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!
Made this last night! It was really good! I added some leftover chicken breasts!
I just made this and it is FANTASTIC! I added frozen peas and I’m eating it up. Also thank you for the introduction to better than bouillon, it’s got the perfect savory chicken flavor I’m always looking for!
This was soooooooo good. OMG!! Loved it. So quick and easy too. I made a few changes due to what I had on hand. Didnt want to go to the store for anything. I used pronto penne pasta, fire roasted tomatoes from the can (had a can leftover from making your fire roasted tomato soup also very good), and heavy whipping cream in place of milk. I will try it with some type of meat next.
I also wanted to add my family loves your honey mustard pork chops!!! We have them once every two weeks :)
This was excellent. My milk curdled also but I thought it added an interesting cheese like texture to the pasta. I couldn’t tell what was curdled milk and what was cheese after I put the parmesan in. I also used bow tie pasta and added a lot of salt. Will definitely be making this again!
Mine curdled too – I let the milk boil too quickly/too hard before I reduced the heat. I run into the same problem making roux-based sauces for mac and cheese.
I made this today and the sauce curdled and was soupy, although I really liked the flavor. When should you be cooking over low? To get the noodles to boil or when it’s just cooking?
Bring it up to a boil (over medium or slightly above medium) and as soon as it reaches a boil, turn it down to low to let it simmer the rest of the time. If it keeps boiling hard, it will curdle. The lower the heat the less likely it will curdle.
I have used a cast iron dutch oven to make one pot noodles and my milk has never curdled. Tonight I used a big aluminum skillet and my milk curdled. So maybe a thicker pot will help prevent the milk from curdling as it distributes the heat more evenly.
The acidity of the tomatoes is party to blame, too. Curdling is a function of heat and acidity, so the more you have of both the faster it will curdle. :P
could i use 2% milk instead of whole and just add like a little sour cream or half and half to get the same level of milk fat in? or would 2% be fine by itself?
2% will work, but it just won’t be quite as creamy. You can then add the sour cream or half and half at the end if you want it creamier. :)
I love your blog! I just recently found you when my colleague posted one of your recipes on Facebook. I just made my weekly menu and grocery list, and I can’t wait to try your sundried tomato fettuccine!
Oh, and your Greek Marinated Chicken is also on our menu this week! ;)
Looks great! If I was to add asparagus in, when do you think it should be added? I absolutely love asparagus and think it would go great with this, but I’m horrible at cooking it :( Any advice would be great!
I think I would actually cook it separately so you can have complete control over how much it cooks (I like mine to be just a little bit firm). Add it to a skillet with a little bit of water and let it simmer until it’s softened to your liking, then stir it into the pasta at the end. :)
I made this last night and it was delicious!
I spiced it up a little by using the Zesty Seasoned Sundried Tomatoes. It was a big crowd-pleaser at our house and it was so easy. I will definitely make this again!
I made this twice this week… You nailed it Beth! I added some chopped frozen broccoli and steak we had leftover from another meal. It was a big hit with the family! Thanks for creating the easy to follow format using fresh inexpensive ingredients!
I made this and it was delicious, though I think I put too much pepper…there was too much of a kick.
It wasn’t until after I finished and ate the pasta did I realize that I had to blanched the sundried tomatoes (according to the bag). Was I suppose to do that? Will it make the taste different?
Mine didn’t require blanching, but soaking in warm or hot water is always an option. That just softens them up a bit, but since they were essentially going to be boiling in liquid, I didn’t bother doing that step first. :)
Instead of sundried, I used some roast tomatoes that I had leftover from the weekend. Turned out great! I also added some stirfried steak strips on top. Excellent dinner.
It feels like you hit me straight in my bellyheart with this recipe, I will try this immediatly after work. Thanks beforehand because I know it will be nommy!
Hi Beth – First, I love all your recipes. I actually just finished some of your slow cooker black bean soup for lunch.
Second, have you ever tried whole wheat pasta in any of your one-pot pasta meals? I don’t remember seeing that you had, and I’m worried it might not work the same as white pasta. (As an aside, whole wheat pasta is delicious in the spinach-artichoke pasta from your book, but since it cooks normally, I wasn’t worried about making the substitution.)
Thank you for all the awesome, yummy food!
I haven’t tried it, unfortunately. :( If anything, it might just need a little extra moisture. I’d try with the written amount first, then add a little extra as it simmers if it starts to look dry.
I tried this tonight with whole wheat rotini, and it worked great. I didn’t make any modifications to the amount of liquid.
Awesome! Thanks for the update!
Do you think the recipe would work with soy milk instead of whole milk? I don’t use a lot of milk, so I usually buy soy so it doesn’t go bad before I can finish it.
I’m really not sure on that one. The two products are quite different, so they sometimes act differently when they’re used in cooking (sometimes it’s just fine, other times it doesn’t work).
I’ve paid for milk at places like starbucks, sometimes it’s more expensive to do it that way but less wasteful. You could also see if there’s shelf stable milk packs that parents buy for their kids for lunches?