This ultra creamy homemade spinach tomato pasta dish comes together in just 20 minutes – and with only one pot to clean!
The sauce is so thick and creamy – even without ANY heavy cream!
Something you might not know about me is that I am a huge hockey fan – Seriously, ask me any sort of useless hockey trivia and I will probably know the answer without even having to stop and think.
Come playoff season, you can find me with eyes glued to the television and remote in hand, especially if my team has a chance to win.
I’m lucky enough to have my two favorite teams in the playoffs this year (Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals), which makes for one very happy Katie.
I quickly threw together this creamy spinach tomato pasta dish on Monday night as a simple and filling meal I could enjoy before watching the games.
With just one skillet and no need to chop any vegetables or blend ingredients, I made myself a leisurely dinner and cleaned the entire kitchen, all before 7 PM.
For dessert, try these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies or these Black Bean Brownies!
Step 1:
Cook the pasta according to package directions, in salted boiling water.
Drain, but do not rinse.
Step 2:
While the pasta cooks, sauté the garlic for 1 minute, then add the flour, onion powder, and salt.
Whisk in remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
Step 3:
Add the pasta and stir to coat. Taste, and season with salt and pepper if desired.
If the pasta absorbs the sauce and looks a little dry, stir in a little more milk of choice until sauce is creamy again.
I’ve made this recipe two different ways now, and both are equally delicious:
The first option is to use cashew cream. If you haven’t tried my recipe for Homemade Cashew Cream yet, you should definitely check that one out at some point – It’s incredibly versatile and can be used to add richness and creaminess to both sweet and savory dishes, for a fraction of the calories in heavy cream!
The other option, which I tried out on Monday night, is to use unsweetened creamer or a half-&-half-type product. I was recently introduced to Nutpods Dairy-Free Creamer, and I was head-over-slippers in love at first taste of the thick vegan creamer.
(I work from home. Ergo, slippers are my footwear of choice.)
Immediately upon receiving the package, I tried it straight from the bottle… and I can’t say that was the only time I drank it straight from the bottle, either. The creaminess is just too hard to resist! Yes, I was the girl who would drink heavy cream straight from the carton as a child whenever my mom would make homemade whipped cream. She’d turn around, and half the heavy cream container would have disappeared.
If this were an iphone, I’d insert the embarrassed emoji now.
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Creamy Spinach Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz dry pasta – such as farfalle
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil or buttery spread or oil spray
- 1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
- 3 tbsp flour (spelt, white, or sweet rice flour)
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 cup cashew cream or unsweetened creamer – I like Nutpods Dairy Free Creamer
- 1/4 cup Parmesan-type topping or nutritional yeast, optional
- 1 cup unsweetened milk of choice or additional creamer
- 1 can diced tomatoes, or 14 oz diced tomatoes
- 1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup frozen spinach, optional
Instructions
- Bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Boil pasta according to package directions, then drain fully but do not rinse. Meanwhile, sauté the garlic in the oil for 1 minute. (Technically, you can use oil spray, but the oil will give a richer flavor and will help the sauce adhere to the pasta – It amounts to less than a teaspoon per serving, and I really think the flavor will be much better if you use oil instead of spray.) Add the flour, onion powder, and salt. Sauté an additional minute, then whisk in the creamer, milk, oregano, and Parmesan, if using. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Boil and whisk for about a minute, then add the tomato and spinach – You can omit the spinach if desired. Stir until sauce thickens. Add the pasta and stir to coat. Season with salt and pepper if desired. If the pasta absorbs the sauce and looks dry, stir in a little more milk of choice until sauce is creamy again.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
More Healthy Pasta Recipes:
I’m for sure making this for dinner this weekend! It looks SO delicious!! And it makes me even more excited for your savory cookbook! 🙂
Aw thank you 🙂
This sounds so yummy, Katie! I love creamy tomato sauce – pinned!
Mmm pasta…This look very simple and tasty!
Btw, and I’m not trying to point fingers, but you called the creamer “nudpods” in one part of the post and “nutpods” in another. 🙂 It’s actually “nut,” right? Just checking.
Thank you for pointing that out! Fixed!
I’m so excited to try this!! Could I replace the cream with milk?
Ooh that creamer sounds delicious! I am with you on the drinking cream thing. I’m going to check out that brand ASAP! 🙂
Also the pictures are stunning.
I cannot believe how CREAMY the recipe looks! Making this for sure. And your photos alone have sold me on the vegan creamer, which I’ve never seen before. I just put it on the grocery list for my next Whole Foods run!
This looks amazing! I love how creamy and flavorful it looks and that there’s no heavy cream in it. Absolute perfection – can’t wait to make it!
hi where can I find nutpods please? would safeway carry it?
They have a store locator on their site: http://www.nutpods.com/pages/where-to-buy
If there isn’t a location near you, they also have a link on their page so you can get them on amazon. And you can always ask your local Whole Foods to start carrying them!
This sounds delicious! I love your first dessert cookbook and can’t WAIT for your new meal cookbook to come out! Do you have a release date yet?
I’m talking with publishers and trying to find one whose vision for the second book aligns with mine (a focus on savory recipes as opposed to another dessert book)… If all goes well, either late 2017 or early 2018 sound possible 🙂
Made this tonight, was really good! I added a boat load of fresh spinach instead (had some I needed to use!) and saute’d some onion and red bell pepper with the garlic too. Thanks for this recipe, I am definitely making it again!
Made this yesterday, when I got this recipe in the mail I immediately wanted to try it 🙂 When it was done it looked exactly like your pictures ^^ and it was super creamy and dilicious 🙂 I used light soy cream btw and it worked really well 🙂
Thank you for all the great recipes every week! You are amazing! 🙂
YES!!!!! I have missed creamy things since going vegan and I HATE coconut anything so that is out for me, and so many recipes that are vegan call for canned coconut milk to make it thick and creamy so it’s frustrating for someone who hates coconut. This made me so happy! I am all over this recipe!!!
Katie this looks so delicious my mouth is watering right now! I’m also a huge hockey fan because I was born and raised in a hockey town. My boyfriend lives in DC so he’s now a Caps fan too! The next time I visit him I’m secretly wishing I’ll run into you too 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight and it was wonderful. But i used a pound of spaghetti and it was still very saucy. I might have been able to use more pasta.
My super picky, pasta loving 13 year old son liked it a lot.
I’m so glad I have leftovers for a yummy lunch!
My kids love pasta, especially cream-based sauces. This is a great way to offer them a healthier option. I usually make my cream sauces the same way but instead of creamer I add a few pieces of Laughing Cow cheese and Parm. When you add the cooking water from the pasta it metls it, creating a super smooth and creamy sauce!
I’ve always loved the way you plated your pasta recipes, and this is no different! I love this idea of this recipe–the sauce is so creamy and strong in flavors!