Cream cheese pasta

What's needed to make cream cheese pasta?

This quick and easy pasta recipe is made with a handful of simple ingredients that are shown below:

Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions

1. Pasta:  I have used penne, feel free to use your favorite pasta to make this dish.
2. Cream cheese: You can increase the quantity given in the recipe card if you want to make the pasta more creamy and cheesy. Cream cheese that comes in a tub like Philadelphia cream cheese is a better option for this dish. However, I shot this recipe during covid period and I could only find cream cheese cubes at that time so I used them. There was no difference in taste or texture of the final dish, just mixing starch water with cream cheese from the tub is easier than mixing it with cheese cubes. You can use a blender to make this step easier. You can use a block of cream cheese also. Full-fat cream cheese and reduced-fat cream cheese both are fine to be used.
3. Spinach: Fresh or frozen spinach both are fine. I have used chopped frozen spinach. If you are using baby spinach, chopping is not required. If using baby spinach, add it with cooked pasta.
4. Sweet corn kernels: Fresh, canned, or frozen all are fine. If using fresh corn, the cooking time will increase.
5. Olive oil: Butter can be used too. It will make the pasta more creamy and buttery.
6. Garlic: I have used minced fresh garlic as it's more flavorful, you can also use garlic powder.
7. Seasonings: To keep the flavors simple, I have used only red pepper flakes and black pepper to flavor this dish. Mixed Italian seasoning can also be used in this recipe.

How to make (step-by-step instructions)?

This is one of the simplest pasta recipes you will ever find. It gets ready within minutes and the only step that takes time is boiling the pasta.

The four main steps of the recipe are- cooking pasta, making an easy cream cheese pasta sauce, sautéeing vegetables, and then mixing everything.

You can check the step-by-step process with photo shots below:

Step 1: Cook pasta al dente as per the instructions given on its packet.

Step 2: Just before straining pasta, reserve around 2 cups of starchy pasta water and keep the strained pasta aside.

Step 3: Put cream cheese in a bowl. Add pasta water, around ¼ cup at a time.

Step 4: Whisk until smooth to make a cream cheese sauce. Keep the sauce aside.

Step 5: Heat oil in a pan. Add minced garlic and saute for a minute.

Step 6: Add sweet corn kernels, chili flakes, salt, and ground black pepper.

Step 7: Saute until the corn gets cooked.

Step 8: Add spinach and saute until the leaves get wilted.

Step 9: Add cream cheese sauce

Step 10: Cook for around 2 minutes, stirring continuously.

Step 11: Add cooked pasta.

Step 12: Mix until everything gets combined. If the sauce is too thick add pasta water, cream, or milk.

Your delicious pasta with cream cheese is ready to be enjoyed!

Serving cream cheese pasta

You can serve some easy fresh crunchy salad like this fattoush , Mediterranean lentil salad , or a simple green salad on the side with this creamy pasta dish.

It can also be served with crispy garlic bread, oven-baked potato wedges, or roasted vegetables.

Or, just serve it with a bowl of comforting soup like this roasted cauliflower soup, zucchini potato soup, or a simple vegetarian potato soup to enjoy your comforting, delicious, and easy meat-free meal.

Storing and reheating tips

To store, transfer the leftover pasta to an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days.

The best way to reheat pasta with cream cheese is in the microwave. For that, transfer the dish to a microwave-safe container, add a splash of water, and microwave for a minute. Take out the dish and stir. Keep it back inside the microwave and continue heating until evenly heated.

To reheat on the stovetop, transfer the pasta to a pan with a lid. Add around ¼ cup of water and put on the lid of the pan. Reheat covered for a few minutes until evenly heated. Gently stir after every 2-3 minutes.

Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions

1. Don't overcook the pasta otherwise, it will turn mushy spoiling the whole dish. Cook it al dente.
2. For pasta water, take out the water just before straining. If you collect the water at an earlier stage there won't be enough starch in it. This starch helps in making a nice thick sauce.
3. Instead of pasta water, you can also use cream and milk to mix with cream cheese to make the sauce.
4. If you like even simpler pasta dishes, skip spinach and corn. Pasta in a simple cream cheese sauce with just some salt, pepper, and garlic also tastes awesome.
5. For extra flavor, you can also add garlic powder and onion powder to this dish.
6. To add more taste and texture, you can add cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, green peas, green beans, carrots, spring onion, and other vegetables of your choice. 
7. For extra rich and creamy pasta, you can use butter instead of olive oil.
8. Cheese lovers may add more variety of grated cheese to the sauce.
9. You can also use this dish to make cream cheese pasta bake.
10. To make a gluten-free version of this dish, use gluten-free pasta. All the other ingredients used in it are gluten-free.

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