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! :)