This Simple Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta is quick and easy to make. It's made with just a few ingredients and is done in under 30 minutes. This will be your new favorite weeknight dinner!
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Pasta is the ultimate comfort food and is the perfect meal to make on those busy weeknights. This creamy tomato spinach pasta recipe will be a hit with the whole family and will quickly become a staple in your household.
The creamy sauce is easy to whip up and is ready by the time your pasta is cooked. It's made with simple ingredients like your favorite jarred pasta sauce and coconut milk. If you love simple pasta recipes you will also love my Spicy Rigatoni with Ground Pork and Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta.
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🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Under 30-minute recipe. This meal comes together in just 20 minutes and requires minimal prep work.
- Just 10 ingredients! This creamy pasta uses just 10 ingredients and that includes oil and spices!
🥘Ingredients
- Pasta. I used rigatoni for this recipe but you can use your favorite pasta. This sauce would pair perfectly with penne or ziti.
- Chicken sausage. I've made this creamy tomato sauce pasta with both sweet Italian and hot Italian sausage. Use either kind or your preferred sausage.
- Pasta sauce. Use your go-to store-bought pasta sauce. Any kind will work in this recipe.
- Coconut milk. A can of full-fat coconut milk will make this sauce creamy and dairy-free. However, you can also use heavy cream.
- Spinach. I recommend using fresh baby spinach over frozen spinach like in creamy Tuscan chicken as frozen spinach holds a lot of liquid when defrosted.
See the recipe card below for quantities and remaining ingredients.
📖Substitutions & Variations
Make it vegan. Leave out the sausage and the parmesan cheese. Use a plant-based sausage or another meat alternative instead or skip it altogether. Top the pasta with vegan cheese when serving, if desired.
Make it vegetarian. For a vegetarian dish, skip the sausage and replace it with a plant-based alternative. Or skip it altogether!
Add veggies. Feel free to add additional veggies to the pasta. Add onions, mushrooms, zucchini and/or broccoli.
🔪Instructions
Step 1: Cook pasta according to the package directions reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
Step 2: Cook diced chicken sausage in oil over medium heat until browned.
Step 3: Next, pour in the jar of pasta or marinara sauce and bring it to a slight boil. Add ½ of the can of coconut milk to the sauce and add Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper. If the sauce seems too thick, add in some of the reserved pasta water.
Step 4: Stir the sauce together and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the spinach and pasta and turn off the heat. Stir to combine everything. Serve immediately with grated Parmesan and enjoy!
👩🏻🍳Sarah's Top Tips
- Don't forget to reserve pasta water before draining because you may need to thin out the sauce.
- Cook the pasta until it is al dente. It will continue to cook slightly more when tossed with the sauce. I recommend cooking it for 1 minute less than the lowest suggested cooking time on the package.
- Do NOT rinse your cooked pasta with cold water after cooking. You need the starchiness of cooked pasta so the sauce will stick.
🥗Serving
I like to serve this simple pasta recipe with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Feel free to add some crusty bread with butter on the side and a side salad such as grilled zucchini salad or arugula salad with pears.
🥣Storage & Reheating
The creamy tomato pasta sauce can be stored in the fridge with the pasta for about 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
If you want to freeze the sauce, freeze it without the pasta in an airtight container for about 3 months. To defrost, place in the fridge overnight or for a few hours at room temperature. The sauce can be reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop.
More Pasta Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below—I’d love to hear how it turned out! THANK YOU!
Recipe
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Simple Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta
See the full post for extra tips and photos
Ingredients
- 8-10 ounces pasta of choice, (rigatoni, penne, ziti)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound chicken sausage, diced
- 1 (24 ounce) jar of pasta or marinara sauce
- ½ can full fat coconut milk, shaken
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2-3 cups baby spinach
- 2-3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, optional for serving
Instructions
- Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Once the water is boiling, add pasta and cook according to the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, drain and set the pasta aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the diced chicken sausage and cook for 3-5 minutes until slightly browned.
- Next, pour in the jar of pasta or marinara sauce and bring the sauce to a boil. Shake the can of coconut milk to mix the coconut cream and water together. Add ½ of the can of coconut milk to the sauce and add in Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper. If the sauce seems too thick, add in some of the reserved pasta water.
- Stir the sauce and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the spinach and pasta and turn off the heat. Stir to combine everything together.
- Serve immediately with grated Parmesan, if desired and enjoy!
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Sarah's Tips
- Don't forget to reserve pasta water before draining because you may need to thin out the sauce.
- Cook the pasta until it is al dente. It will continue to cook slightly more when tossed with the sauce. I recommend cooking it for 1 minute less than the lowest suggested cooking time on the package.
- Do NOT rinse your cooked pasta with cold water after cooking. You need the starchiness of cooked pasta so the sauce will stick.
- The pasta sauce can be stored in the fridge with the pasta for about 3 days.
- Reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
- If you want to freeze the sauce, freeze it without the pasta in an airtight container for about 3 months. To defrost, place in the fridge overnight or for a few hours at room temperature. The sauce can be reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop.
James B. says
I love a good creamy tomato sauce, and this beats any sauce you might buy on its own! I love the simple combination of a quality jarred sauce combined with fresh ingredients. I went with heavy cream, and the sauce partners up nicely with the chicken sausage. I’m going to try sweet Italian next time! I will also use this sauce to pour over some chicken breasts and serve them over the veggie pasta.
Sarah Holt says
Thank you James! This would be great on chicken breasts, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Sisley White says
So delicious and easy to make. Thank you for linking up to #CookBlogShare x
Sarah Holt says
thanks Sisley!
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
This looks delicious, I love a good pasta sauce!
Sarah Holt says
Me too, thanks so much Kat 🙂