Easy Cream Cheese Pasta

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Our favorite cream cheese pasta dish is made with a handful of ingredients and is ready in about 15 minutes. A quick dinner idea, one of those pasta dishes that everybody loves.

Make this easy cream cheese pasta recipe tonight! It’s comforting, incredibly flavorful, and cheap, and the kind of dish bound to make your whole family happy. A filling and tasty meal made with pantry ingredients, a great choice for a busy weeknight. 

You can make the dish your own by adding other simple ingredients. See below for some suggestions, or add anything else you like. 

Check out more favorite pasta and cream cheese combinations: this creamy mac and cheese, this comforting gnocchi bake, or this mac and cheese without milk.

Basic ingredients

• Pasta: You can use any shape you like, short or long. I often use linguine or spaghetti, but just as often, I cook this dish with farfalle, penne, or fusilli.
• Philadelphia cream cheese or a similar brand. Full fat is best (See Expert Tips). 
• Milk: Whole or semi-skimmed milk, enough to thin the sauce slightly (See Expert Tips).

• Fresh garlic: Use to taste; I use at least 2 garlic cloves. Grate one last clove into the heated sauce before adding the noodles for a more pronounced garlicky taste.
• Parmesan: I always recommend freshly grated. However, Parmesan is optional; the dish will still taste great without it.
• Fresh herbs like basil or parsley. Alternatively, add Italian seasoning or other dried herbs to the cheese-milk mixture.
• Other ingredients: Olive oil, fine sea salt or kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

How to make pasta with cream cheese?

• Cook the pasta al dente according to the package instructions in a large pot of generously salted water. Don’t forget to reserve some cooking water before draining.
• In the meantime, grate the garlic, and the Parmesan cheese, chop the herbs, and mix the cheese with the milk, salt, and pepper. Keep all the ingredients separated.

• Sauté the garlic on low heat for about half a minute; it should be golden but not browned or burned (1). 
• Add the dairy mixture and stir well until smooth (2). Add herbs and Parmesan and stir again (3,4).
• Add linguine and a little of the starchy pasta water, a splash of water at first, just enough to make the sauce creamy and help it coat the noodles.
• Adjust the taste of the creamy sauce with salt and pepper.

Customize the cream cheese pasta recipe

• Tomatoes: Remove the seeds of 2 medium tomatoes (or some cherry tomatoes) and chop them finely. Sauté the tomatoes with the garlic for about 1-2 minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients. The garlic won’t brown that quickly if cooked with the tomatoes, so you can cook it for 1-2 minutes without burning it.

• Anchovies or tuna: Sauté 3-4 finely chopped anchovies with the garlic until they almost dissolve. If using tuna, drain the can and add the tuna to the dish together with the cheese and milk mixture. Stir well to break the filets and combine.

• Add heat: Sauté a finely chopped chili with the garlic, or add some red chili flakes, red pepper flakes, or a little bit of cayenne pepper to the dairy mixture.

• Vegetables: Add some peas or finely chopped broccoli to the cooking pasta during the last 2 minutes of the cooking time.

• More things you could add: Sun-dried tomatoes, cooked chicken breast or leftover rotisserie chicken, ham, bacon, shrimp or sausage, roasted vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower or peppers, sauteed mushrooms, green beans, or asparagus, chopped spinach, kale or green onion.

Expert Tips

• The amount of milk and cooking water you need will depend on the sort of cream cheese you are using. A block of cheese is stiffer and will require a bit more liquid to make it smooth (you should also remove it from the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking). The cheese sold in a tub is creamier and softer.

• Time management: Prepare all the ingredients while the pasta is cooking but only start heating the sauce a few minutes before the noodles are cooked. This way, you will have everything ready simultaneously and combine all the ingredients while they are still hot. 

Recipe FAQ

How to serve cream cheese pasta?

It would be best if you served this cream cheese pasta dish immediately. 

Serve with a simple green salad with vinaigrette, tomato or cucumber salad, vegetable sticks, roasted vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, zucchini, or a roasted veggie mix.

Serve some Air Fryer Asparagus, Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Asparagus, Beet Apple Salad, or Honey Sriracha Brussels Sprouts on the side.

For a more filling meal, offer some garlic bread or breadsticks.

More quick creamy pasta recipes

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