30 Creamy Pasta Recipes You'll Love

Updated April 15, 2020
Meredith Food Studios

These decadent creamy pasta recipes are perfect for a cozy night in. Whether you're in the mood for a velvety mac and cheese (our Panera copycat is always popular), a rich tomato-based sauce (this Penne with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce fits the bill), or a classic Alfredo (because who could deny this Chicken-and-Kale Alfredo Bake?), we've got you covered.

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Cheesy Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower

Credit: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Victoria Cox

Cheesy Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower Recipe

This super easy (and super cheesy!) pasta couldn't be simpler. The whole dinner comes together in about 20 minutes and it calls for just 10 ingredients.

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Skillet Mushroom Mac and Cheese

Credit: Photography: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Anna Hampton; Prop Styling: Thom Driver.

Skillet Mushroom Mac and Cheese Recipe

Mushrooms and aged Gruyère cheese add heft and depth to this one-pan vegetarian main.

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Creamy Four-Cheese Pasta With Spinach

Credit: Jennifer Causey

Creamy Four-Cheese Pasta With Spinach Recipe

Pasta night perfection. Four cheeses team up with gluten-free pasta to deliver a wholesome indulgence. 

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Creamy Kale and Pasta Bake

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez

Creamy Kale and Pasta Bake Recipe

Even self-professed kale haters will fall in love with this cheesy baked pasta with crispy breadcrumbs. Round out the meal with a simple side of roasted carrots.

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Pasta with Miso Cream Sauce

Credit: Victor Protasio

Pasta with Miso Cream Sauce Recipe

This super creamy pasta dish gets nice umami depth from the miso. Cooking the grape tomatoes in a skillet and then stirring in the milk mixture gives the sauce the perfect texture, and the little bit of liquid that comes out of the spinach lightens it up.

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Creamy Spring Pasta Bake (Julia's Pasta Bake)

Credit: Hector Sanchez Styling: Heather Chadduck

Creamy Spring Pasta Bake (Julia's Pasta Bake) Recipe

Creamy and springy, Julia's Pasta Bake is a brunch favorite! Make-ahead: prepare the first two steps in advance and refrigerate until ready to bake. Prepare topping and bake until golden.

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Pasta with Chickpea Sauce

Credit: Caitlin Bensel

Pasta with Chickpea Sauce Recipe

Onions, carrots, and garlic cook in olive oil until buttery soft, then get blended with chickpeas and water to form a deeply savory puree that coats pasta beautifully. It’s a satisfying dish that just happens to be vegan.

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Creamy Pesto-and-Shrimp Penne with Peas

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Creamy Pesto-and-Shrimp Penne with Peas Recipe

Pre-peeled shrimp, frozen peas, and store-bought pesto makes this flavorful pasta come together in minutes. Instead of buying the jarred, shelf-stable version, choose the kind found in the refrigerator case (we like Bear Pond Farm Premium Basil Pesto).

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Creamy Spring Pasta

Credit: Johnny Autry; Styling: Mary Clayton Carl

Creamy Spring Pasta Recipe

This dish is luxuriously creamy, but the pasta soaks up the sauce quickly. Be sure to serve right away. Use refrigerated pasta to cut several minutes off the cook time. Serve with Butter-Roasted Carrots.

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Penne with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce

Credit: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Linda Hirst

Penne with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce Recipe

Simple and delicious, Penne with Spicy Vodka Cream Sauce is perfect with a simple salad and a glass of red.

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Pasta with Shrimp and Tomato Cream Sauce

Credit: Caitlin Bensel; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Anna Hampton

Pasta with Shrimp and Tomato Cream Sauce Recipe

Smaller tomatoes, like cherry or grape, have brighter, fruitier flavors than larger ones. Look for colorful selections such as the orange Sun Gold and the purple Black Cherry. Cherry tomatoes need only a few minutes in a hot pan before they soften and release their naturally sweet juices.

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Creamy Chicken Ravioli Lasagna 

Credit: Meredith Food Studios

Creamy Chicken Ravioli Lasagna  Recipe

Rich, savory, and indulgent, this shortcut ravioli-lasagna hybrid is creamy and full of flavor. The pesto slightly cuts through the Alfredo sauce, and the combination tastes homemade. For more flavor, try using spinach ravioli. Nobody will ever know it’s made with convenience products like rotisserie chicken and jarred sauce. 

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Copycat Panera Bread Mac and Cheese

Credit: Photographer: Antara Sinha; Food Sylist: Briana Riddock

Copycat Panera Bread Mac and Cheese Recipe

The famously cheesy, kid-friendly side item on the Panera Bread menu has garnered popularity among customers of all ages. Now, you can enjoy the rich and saucy goodness of that white cheddar mac and cheese anytime, and in the comfort of your own kitchen.

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Creamy White Bean Fettuccine Alfredo

Credit: Caroline Arcangeli; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Anna Theoktisto

Creamy White Bean Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe

Pureed with flavorful aromatics, white beans shine as a dairy-free hero, delivering creamy, rich body to our vegan Alfredo sauce. Whether you follow a vegan diet, you’ve cut out dairy, or you’re simply looking for a delicious (low-fat) new pasta dish to add into your rotation, you’re going to love this flavorful white bean Alfredo.

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Instant Pot Creamy Baked Ziti

Credit: Meredith Food Studios

Instant Pot Creamy Baked Ziti Recipe

All the heartiness of baked ziti just got easier, thanks to the Instant Pot. Despite coming together in half an hour, this dish is creamy, meaty, and, most importantly, tastes like it’s been simmering all day long. Do not stir—keep the tomatoes and pasta as far from touching the bottom of the Instant Pot as possible. 

