Recipe

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This pasta with spinach is buttery, garlicky, and tossed with sautéed greens for a quick meal everyone loves.

Spinach with pasta and all the mouthwatering flavors of garlic and olive oil? Yes please.

Spinach Pasta

This pasta with spinach uses the same garlicky foundation in my epic rotisserie chicken pasta recipe and gives it a simple, veggie-forward twist.

No blender, no pesto, no extra steps. Just cook your pasta and whip up the spinach mixture, then toss it all together in minutes.

Ingredients

The starter of this pasta is a sauce made with olive oil, butter, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Then, you only need chopped spinach, pasta, and Parmesan cheese.

How to Make Pasta with Spinach

The simple steps and tricks to make this healthy dinner in a flash are:

Cook the pasta, and once done, reserve some pasta water. While the pasta cooks, make the spinach mixture.
Make the sauce by sautéing olive oil, butter, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes until the garlic is golden but not burned. Add the spinach and cook for just one minute. It wilts fast!
Combine the cooked pasta with the spinach mixture and Parmesan cheese. Add a little hot pasta water to thin out the sauce.

Bulk up the Pasta

To make this pasta more satisfying, add chopped rotisserie chicken, leftover baked salmon, or your favorite sausages, in slices. These simple additions make pasta high in protein and even tastier!

Simple Pasta with Spinach

Servings: 6

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 20

This pasta with spinach is buttery, garlicky, and tossed with sautéed greens for a quick meal everyone loves.

5 from 4 votes

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Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
4 cups finely chopped spinach
16 ounces pasta

Instructions

Cook the pasta:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package directions. While the pasta cooks, make the spinach mixture.
Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water, drain, and return the pasta to the pot.

Sauté:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the olive oil, butter, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Cook the mixture for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until the garlic is golden and fragrant, but not burned.
Reduce the heat to low, add the chopped spinach, and quickly sauté until just coated with olive oil, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. It doesn't take long to wilt the spinach.

Combine:

Pour the spinach mixture over the pasta, add the Parmesan cheese, and toss with kitchen tongs until all the pasta is coated. To thin out the spinach mixture, add a little of the reserved pasta water (making sure it's still hot) while tossing to coat.