You know how spinach artichoke dip is so good that sometimes you want to just order the appetizer as your meal and not share it with anybody? I hereby give you permission to. Well, as long as you make it yourself and turn it into this meal-worthy Spinach Artichoke Pasta instead of spending $8 for one serving dip. And I guess you can share because you’ll have enough to feed six. ;)
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I started with my favorite spinach artichoke dip recipe, added some pasta to make it more meal-worthy, and then made a few substitutions to make it saucier.
The absolute best part about this Spinach Artichoke Pasta is that it literally came together in the time that it took me to boil the pasta. It seems like a lot of my recipes have been really time-consuming lately, so it was really refreshing to make something that was so quick and so delicious. It’s a WINNER!
Scroll down for ingredient substitutions and add-in ideas.
Lighten it Up
To make this Spinach Artichoke Pasta a little lighter, you can substitute neufchatel cheese for cream cheese (1/3 less fat). I also nixed the mayonnaise and mozzarella that are in traditional spinach artichoke dip and used some milk instead because I needed this to be a bit more saucy than dip-like in order to coat the pasta. You could also sub low-fat sour cream for the regular if you want. I wouldn’t suggest using fat-free sour cream or cheeses in this as they don’t do well texturally when melted or in sauces.
Can I Substitute the Wine?
I used white wine in my sauce because it’s Friday night and I know I’ll finish the bottle. Plus, it was a cheap $7.99 bottle so 1/4 cup didn’t add significantly to the total cost. If you don’t want to use wine, you can sub chicken or vegetable broth instead. But let me tell you, the wine adds a fantastic, unique flavor element.
Can I Substitute the Hot Sauce?
If you don’t want to use spicy hot sauce, I would substitute it with lemon juice. You need the acidic tang given by either the vinegar in the hot sauce or the lemon juice to brighten up the creamy sauce. I found that the hot sauce wasn’t spicy enough for me so I ended up adding red pepper flakes too.
What Else Can I Add?
Okay, one more thing. Grilled chicken, crab, or lobster meat would be EXCELLENT mixed in if you want a little more protein.
Spinach Artichoke Pasta
Servings 6Ingredients
- 12 oz. bowtie pasta ($1.50)
- 1 14oz. can quartered artichoke hearts ($2.59)
- 1/2 lb. frozen chopped spinach, thawed ($0.86)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 4 oz. cream cheese ($1.00)
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.75)
- 1/4 cup white wine ($0.51)
- 1/2 cup milk ($0.19)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan ($0.82)
- Few dashes hot sauce ($0.15)
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional) ($0.03)
- Salt and pepper to taste ($0.05)
Instructions
- Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the pasta, stir, and continue to boil until the pasta is tender (7-10 minutes). Drain the pasta in a colander.
- While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. Drain the artichoke hearts and roughly chop into smaller pieces. Squeeze the excess moisture out of the thawed spinach. Set the spinach and artichoke hearts aside.
- Mince the garlic and add it to a large skillet with the olive oil. Sauté over medium heat for about one minute, or just until the garlic softens. Add the cream cheese, sour cream, and white wine. Stir and cook until the cream cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth.
- Whisk the milk into the sauce, and let it heat through. Once the sauce is hot again, turn the heat down to low and stir in the Parmesan cheese. Season the sauce with hot sauce, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
- Stir the spinach and artichoke hearts into the sauce, then add the cooked pasta and stir to combine. Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, or hot sauce if needed.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Spinach Artichoke Pasta – Step By Step Photos
Let 1/2 lb. of frozen chopped spinach thaw, then squeeze out the excess moisture. Drain one 14oz. can of artichoke hearts, then roughly chop them into smaller pieces. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add the pasta, stir, and continue to boil until the pasta is tender. Drain the cooked pasta in a colander.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. Mince four cloves of garlic, then add them to a large skillet with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Sauté the garlic over medium heat for about one minute, or just until the garlic softens a bit.
Add 4oz. cream cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream, and 1/4 cup white wine to the skillet with the garlic and olive oil. Heat and stir until the cream cheese has melted in and the sauce is smooth, then whisk in 1/2 cup milk and heat through again. Once hot, turn the heat down to low and stir in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Season the sauce with a few dashes of hot sauce, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Stir in the spinach and artichoke hearts.
