Creamy Tomato Pasta
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This creamy tomato pasta is easy to make and super delicious. The flavorful sauce is made with fire-roasted tomatoes and just enough cream to make it silky and luxurious. It’s the best 15-minute pasta recipe around!
Just because I don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen doesn’t mean I’m willing to settle for a boring dinner. This creamy tomato pasta proves that in just 15 minutes, you can sit down to a meal that feels special—one you’ll be thinking about long after the dishes are done.
It’s easy to make and incredibly satisfying. Fire-roasted tomatoes bring deep, rich flavor, and a splash of cream turns the sauce silky and luxurious. Simple, fast, and downright delicious, this is my go-to when I want big flavor with minimal effort.
Variations to try
While I love this recipe exactly as written, it’s flexible and easy to adapt and experiment with. Here are a few ideas:
- Spinach: Add several handfuls to the sauce at the end.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: Dice them, then add them to the cream.
- Spicy sausage: Cook at the beginning with the onion. Check out our Italian sausage pasta recipe!
- Chicken: Chop it into bite-sized pieces and add it to the onion.
What to serve with creamy tomato pasta
This pasta recipe is easily a meal in itself. But if you’d like to add some veggies, a simple salad or our bacon kale caesar salad goes great.
You can also serve this pasta as a side to baked salmon, baked pork chops, or juicy pork tenderloin.
Creamy Tomato Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces dried pasta (pictured is cavatappi)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup finely minced onion
- 3 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- 14 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup cream
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 pinch chili flakes (if you like it a little spicy)
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- Sea salt and pepper (to taste)
- ¼ cup torn basil leaves (can use baby spinach)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain then toss with a little olive oil and set aside.8 ounces dried pasta
- While the pasta water is heating, begin the sauce. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.1 tablespoon butter, ½ cup finely minced onion, 3 cloves garlic
- Increase the heat to medium-high then add the can of tomatoes, milk, cream, Italian seasoning, and if using, the chili flakes to the pan and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.14 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes, ½ cup milk, ½ cup cream, ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 pinch chili flakes, 1 cup grated parmesan, Sea salt and pepper
- Add the cooked pasta and the basil leaves to the pan and toss to coat in the creamy tomato sauce.¼ cup torn basil leaves
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Made this last night when I needed a quick meal for the family. It was a hit! Everyone loved it!
Does this recipe work with almond milk and full-fat coconut milk? I’m sensitive to dairy, but I can tolerate the parmesan.
I don’t recommend coconut milk as it will dramatically change the flavor. My favorite dairy-free trick to make things creamy is to mix 2 tablespoons of cashew butter with ¼ cup water. When it’s cooked, it thickens. Or you could try cream cheese if you are ok with that. 🙂