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This delicious and easy cream cheese pasta can be made in just 10 minutes with 5 ingredients, all in one pot. Ideal for a quick weeknight dinner when you are tired and have only a few ingredients on hand!
A Quick Look: Cream Cheese Pasta
- Cooking time: Only 10 minutes.
- Ingredients: 5 main ingredients, but can add more for variety. Uses only cream cheese for the base – no other types of cheese.
- Servings: 4-6 people, fewer if using as a main dish.
- When to serve: Great for weeknights or when you’re low on groceries.
- Dietary information: Vegetarian diet friendly and also compliant with a migraine diet. Fits a gluten free and dairy free diet with edits.
- Why you’ll love it: This cream cheese pasta is fast and easy, and it can all be made in one pan. It’s also very creamy without any heavy cream. It will become a go-to dinner when you’re limited on groceries and it’s ideal for picky adults or kids.
I love a good, simple dinner especially when I need a meal quickly, and this is the best comfort food recipe you can whip up in minutes. The cream cheese sauce pairs great with chicken, shrimp, or vegetables if you want to customize it to what you like!
This is a great basic pasta, but if you’re looking for something with a deeper flavor, try this Boursin cheese pasta or this crockpot mac and cheese with cream cheese.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
Below are some details on ingredients and substitutions, with full amounts in the recipe card below.
- Cream cheese – Choose a good quality brand like Philadelphia (in their original brick form), Green Valley (lactose-free), Arla, Straus Family Creamery, or Organic Valley. Tillamook is my personal favorite! Choosing one without a lot of gums or stabilizers will result in a much more creamy, silky sauce. This results in a better texture and flavor. Use any leftovers for cream cheese tortilla roll ups or cream cheese toast.
- Pasta – I love to use mafaldine pasta just for the look, but all types of pasta work really well for this dish. Shorter shapes like farfalle, ditalini, fusilli, macaroni, orecchiette, orzo, penne, and rigatoni would be some of my suggestions. The pasta water plays a big ingredient in this recipe, so don’t forget to save it.
- Garlic powder – While you can use a clove or two of fresh garlic, garlic powder is just easy and fast for this type of recipe. This also doesn’t require you to make a sauce in a separate pan to cook the garlic.
- Parsley and lemon zest – While these are optional, they add brightness to the creamy sauce, giving the flavor more depth and complexity. Obviously if you’re making for picky kids, this is not a necessity. A squeeze of lemon is also perfect mixed into this cream cheese sauce, if desired.
Variations
- Want to use Neufchâtel? This lighter, less rich cheese can be substituted, but may require more pasta water to thin it out. Other types of cheese that will work are Boursin or mascarpone. For an Italian cream cheese pasta, try this mascarpone pasta. And for a protein boost, add in
- Gluten free – Use a favorite gluten free pasta like Jovial. Reserve extra pasta water for a richer emulsion.
- Dairy free – Use a dairy free cream cheese or dairy free Boursin cheese.
- HYH diet or low histamine – Omit the lemon zest or lemon juice recommendations.
- Vegetables – This is great with roasted vegetables or cooked mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, spinach, asparagus or broccoli.
- Protein – Stir in cooked chicken, rotisserie chicken, shrimp, or cooked salmon.
How to Make Cream Cheese Pasta
Step 1: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (about 2 tablespoons of kosher salt). Follow the pasta package directions to cook, with al dente recommended.
Step 2: Once cooked, drain the pasta and reserve 1 1/2 cups of pasta water. Don’t let the pasta cool.
Step 3: Place the hot pasta in a large bowl or back into the same pot and add in the cream cheese, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper to taste with 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Begin stirring, melting the cheese slowly into the pasta.
Step 4: Keep stirring and add another 1/4 cup of pasta water to thin the sauce a little more (or as needed) until the desired consistency is reached. Stir in the lemon zest and parsley, if using. Store the rest of the pasta water for leftovers.
Recipe Tip
If your cream cheese sauce turns out greasy and starts to separate, it has been overheated. This shouldn’t happen with the original cooking method, but you need to watch the heat level if reheating in a pan or in the microwave.
Storage and Reheating
Storage – This cream cheese pasta will store well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container. Also store about 1 cup of extra pasta water, as this starchy water can be mixed in to help thin out the sauce as it is reheated. If you accidentally throw out the pasta water, you can use milk or heavy cream.
Freezer – While you can freeze this pasta in Souper Cubes, the texture is not as great as it is fresh. It’s best made into a casserole-style pasta, reheated in the oven. Adding a tablespoon or two of milk or cream can help with the consistency.
Reheating – Reheat the pasta in the microwave in 30 second increments. After the first round of heating, add in 2-3 tablespoons of pasta water and stir. Allow the sauce to soften as you stir. You can also do this in a small pot or saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat.
Serving Suggestions
The perfect side dish for this 10 minute pasta is something green and bright to help compliment the rich flavors. I highly recommend this kale crunch salad, apple fennel salad, or bang bang brussels sprouts.
Easy Pasta Recipes
If you love this easy pasta with cream cheese, you’ll love my creamy broccoli pasta, baked goat cheese pasta, or Boursin orzo bake.
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 review in the recipe card! Don’t forget to tag me @thedizzycook on Facebook and Instagram, and follow along on Pinterest for more great recipes!
Easy Cream Cheese Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 ounces mafaldine pasta or farfalle, other types of pasta can be used as well
- 6 oz cream cheese, cut into large cubes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1½ cups reserved pasta water
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, optional, but recommended
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the malfadine pasta according to package directions, then drain the pasta, reserving at least 1 1/2 cups of pasta water.
- Place the hot pasta in a large bowl and add cream cheese, garlic powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, black pepper (to taste), and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Begin stirring till the cheese melts, adding another ¼ of pasta water thin out the cheese sauce.
- Continue adding ¼ cup of pasta water as needed until the desired consistency is reached (I recommend ¾-1 cup total, and then store the rest for any leftovers to be reheated). Taste and adjust any seasonings and top with fresh parsley and lemon zest, if using.
Notes
- The pasta sauce will thicken as it cools, just add a splash of pasta water to loosen it, or you can add heavy cream if you forgot to save the extra pasta water.
- Cream cheese without a lot of added gums/stabilizers will produce a silky smooth sauce and better flavor. My personal favorite for this is Tillamook brick cream cheese! Because this is such a simple recipe, the quality becomes more noticeable.
- While lemon zest is optional, a little bit of brightness is a great compliment to the creamy sauce if tolerated. You can also add a squeeze of lemon juice over the warm pasta and stir it in.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this recipe and so easy! Mine did thicken up before serving so I just added a touch more pasta water to it and it was so good. Thank you!
Made this one night I didn’t feel like cooking and it came together fast and easy. Kids loved it. Was happy to not have to do the sauce in another pan – great idea!