Finally, add the cooked pasta and stir to combine. Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, or hot sauce as desired.
This turned out great. I added some shredded chicken for my meat eater teenager.
For a few years now, this has been one of my go-to recipes since becoming vegetarian. It’s so easy to make, is filling, and has great flavor. I truly love making this dish and would be lost (& hungry) without it!
I love this recipe. Added some shrimp to the sauce and tossed with the cooked bow-ties.
This sounds delicious and I’ll absolutely be making it for dinner this week.
One of the primary reasons that I’ve loved Budget Bytes is because of the way you’ve always talked about food in a perfectly neutral way. It’s a reprieve for people who are recovering from eating disorders, like myself. And it’s very uncommon in the food blog space.
So it kinda bummed me out to hear a reference to certain ingredients as “guilt inducing”. I know it seems small but to people in recovery, it’s very loud.
Thanks so much for listening.
Hi Libby, Thank you so much for sharing your story, and congratulations on your recovery. That takes incredible strength, and even though we’ve never met, I’m proud of you for overcoming and being so open about it. I hear you, and I have removed the phrase in question from the post. XOXO -Monti
Hey there!
Have you ever made this in the crockpot and just added the pasta before serving?
No, unfortunately I haven’t tried that.
Really good!! Entire family loved it.
I didn’t have any white wine, so I substituted a 1/4 c. of water, a half teaspoon of Better than Bouillon chicken broth concentrate, and a tablespoon of sherry. I also threw in a half cup of jarred roasted red peppers, cut up into smaller pieces. It was great! Such a yummy recipe.
Any thoughts on freezing this? Trying to meal prep pre-baby and this is one pasta dish that sounds great! I know freezing stuff with milk products in it can be tricky sometimes.
I haven’t tried that yet, but sometimes cream cheese can act as a stabilizer to keep creamy sauces from splitting. I would think that the sauce might absorb too much into the pasta, though, leaving it dry after thawing and reheating. You might try freezing just one serving on a test batch first to see how it goes. :)
You can freeze the sauce on its own then just need to cook the pasta.
I haven’t tried freezing this sauce, but in general creamy sauces don’t freeze well. They tend to separate and break down. :(
This is one of my boyfriends’ and I’s favorite pasta dishes! We always put in the remainder artichoke juice and use a sweet red wine.
Could you use full fat greek yogurt instead of sour cream in this recipe?
Yes I’ve done that a few times and it’s been great!
I think my last comment was deleted… Posting again:
Definitely don’t skip the hot sauce. Needed quite a bit of salt. Sauce was a little thick, would have been better if it were runny. I would add the artichokes earlier so they have time to soften in the sauce. Wasn’t much time for the flavors to “get to know each other”. Probably won’t make again.
Ok guys… I remade this with a year of quarantine cooking practice under my belt (many thanks to this blog for teaching me the ways).
I upped the milk to 3/4 cup and then ended up adding a 1/4 of pasta water as well to make it saucier. I added the artichoke hearts at the same time as the milk to give them some time to soften. Much better. :)
I’m glad the second run turned out better for you! :)
Aldi has canned artichokes for $1.89 now so I was excited to try this. I didn’t have hot sauce and this definitely needed it for that extra flavor kick. Needed quite a bit of salt also. I made exactly as is otherwise and I wish I would have added the canned artichokes as the sauce was simmering, they still seemed a bit tough. Sauce was almost too creamy, I think a thinner sauce would have been better. I love most BB recipes but probably won’t make this again.
Fantastic! I doubled the sauce since I was adding 4 medium sized garlic boneless skinless chicken breasts to make it a one dish meal. I didn’t have white wine on hand, so used the suggested chicken broth and also substituted lemon juice for the hot sauce. Another winner that I will make again. Thank you, Beth!
Do you think this could be reheated in a crockpot? I need something to make ahead of time and then stay in crockpot until lunch time. It looks delicious.
could you use cooking wine to replace the white wine?
Yes, if it’s a white cooking wine and not a red.
You could – but it is NOT recommended. A good rule of thumb is NEVER use a wine you would not drink! Wine helps develop flavor – so I always try to use a decent wine.