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Creamy Sausage and Zoodle Bake  

Credit: Daniel Agee; Prop Styling Kashara Johnson; Food Styling: Mary Claire Britton

Creamy Sausage and Zoodle Bake   Recipe

It may be rich, it may be cheesy, but this vibrant twist on a traditional pasta casserole is also packed with veggies. Beyond swapping out pasta for zucchini noodles—which, no worries, do hold up well in this creamy bake—the casserole boasts roasted butternut squash, savory mushrooms, and caramelized onions.

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Creamy, Light Macaroni and Cheese

Credit: Caitlin Bensel

Creamy, Light Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

We set out to make a serious dent in the calorie and fat content of good old macaroni and cheese, while preserving the creamy comfort-food texture.

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Creamy Chicken Alfredo Casserole

Credit: Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Creamy Chicken Alfredo Casserole Recipe

\In less than an hour you can have a hot, cheesy, pasta and chicken dish ready. Add a tossed green salad and warm crusty bread, and your family will leave what they were doing and crowd around the table for a great family meal.

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Creamy Carrot and Herb Linguine

Credit: Jennifer Causey; Food Styling: Margaret Monroe Dickey; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine

Creamy Carrot and Herb Linguine Recipe

Cream cheese makes this sauce impossibly creamy, coating the noodles with all kinds of silky goodness. The microwave technique we use for the prosciutto crisps it beautifully in less than 2 minutes, with less cleanup than stovetop or oven methods.

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Creamy Lemon Orzo with Peas and Shrimp

Credit: Jennifer Causey; Food Styling: Catherine Crowell Steele; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine

Creamy Lemon Orzo with Peas and Shrimp Recipe

We apply the risotto cooking method to pasta instead of rice for an easy, comforting main dish. It also saves time--just 15 minutes compared to the 20 to 30 minutes required for risotto. We recommend serving this main with Caramelized Baby Carrots.

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Creamy Linguine with Peas, Carrots, and Prosciutto

Credit: Jennifer Causey; Food Styling: Catherine Crowell Steele; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke

Creamy Linguine with Peas, Carrots, and Prosciutto Recipe

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German Spaghetti

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German Spaghetti Recipe

This creamy dish is a great option for those nights you feel like doing “something different” with pasta. Smoky sausage deliciously balances tangy mustard and vinegar, while fresh herbs contribute brightness in this decadent spaghetti dinner. 

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Cajun Shrimp Alfredo

Credit: Jen Causey; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Sarah Epperson

Cajun Shrimp Alfredo Recipe

Kick up the weeknight dinner routine with this easy (and cheesy!) Cajun Shrimp Alfredo. Incredibly creamy and offering a mouthwatering Cajun kick, this just-spicy-enough pasta dish delivers major flavor with minimal effort. We opted to keep it classic using fettuccine noodles, but any pasta shape will work great! 

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Fettuccine Alfredo with Leeks, Peas, and Bacon

Credit: Antonis Achilleos

Fettuccine Alfredo with Leeks, Peas, and Bacon Recipe

You will never buy jarred Alfredo sauce again when you see how easy it is to make homemade. Pasta with homemade Alfredo sauce is a simple weeknight meal that feels downright indulgent, especially when bacon is involved. Slowly simmer the cream and be sure not to boil it or it will scorch.

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Creamy Fettuccine with Porcini Mushrooms

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Cindy Barr

Creamy Fettuccine with Porcini Mushrooms Recipe

Pasta needs to cook at a full boil to ensure an even al dente texture. The sauce, made of cream, porcini, and porcini soaking liquid, simmers and reduces for a short time to thicken it enough to cling to the pasta.

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Chicken-and-Kale Alfredo Bake

Credit: Greg DuPree

Chicken-and-Kale Alfredo Bake Recipe

A creamy, Parmesan-laced sauce is a no-brainer for an easy, cheesy pasta bake. Skip the jar and make your own with sautéed shallot and fresh lemon, picking up all the flavor from the same pan used to cook the chicken. If you have yet to try whole-grain pasta, this dish is a fantastic introduction.

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Spring Vegetable Pasta Alfredo

Credit: Jennifer Causey

Spring Vegetable Pasta Alfredo Recipe

Our seasonal pasta toss is made luscious and rich with a lighter take on alfredo sauce. Instead of using heavy cream, we employ flour-thickened 2% milk enriched with cream cheese. We also switch from traditional Parmesan to more robust pecorino Romano, which allows us to use less cheese while still achieving the same flavor impact.

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Chicken Alfredo Soup

Credit: Kelsey Hansen; Food Styling: Adam Dolge; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Chicken Alfredo Soup Recipe

Inspired by the favorite pasta dish, this creamy Chicken Alfredo Soup comes together in no time with the help of a few store-bought shortcuts. Rotisserie chicken, frozen peas, and a jar of Alfredo sauce, which serves as the backbone of this highly comforting pot of soup, keep your hands-on prep to a minimum.

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Creamy Lobster Pappardelle

Credit: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Mary Clayton Carl

Creamy Lobster Pappardelle Recipe

For a dinner that’s sure to impress, this creamy lobster pasta is the move. An admittedly pricey ingredient, lobster instantly fancies up any meal. That said, opting for lobster tails—versus whole live lobsters—brings the cost (and the intensity of prep work required) down.

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Classic Fettuccine Alfredo 

Credit: Meredith Food Studios

Classic Fettuccine Alfredo  Recipe

This homemade Alfredo sauce clings to the noodles, all without producing a starchy taste. Remove the pasta while it’s still al dente, or slightly firm, and don’t skip the freshly chopped parsley. Dried egg fettuccine is readily available in the pasta aisle in the grocery store—it costs a bit more, but it’s worth it.

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