Every once in a while (okay, a LOT of the time) you need a recipe that you know everyone will love, that you can practically make with your eyes closed, and that is ready fast.
Please meet one of my best friend recipes: Tomato Cream Cheese Pasta!
A little ground beef joins up with your favorite pasta sauce and some cream cheese for a creamy, dreamy pasta sauce that is pretty much guaranteed to be a suppertime hit. And if you have an extra ounce or two of energy, you can swap out the jarred pasta sauce for this heavenly homemade version.
What Is Cream Cheese, Anyway?
Cream cheese is a totally legit cheese, usually made from cow’s milk and cream. It gets its thick and cream texture much the way ricotta cheese does, by separating the curds (the solids) from the whey (the liquid), and most commercial cream cheeses add some kind of stabler to keep it smooth and consistent.
I always have a block of cream cheese in my fridge, just so I can make cream cheese coffee cake or cream cheese stuffed biscuits at the drop of a hat. Or this cream cheese tomato pasta sauce!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Tomato Cream Cheese Pasta!
- Spaghetti or linguine
- Ground beef
- Your favorite tomato pasta sauce
- Cream cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh parsley
And if things are dire, you can skip the Parmesan and the parsley, although I do love them as a garnish.
Here’s How To Make Tomato Cream Cheese Pasta!
- Cook 12 ounces of linguine or spaghetti according to package directions and drain.
- While pasta is cooking, put a pound and a half of ground beef into a large skillet and cook until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Drain the fat and put the meat back in the skillet.
- Add 3 cups of your favorite tomato sauce to the skillet and stir for a couple of minutes over medium heat.
- Add 8 ounces of room temperature cream cheese that you have cleverly cut into cubes and stir until it is all melted into the sauce.
- Add the cooked pasta and toss with tongs until everything is well coated.
- Divide among bowls, garnish with some grated Parmesan and fresh parsley and serve it up!
So, at this point about 15 or 20 minutes have passed and folks are starting to wander into the kitchen wondering what smells so dang delicious!
More tips for Making Tomato Cream Cheese Pasta
Yes and yes. In both cases, the sauce will be a little less rich for obvious reasons, but it will still be creamily scrumptious!
Yep! Just leave out step 2. You can also swap in ground turkey for the ground beef.
Definitely yes you can on the sauce…as always, I recommend making the pasta just before serving if at all possible.
Cream cheese, my friends. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
Tomato Cream Cheese Pasta
Take your weeknight pasta supper from good to fantastic with this easy and speedy recipe for Tomato Cream Cheese Pasta!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 12 ounces spaghetti or linguine
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 3 cups of your favorite tomato pasta sauce
- 8 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes and room temperature
- Parmesan cheese for garnish
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.
- While pasta is cooking, put the ground beef into a large skillet and cook until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Drain the fat and put the meat back in the skillet.
- Add the tomato sauce to the skillet and stir for a couple of minutes over medium heat.
- Add the cream cheese and stir until melted.
- Add the cooked pasta and toss with tongs until everything is well coated.
- Divide among bowls, garnish with Parmesan and parsley and serve it up!
Notes
Need to add something to your kitchen equipment to make this recipe? Below are some of the items we used in the Framed Cooks kitchen to help cook this up. These are affiliate links to things we use and love, which helps to pay for all that bacon I keep buying (without any extra cost to you)! Thanks for using them to keep our kitchen cooking…xoxo!
OTHER SPEEDY PASTA RECIPES WE LOVE!
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