You can get inexpensive, TASTY wines without breaking the budget. Whites are usually less expensive than good reds.
This was amazing, thanks for sharing! I’ve never had spinach artichoke dip but I can just see the danger now! I made this completely vegan with soy cream, oat creme fraiche and a nutritional yeast & cashew DIY parmesan :)
OMG I loved this very delicious! We used Chicken broth and not the wine. Will have to try that next time.
Weird question, would it be okay to use moscato for the white wine? I know it’s a sweet wine… but it’s all I have. Or is there something else I can add instead of white wine? Thanks!
Yeah, I feel like Moscato would definitely be too sweet. :) I suggest chicken or vegetable broth as a replacement.
Made the dish tonight. Didn’t like the sauce, it had a bitter taste to it. Previous reply said something about the hot sauce. We ended up using a jar of Alfredo’s sauce I had in pantry. Basic recipe with artichokes and spinach was great.
What kind of white wine did you use to make the pasta? Thanks, Beth!! :-)
Unfortunately I don’t remember. That was too many years ago. :P
I LOVE most of your recipes, but I actually didn’t really like this one! The white wine paired with the hot sauce made it taste too tangy, and I thought it was just a bizarre flavor. Maybe mine needed more cheese.
LOVE IT. Will be making again soon.
Next time I am going to use fresh spinach & mushrooms in place of the frozen spinach & artichokes.
I too was curious if anyone had ever tried freezing this? I was hoping to make several at once and freeze some for later.
I tried and it was ok, but I wouldn’t freeze it again.
Would fresh spinach work in this recipe? I have some I need to use up. How would you go about getting it to wilt?
Hi Elizabeth, Yes fresh spinach would be really awesome in this. :) Luckily, it wilts very fast and easily, so all you’ll need to do is stir it in a handful at a time (to prevent it from spilling out of the skillet) until it wilts. It should only take a few seconds in the hot cream sauce. So, after you make the sauce, just stir in the spinach until wilted and then continue to add the artichoke hearts and the rest of the recipe as written.
Awesome, thank you!
Not always the biggest fan of being able to really taste sour cream, but I liked it! And so did everyone else!
This was a fantastic recipe! The whole family liked it. Thanks for sharing!
Another winner Beth!! Fantastic recipe. My 11-year-old rated it a 10 out of 10!!!!
I tried this the other day and it was amazing! Have you tried adding any vegetables to it? If so what would did you try? Thanks!
I really LOVED this. If you like spinach artichoke dip you will too. I didn’t have milk so I used vegetable broth and I didn’t use the hot sauce or peppers. It was super yummy.
Has Anyone tried freezing this and then baking it with some cheese on top? I think it should work…
Making this tonight! I got one of the Philadelphia cooking creme things (Italian cheese & herb flavor) on a manager’s special deal for $1.50, so I’m using that in place of the cream cheese & sour cream. Hopefully it turns out delicious!
PS- I love your blog SO much. Thank you for all the amazing recipes :)
This was delicious! Although my grocery store was out of light sour cream AND neufchatel… whoops :D. I added sun dried tomatoes because I can get those in the bulk section of my produce market for $3.99/pound, and that really kicked the recipe up a notch.
Your website has been so, so helpful to me as my husband and I are on a super tight budget in NYC. We are obsessed with the way you break down costs! So far we’ve tried three of your recipes and each one has been a hit. Thanks for being amazing!
Thanks so much for sharing! Could you please add nutrition information going forward?
Elizabeth – I haven’t tried yogurt in this one, but most of the time it works pretty well! I say go for it!
I love your blog! Thank you for taking time out your day to share your lovely recipes. Question: May I use plain yogurt in place of the sour cream?
I was thinking about making this when I saw your your recipe pinned on Pinterest Perfect timing. I have some spinach artichoke dip left over that I need to use up. I like your suggestion of thinning it with wine. I think I will also be adding chicken. I like the way you do the food costs. Pretty cool! I’ll be checking out some more of your recipes.
Absolutely delicious. Counting down the days until I make this again! Love the wine flavoring.
