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posted by Katyaon Mar 19, 202437 comments »
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10 reviewsThis 5-star-rated Spinach and Sundried Tomato Pasta recipe gets rave reviews every single time! It comes together in about 20 minutes with sun-dried tomato pesto, baby spinach, and pasta.
this recipe
Jump to:
- Reasons to Love Sundried Tomato Spinach Pasta
- Video: How to Make Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Spinach
- Ingredients for Pasta with Spinach and Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Substitutions
- How to Make Spinach and Sundried Tomato Pasta
- Pasta Mix-In Ideas
- Recipe Tips
- How to Serve
- Storing Leftovers
- Recipe FAQs
- You May Also Like…
- Spinach Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
This pasta dish serves well with any green salad tossed in Greek salad dressing for one perfect meatless meal!
Reasons to Love Sundried Tomato Spinach Pasta
- Busy night dinner: This 20-minute sun-dried tomato pasta recipe is made for busy weeknights just like our 3-ingredient alfredo sauce!
- Minimal ingredients: It all starts with four ingredient sun-dried tomato pesto made in a food processor and then combined with hot Gemelli pasta. Plus, fresh baby spinach and creamy Parmesan cheese are added in.
- Great leftovers: It’s heaven in a bowl. It truly is. Serve it with a chopped autumn salad and you’ve got dinner in no time. Plus it makes tasty leftovers for lunch.
Video: How to Make Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Spinach
Ingredients for Pasta with Spinach and Sun Dried Tomatoes
You just need 7 ingredients total and you’re good to go. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
- Pasta: I like using Gemelli cut pasta but any short-cut pasta will work.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: For this recipe, you’ll need sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil and not the dry variety.
- Garlic: Use fresh peeled garlic for the best flavor.
- Fresh basil: Fresh basil makes the best pesto.
- Red pepper flakes: Just a 1/4 teaspoon is enough to balance out the sweetness and add a touch of heat to the pesto.
- Baby spinach: I like using fresh baby spinach for this recipe.
- Parmesan cheese: Freshly grated Parmesan cheese is the way to go.
Substitutions
Think beyond basil and Parmesan cheese. The best part about pesto is that it can be made in a variety of ways.
- Greens: Instead of basil, try adding tender greens such as arugula, parsley, or mint.
- Cheese: Pecorino Romano, aged Asiago, or manchego cheese are all hard and salty cheeses suitable for pesto.
- Nuts: Add in your favorite nuts, such as almonds, pumpkin seeds, or pine nuts. Just make sure to buy roasted nuts or roast them yourself. It’ll add delicious rich flavor to the pesto.
- A Few Other Things: Fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, or balsamic vinegar is great for brigning up the pesto. Also to switch up the flavors, consider adding jarred artichokes or olives.
How to Make Spinach and Sundried Tomato Pasta
You’ll need a food processor or high-powered blender for the pesto and a large pot for cooking the pasta.
Step 1: Pulse the sun-dried tomatoes and their oil in a food processor until chopped small.
Step 2: Add the basil, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, and pulse until the mixture is thick and has a paste-like consistency
Step 3: To the cooked pasta, stir in sun-dried tomato pesto, spinach, and some of the pasta water.
Step 4: Add Parmesan cheese. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Pasta Mix-In Ideas
Once you have this recipe down, you can spruce it up even further with these additional mix-ins:
- Seafood – scallops, grilled garlic shrimp, or lemon plank salmon
- Baked chicken parmesan– or any other type of chicken works here too!
- Garlic breadcrumbs – similar to chicken parmesan meatballs
- Something creamy – a splash of half and half or cream cheese
- Veggies – mushrooms or broccolini
- White beans
Recipe Tips
Follow these tips and tricks to make the best pasta with sundried tomatoes and spinach:
- Add pasta water. Save some of the pasta water to add to the pan of pasta and pesto to thin it out.
