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. ;)
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.
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!