This was delicous. I made some changes – I put some mozzarella on top and baked for 15 minutes and then broiled for a couple of minitues. I did not add the hot sauce but added a few sprinkles of red pepper flakes. As a vegetarian, I can’t use parmesan but I did use vegan parmesan and it was still creamy. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe.
Um, yeah…yum. My kids both ate a huge helping without complaining about spinach. They love veggies but spinach is not usually on the top of list. Both said they would eat it again. My nearly teen daughter said it could be more cheesy, but other than that not even any suggestions! We too are using your blog for our menu over the next few weeks! I was surprised how little my cart cost despite having half of fresh foods :) Yay!
Spinach and artichoke pasta
This turned out great, although I would use a little less garlic and request from my bf less spinach lol! Thanks so much for the recipe! Good stuff!!!!
This was AMAZING! My husband, my 17 month old and myself LOVED LOVED LOVED this! My toddler even got seconds, after he finished his plate and tried to grab some more out of my bowl! Also, I used fat free sour cream and didn’t notice any problems with the sauce. Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe, cant wait to try more recipes over the next two weeks (I made my 2 week menu using your blog and one other budget blog)!
Yum! My husband and I both loved this.
So super delicious!!! I made this tonight and it was a huge hit. I made my whole menu this week based on your blog! Tomorrow- turkey meatballs. I’m sure they will be delish as well!
Wow and thank you!
Thanks for sharing useful recipe of Italian Sausage with Bow Tie Pasta i will this recipe in my house on this weekend please do regular posting so that other people learn from your blog.
This recipe was an instant classic for me. I’ve made it several times now and it’s amazing (and sooo easy) every time! A local bar here in Lafayette adds water chestnuts to their spinach and artichoke dip and it’s heavenly. I’ve added them to this recipe a few times and it gives it a lovely crunch that’s a great replacement for a crunchy chip (or fried pasta) normally served with this dish. Great recipe! Thanks so much!
I LOVED this recipe! My husband and I made it tonight, it was delish! I did use Chicken Stock instead of White Wine and it was really good. I also used provolone cheese instead of parm and it was really good and creamy. Definitely making this again!
Awesome recipe even though I think I may have messed up the conversions since I was going from 6 servings to 2 servings (it was a little dry but adding a bit more milk and sour cream helped.) I also added canned tuna, lemon pepper and used lemon juice instead of white wine since I didn’t have any on hand. Many thanks for the recipe!!!
beth – i used sriracha! it was awesome. great dish! thanks for dinner the other night… and lunch the next 3 days. haha.
bohjudith – Actually, for once, I used regular tabasco! But I’m sure sriracha would be good too!
did you use sriracha for the hot sauce? thinking about making this tonight!
Made this over the weekend. Easy and a favorite. Keep doing what you do Beth!
Made this tonight, and loved it! I didn’t have any cream cheese or neufachtel, but I had some creme fraiche, so I used a couple spoonfuls of that instead. It came out a little thin, which I think is due to the lack of cream cheese, but overall delicious! Next time I would add chicken to add a little protein to it, and I love the idea of a little lemon too! Will try that next time as well. Thanks for the recipe!
Sounds very yummy! I just might make this tonight!!
I made this and substituted the pepper flakes for the juice of 1/2 lemon and reduced fat cream cheese for the neufchatel. Also, I didn’t end up using any milk, and I think I upped the garlic content by about a clove. It was delicious and made enough to cover almost a whole 15oz box of pasta! My first attempt at a budget bytes recipe and I’d say it was a success! (although I’ve sampled quite a few more via my boyfriend, all delicious!)
How have I never thought of this before?! This sounds so incredibly delicious.
I made this last night and didn’t end up having any white wine at home like I thought I did (and the wine store closes early on Mondays here in Philly!). I can see how white wine would have added a little zing, but the dish overall came out SO WELL. The perfect thing after a long, cool summer day right before fall. Today I had the leftovers, and they reheated just fine (didn’t freeze them though). Thanks!
I made this for dinner last week and really liked it! Only thing was that we had a lot of leftovers and it did not reheat well at all.
Theo – Unfortunately, I’ve never worked with tofutti so I don’t know how it is texturally or if it melts :( All I can say is give it a shot!!
this looks amazing!
question — could tofutti cream cheese be an okay substitute for the neufchatel? how would that work with the texture?