- Don’t overcook the pasta. Cook the pasta until it’s no longer crunchy in the center (al dente) and then drain. You don’t want it to get mushy at all, but rather, still have a bit of a bite.
- Use baby spinach. Use fresh baby spinach rather than full-grown spinach. It’s more tender and wilts better in this dish.
- Switch out the pasta water. Replace the pasta water with chicken broth, vegetable broth, or a splash of white wine.
How to Serve
This easy recipe is perfect for any busy weeknight. Pair it with tasty side dishes like Grapefruit Avocado Salad, Summer Squash Salad, Caprese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms, or Chopped Antipasto Salad.
Storing Leftovers
Leftover pasta with pesto that is properly stored, will lastfor 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.
It is best to warm up pasta on the stovetop with little water, chicken broth, or even white wine. Simply add cold pasta to a saucepan or sauté pan with the liquid of choice and stir until warmed through.
Recipe FAQs
What kind of pasta is best for this dish?
This one-pot pasta recipe uses Gemelli pasta, but you can use your favorite pasta like rigatoni, penne, or mini farfalle.
Can I use store-bought pesto sauce for tomato and spinach pasta?
This easy pasta recipe includes the process to make sun-dried tomato pesto in just a few minutes. If you’d rather buy it from the store, or you already have some in your pantry, you can use that instead.
Is this sun-dried tomato and spinach pasta spicy?
This recipe uses red pepper flakes in the sauce which makes gives it a little bite. You can make it more or less spicy by adding more chili flakes or leaving them out altogether.
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If you try Spinach and Sundried Tomato Pasta, please leave a star rating and let me know how you like the recipe in the comments below.
Spinach Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 10 reviews
- Author: Katya
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Simmer
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Flavor loaded 20-minute pasta with sun-dried tomato pesto and fresh baby spinach is SO easy to make! It makes the perfect meatless dinner or quick side dish for those busy back to school nights.
Ingredients
UnitsScale
- 16 oz. gemelli or other short shaped pasta
- 1 (8.5 oz.) jar oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed, plus extra for garnish
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach, packed
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions until al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, in a bowl of a food processor, pulse the tomatoes and their oil until finely chopped. Add garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pulse until the mixture resembles a paste-like consistency. It will be thick and you may have to stop the food processor to scrape down the sides.
- Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the heat and stir in the spinach, sun-dried tomato pesto, and reserved cooking water. Stir until the spinach has wilted. Off heat, stir in the Parmesan cheese. Taste for salt and pepper and add more if needed.
- Serve garnished with basil and more Parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Pesto: Pesto can also be made in a high-powered blender. You will just have to stop and scrape down the sides a few times.
- Leftovers: Leftover pasta stored in an airtight container will last for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator. Reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat with a little water, chicken broth, or white wine.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 243
- Sugar: 4.1 g
- Sodium: 57.8 mg
- Fat: 1.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 47.2 g
- Protein: 9.7 g
- Cholesterol: 1.8 mg
Recipe originally published September 2019 but since been updated with new information.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Cuisine Diet Fall Italian Main Dishes Recipes Season Vegetarian Videos Winter
published on Mar 19, 2024
37 comments Leave a comment »
About the author
Hi! I'm Katya -- a former corporate paralegal turned full-time recipe developer and blogger behind Little Broken. Here you'll find family-friendly and seasonal recipes made from real ingredients.
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37 comments on “Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta”
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imsen — Reply
Delicious! It’s a fairly easy and quick recipe that never fails.
Made this last night and it is going to be a regular. My hubby (who doesn’t like pasta) devoured it! -
Tianna — Reply
Amazing pasta! Made it using fresh basil from the garden. I’d just recommend to keep some pasta water when stirring the pesto into the pasta to make the sauce a bit more runny- tastes like it came straight from the restaurant!
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Katya — Reply
I’m so happy to hear that ! Thank you for the feedback Tianna.
