This creamy fettuccine recipe is super easy and comforting. Classic spinach artichoke dip flavors are perfect to turn into a sauce for your favorite pasta. Make it meatless or add some protein like chicken, shrimp, or salmon.
Simple pasta dishes are wonderful for weeknight dinners and we love to make Lemon Pepper Chicken Fettuccine, Chicken Alfredo, or Roasted Garlic Asiago Fettuccine any day.
FETTUCCINE RECIPE
Pasta is my go-to easy dinner when I’m too tired to cook a big dinner. Most recipes for pasta with sauce take about 20 minutes to prepare and you end up with a comforting, delicious dinner fast.
My absolute favorite appetizer is Spinach Artichoke Dip. Spinach, artichoke heats, and cheese is one of those flavor combination that you can incorporate just about anywhere. It is amazing in a cream sauce but I’ve also incorporated these flavors in a quiche, appetizers, and many other recipes.
This great pasta dish is made with an easy, creamy spinach and artichoke sauce and Parmesan cheese. The sauce takes only about 15 minutes and can be cooked at the same time as pasta. You can make a big batch for a family dinner or cut the recipe in half to make fettuccine dinner for 2. Either way, it will take only about 20 minutes.
WHAT KIND OF MEAT CAN I ADD TO THIS FETTUCCINE
It’s very easy to add some protein to this pasta, like chicken, salmon, or shrimp. Meats can be cooked at the same time as sauce and pasta so it won’t take much more time.
Chicken: Preheat the oven to 450° and grease a rimmed baking sheet. Season chicken on both sides and sprinkle fresh grated Parmesan cheese generously on both sides as well. Place it on the baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken.
Salmon: Preheat oven to 425° and line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (or parchment paper). Rub salmon skin with a little bit of oil and place it in the prepared baking sheet, skin down. Season salmon with salt and pepper all over and bake for 20-22 minutes.
Shrimp: Season shrimp all over before cooking it. Preheat a large cooking pan over medium-high heat and add butter. Melt butter and add shrimp. Cook shrimp until pink and opaque on one side and flip them all over. Cook on the other side until just turns pink and opaque. Take shrimp out of the pan right away so it doesn’t keep cooking.
HOW DO I REHEAT CREAMY FETTUCCINE
Fettuccine in sauce is easy to reheat either in the oven or on the stove.
On the stove, preheat a cooking pan over medium heat and add pasta. Cover and let it heat through, stirring once in a while. If the sauce seems a little thick, add some whole milk and stir it until incorporated.
In the oven, preheat the oven to 350 and transfer the pasta into a baking dish or aluminum disposable pan. Spread out pasta evenly and cover the pan with aluminum foil. Heat through for about 15 minutes and check to see if you need to add a little milk or not.
CAN I MAKE THIS FETTUCCINE GLUTEN FREE
Yes, of course! To make this pasta dish gluten free, use gluten free fettuccine. The brand that I prefer is Tinkyada because it tastes the most like regular pasta but you can use your favorite one. The sauce is already gluten free so it doesn’t need any substitutions.
CAN I MAKE THIS FETTUCCINE DAIRY FREE
I anticipate to get this questions because people often wonder how they can make creamy sauce dairy free. If you’re lactose intolerant, you can easily make this sauce lactose free.
Substituting heavy cream: use lactose free whole milk instead of heavy cream. You will want to add a little bit of flour to the sauce to thicken it. Sprinkle about 1/2 – 1 tablespoon of flour over spinach and artichoke, mix it in and then stir in the milk.
To substitute cream cheese: use store-bought vegan cream cheese instead. Note that the texture will be slightly different and a might be a little grainy depending on the brand.
Parmesan cheese: if you’re worried about lactose, Parmesan cheese should be fine because hard cheeses and cheeses aged 6 months and over tend to be lactose free. If you are staying away from dairy, you can skip it or try GoVeggie vegan Parmesan cheese.
SOME MORE RECIPES TO TRY:
Creamy Tortellini with Bacon Asparagus and Peas
Swedish Meatballs Pasta Casserole
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Spinach Artichoke Fettuccine
Ingredients
- 1 lb uncooked fettuccine
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 small yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 8.5 oz can artichoke hearts
- 9 oz frozen spinach defrosted and liquid squeezed out
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1/3 cup vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 oz fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Cook fettuccine al dente and drain off water.
Sauce:
- Preheat a large cooking pan over medium heat and add oil.
- Add thinly sliced onion and saute until starts to brown. Press garlic and add it to the pan. Cook until garlic is fragrant.
- Add artichoke heats and spinach to the pan, stir and season with some salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes.
- Chop cream cheese into pieces and add it to the pan. Let it heat up so it's easier to stir and pour in broth and heavy whipping cream while slowly stirring. Stir until everything is evenly incorporated.
- Bring the sauce to simmer and let it simmer for just a couple of minutes. Taste to see if more salt is needed.
- Stir in grated Parmesan cheese and add cooked fettuccine to the pan.
- Use pasta tongs to stir pasta with sauce and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Colleen Dee says
I made this recipe last night and used fresh spinach instead of the frozen. This recipe is a keeper for sure! I am going to double the recipe for the sauce next time as for my own taste I do like a lot of sauce. I also grated friesh parmesan cheese for it. Be sure and try this one!
LyubaB says
I am so pleased to hear that! 🙂
Angela says
This looks amazing. Must try this for dinner.
LyubaB says
Thank you, Angela! I hope you like it!
Horace C. Elliott says
How does fresh spinach work with this recipe? I do not like to use frozen spinach after reading all thee cautions about washing it as if it contains all kinds of debris and/or chemicals. Also most of the frozen spinach seems to come from other countries other than the USA. Thanks in advance for your reply.
I will tell you that our favorite recipe is the spinach-artichoke crustless quiche. It is excellent and turns out fine every time. Will never make a quiche with crust again!
LyubaB says
You can use fresh spinach just cook it down in step 3 with the artichoke hearts. I hope you enjoy it! And I am so happy to hear you like my quiche!!! 🙂
Denise says
Hello. Cooking this tonight. I only have beef broth but i have chicken broth cubes. Can i used the cubes instead and add water? Thanks!
LyubaB says
Hi Denise,
I wouldn’t use beef stock since it has such a strong flavor so I would go with the chicken broth cubes, they tend to be a little more potent then stock so I would use about one and a half extra water than suggested on your cubes. If it makes more then you need you can save it in the fridge to use later in another recipe like rice.