We just had this for dinner, and it was so good! I ended up having to add a few more splashes of milk and wine to be able to coat all the pasta, but I used a full pound of noodles, so that’s probably why. As Alana suggested, I cooked some onion in with the garlic. Then I also put the whole thing in a casserole and broiled some breadcrumbs on top for some extra texture (and because my husband wasn’t going to be home from work for a little while still.) It was even a hit with my 1, 3 & 5 year olds. We will definitely have this again!
this looks delicious!!
i already tried your zucchini fritters, so wonderful!
I made this the other night and it was great – I’m not a fan of wine, but I added it anyway and I was pleasantly surprised. I was also surprised at how quickly it came together. I’ll definitely make this again.
Very tasty! I would recommend to others to go easy on the milk. It was too soupy for our liking, but the flavor was great! I had spinach, artichoke, and pasta and was wondering what to do with them. This fit the bill! Thanks!
This is more dairy than I’ve ate in about two months, but it was delic! I used reduced fat sour cream and neufchatel, so I don’t feel too guilty about it…
Yum, I’ve made this three times so far and it’s AMAZING. Love it.
Made this last night, and it was awesome! I also added a half of a small onion, minced, and some lemon juice instead of the wine. When I served it I put some fresh diced tomato up on top, and it was AWESOME! Will definitely make again.
this is SO GOOD!
I didn’t have any wine, so I used apple cider vinegar. Also didn’t have any cream cheese so I just melted 4oz of pepper jack, which was all I had on hand. Very tasty, will definitely make again
Some lemon juice on top at the end is a fantastic finish
I made this for my family the other night, and they loved it! I think it is important to mention that my family includes an 8 year old and a 5 year old:) They normally shy away from spinach, but they adored it in this recipe! My husband enjoyed it as well! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
I’ve been craving spinach and artichoke dip (w/ fried bowties) all day! I wish I could make this tonight.. sigh. It will have to wait until this weekend!
A more sinful variation I think I might try: cheese tortellini instead of regular pasta! Yumm!!
I made this last night and it was delish! Thanks!!
@Alana thanks I’ll look on youtube.
hahah, Megan, I love it! I think cooking w/your man is one of the most fun/sexy things ever. I’ve had a guy cook for me on a first date and I fell HARD. hahahah. Guys definitely need to cook more.
My boyfriend, who literally NEVER cooks, made this for me! OK, so I helped him a bit, but he still did it, which was adorable. We had a blast, and it was delicious. We were really skeptical about the hot sauce, but it was perfect!
Such an amazing recipe! My mom was over for dinner the night I made this and exclaimed “this is just like something you’d order at a restaurant”. She was impressed. So darn yummy even my 11 month old ate it up.
Man, this looks amazing.
I have used this base to stuff potatoes, stir into a hash brown cassaroll, top rice, stuff into won tons, stuff into quessadias (spl?), as a base for spinach enchlidas, and as as part of the spread for a cucumber sandwhich…. sood stufffs
I’ve had a spinach artichoke dip once that had crab in it, and it was delicious! You’re right, it would definitely be good in this. Of course, chicken is more affordable, and would also be wonderful. This recipe makes my tummy growl, since it’s got many of my favorite things.
Desertdj, you can find lots of “how-to” videos on YouTube, for how to prepare the artichoke heart part of a whole artichoke. Bit extra work, but I would imagine it should work just fine.
I’m part of this veggie co-op and this week I got 2 artichokes, anyway to make this using that? Otherwise I have no idea what to do with these artichokes!
This looks amazing!!!! I am adding it to my menu for next week. :)
I would be happy eating this dish with or without the pasta! Sounds like a good (and easy) spinach-artichoke dip recipe. I’ve got this one bookmarked (as I have many of your recipes!)
Great blog!
Yum!!! This is totally dangerous!
If you don’t normally drink wine, I recommend those little bottles of barefoot that they sell in 4 packs. They’re not that much more expensive and then you can have them on hand whenever you need them, for a recipe, or for life! :)
Oh man I want to make this like now! All I need are the artichokes and cream cheese mmmmmmm.