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Isshu Mittal — Reply
This was an awesome dish easy to make and the flavor was delicious. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
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Kerry, Birmingham UK — Reply
Came across your recipe by googling quick pasta ideas with sundried tomatoes. Wow it was delicious! I added chopped black olives to go on top. Thanks for sharing with the world. I’ll be making this again!
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Katya — Reply
Thank you Kerry! So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
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Melissa — Reply
Great quick dinner option! My 8 year old loves penne pasta so I opted for penne, ran out of basil…but still delicious as I had the rest of the ingredients!! Next time I think it would be delicious with a shwarma chicken that I make and I may throw in some olives!! Thank you for sharing such a flavourful and versatile recipe!!
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Katya — Reply
Thank you ! So happy to hear you enjoyed it.
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Olga — Reply
perfect meal for quick dinners!
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Sam — Reply
I’m really excited to try this recipe! One question though (as a uni student that likes to bulk make and freeze thins) how well would this recipe store in the freezer/after defrosting?
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Katya — Reply
It could possibly work. I’ve never tried freezing this particular pasta dish and I think it’ll do okay. The spinach might turn a little darker but other than that it should work.
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Portia — Reply
This recipe is fantastic! Fast and easy. I threw in a handful of pumpkin seeds. My picky toddler ate two portions and some off my plate too!
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Katya — Reply
That’s awesome! Thanks for feedback Portia.
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Lori Maguire — Reply
Hi…just wondering if would be as good without the parmesan? Trying to stay dairy free but this looks so amazingly delicious!
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Katya — Reply
You can omit the cheese but to be honest it kind of ties everything together at the end.
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Lisa — Reply
I made this vegan with nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan and it was really delicious!
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Diane — Reply
This recipe is absolutely delicious and quick to make! I pulsed half the jar of sun dried tomatoes (with the oil) and left the other half as is. This is also delicious as a cold salad!!
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Katya — Reply
That’s great! So glad you enjoyed it.
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Tricia — Reply
Love this recipe! It was easy to prep and follow. I didn’t use the basil, but next time I will ! It is delicious ????
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Katya — Reply
Thank you Tricia! So glad to hear that you enjoyed it.
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Katherine Velazquez — Reply
Excellent! Definitely adding it to our regular family menu recipes.
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Katya — Reply
Thank you!
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Rosanna — Reply
So excited to try this. I do not have a food processor. What is the best way to make pesto without one?
Will add to my christmas wish list:)Thank you!
Rosanna-
Katya — Reply
Hi Rosanna! A blender would be the next best choice. Hope you enjoy this pasta!
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Stephanie — Reply
What can I do if my sundried tomatoes are not in oil?
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Katya — Reply
Hi Stephanie: I think if you re-hydrate them in little bit of warm water they should work just as well. Thanks!
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Katya — Reply
and you may also need to add little more olive oil to the pesto
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Alma @ Freelance Content Writer — Reply
This looks amazing, and resembles it could be prepared in no time at all looks really delicious! A lot flavor for such a simple dish! I am making this for dinner tonight, with a side of rosted shellfishes.
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Katya — Reply
It really is easy to make and the flavors are outstanding. I hope you enjoyed it for dinner tonight!
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Natasha — Reply
This looks amazing, and looks like it can be prepared in no time! I am making this for dinner tonight, with a side of roasted Brussels sprouts 🙂
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Natasha — Reply
I made this and it is soooo good!!!! I live that it’s meatless. Crazy good ????
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Katya — Reply
Yeay! So happy to hear that and thank you for your feedback!
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Katya — Reply
Thank you so much Natasha! It is quite an easy pasta dish and I really hope you enjoy it. (p.s. brussels sprouts sounds sooo good)
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Katie — Reply
This was really good! So much flavor for such a simple recipe! It will definitely be added to our rotation.
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Katya — Reply
Thank you Katie! Makes me happy that you loved it enough to add to your rotation 🙂
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Platt College — Reply
The pictures really make this dish look yummy. Must try this!
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Katya — Reply
Thank you! Hope you enjoy it.
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