tomatoes ($1.66)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.26)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 8 oz. fettuccine ($0.67)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 2 cups chicken broth* ($0.26)
- 2 oz. cream cheese ($0.30)
- 1 cups whole milk ($0.37)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.44)
Instructions
- Chop the sun dried tomatoes into small bite-sized pieces.
- Add the butter and garlic to a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Sauté the garlic over medium heat for about one minute, or until it is very fragrant.
- Add the fettuccine, sun dried tomatoes, dried basil, some freshly cracked pepper, and the chicken broth to the skillet. If needed, break the fettuccine in half to make sure it lays flat in the skillet and is submerged in broth.
- Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to high, and bring the broth to a boil. As soon as it reaches a boil, give the pasta a good stir, replace the lid, and turn the heat down to low or the lowest setting that maintains a simmer.
- Let the pasta simmer in the broth for 7-10 minutes, or until most of the broth is absorbed and the pasta is tender, stirring every couple of minutes and always replacing the lid.
- Keeping the heat on low, cut the cream cheese into chunks and stir it into the pasta. Once the cream cheese has melted, add the milk and stir until a smooth sauce forms. Finally, add the grated Parmesan over top and stir until it has melted into the sauce. Serve with extra freshly cracked pepper, if desired.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step Photos!
Try These Other Creamy One Pot Pasta Recipes:
- One Pot Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
- One Pot Bacon Broccoli Mac and Cheese
- One Pot Veggie Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Mushroom Pasta
How to Make Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Chop about ½ cup sun dried tomatoes into small bite-sized pieces. You want a little bit in every bite, instead of a few larger pieces throughout. I used dried, non-oil packed sun dried tomatoes for this recipe because I find them easier to work with and the leftovers easier to store (no refrigeration needed).
Add 2 Tbsp butter and two minced cloves of garlic to a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Sauté the garlic over medium heat for about 1 minute, or just until the garlic is a little softened and becomes really fragrant.
Add the chopped sun dried tomatoes, ½ tsp dried basil, some freshly cracked pepper, 8oz. fettuccine, and 2 cups chicken broth to the skillet. If your skillet or Dutch oven is not wide enough for the pasta to lay flat and submerged in the broth, you’ll want to break the pasta in half so it fits (I ended up breaking mine in half just after this photo).
Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to high, and bring the broth up to a boil. As soon as it reaches a boil, give the pasta a good stir, replace the lid, and turn the heat down to low, or the lowest temperature that maintains a simmer. Continue to simmer the pasta for 7-10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes (always replacing the lid), or until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. If the pasta dries out while it cooks, add a little more water. There should be a little bit of thick saucy liquid left in the skillet once the pasta is cooked.
Cut 2 oz. cream cheese into chunks, then stir it into the pasta until it has melted (still over low heat). Adding the cream cheese before the milk helps stabilize the sauce and prevent curdling.
Once the cream cheese has melted into the pasta, add 1 cup milk and stir to combine.
Finally, sprinkle ¼ cup grated Parmesan over the pasta, and stir until it has melted into the sauce (the pasta is still over low heat).
And now you have a deliciously creamy and slightly tangy sun dried tomato pasta in cream sauce!
Season the pasta with more freshly cracked pepper, if desired, and serve!
Sauteed some shrimp and bell peppers separately, and added it (and some fresh spinach) to the pasta once it was done.
Turned out great, though I agree with the other commenter who said the parmesan can probably be omitted to make it a little lighter.
So yummy and easy to make! This is one of my go to week-night dinners.
I love how flexible you can be with it.
Delicious! It’s a fairly easy and quick recipe that never fails.
Made this last night and it is going to be a regular. My hubby (who doesn’t like pasta) devoured it!
Sautéed chicken breast pieces with the garlic, used goat cheese instead of the cream cheese and Ronzoni GF thin spaghetti – oh so yummy. Husband says keep this one in the rotation.
Can you use Gluten Free pasta in this recipe? I have Celiac, and have had trouble with other one pot pasta recipes.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience working with gluten-free pastas, so I’m not sure how well they hold up with this one-pot cooking style.
Added mushrooms while cooking chicken in minced garlic butter and olive oil. Also added about 1/4 cup of fire roasted red peppers with the sundried tomatoes. Substituted the cream cheese with Greek yogurt. Delicious will make again.
I was wondering if I can Sub heavy cream for the cream cheese and nilk.
Yes, you can do something similar using heavy cream. the flavor will be slightly different, as cream cheese is a bit tangy and has some salt, but otherwise it should work well.
Wow! This dish is perfect in every way!!! I found it from the mushroom one pot pasta recipe page so I used both mushrooms AND sun dried tomatoes as I had to use up both things…. So much flavor!! I never imagined how creamy, delicious and perfect a sauce with cream cheese, milk, and Parmesan could turn out. So flavorful!!! This beats any packaged creamy mushroom pasta sauce we have in our supermarkets here. So impressed, Beth. Thank you!!
Also, if you make this and it’s a tad runny, don’t worry -it will thicken up as it cools down and also gets more absorbed into the pasta. So worth trying!! And seriously try it combined with sundried tomato.
I doubled it so I could use the full box of pasta. Subbed in almond milk because I don’t really like cows milk. Ended up only adding about 3/4 of a cup instead of the 2 cups it called for. Not sure why mine ended up with so much liquid in it since I don’t see anyone else talking about that. Good flavor and super easy to make though!
Did you by chance cook the pasta separately before adding it to the skillet?
Delicious! I doubled the recipe and it worked great. I can’t have butter so I used plant butter and it worked great, as well. I made sure to omit the oil that my sun dried tomatoes came in.
I made it without the tomatoes and it was delicious!
This recipe is amazing! We make it all the time and I’ve thrown spinach in it, different spices, vegetable broth etc and every time it comes out delicious. My 2 year old toddler also gobbles it up! Nice and easy to follow if you are newer to cooking. Love this so much!
I cooked this today and I realized having just the cream cheese and milk alone makes this a heavy meal already so try omitting parmesan.
My boyfriend is a chef and says the pasta will be better if you cook the actual pasta itself seperately. Also tasted a bit too salty because of the stock
I like it. I’ll make it in weekend. Thank you.
I just made this today .It’s the best ! .Even better than Olive garden . What I did different though I added mushrooms and chicken to mine . This will be one of my favorite recipes. Thank you for sharing