Creamy Penne Pasta Recipe (2024)

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Easy, quick and inexpensive, this creamy penne pasta recipe makes a delicious meatless family meal that uses 6 ingredients and it’s ready in less than 15 minutes.

This is another terrific and easy pasta to add to your arsenal, ready?

There’s few things that can rival the feeling of satisfying a craving for some creamy pasta. It’s one of those comforting family meals that is filling, delicious, and so easy to whip up with minimal ingredients.

I’m all in with the silky sauce made of aromatic garlic, rich cream cheese, parmesan and a bit of the pasta starchy water. I’ve used the same combination in these yummy cream cheese pasta and tomato pasta with cream cheese, and they are a huge hit in my house.

In this recipe, thanks to fresh lemon juice and zest, not only is the pasta sauce quick to make and so beautifully creamy, but it’s also fresh, tangy, and full of flavor.

Trust me, this is the creamy penne pasta recipe that you’ll want tokeepinyour back pockets for busy weeknight meals. Everyone will come back for seconds!

List of the ingredients

• Penne pasta
• Butter or olive oil
• Garlic
• Cream cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• Lemon
• Salt & pepper

How to make this creamy penne pasta recipe

(Note: this is a quick description,the full recipe is at the bottom of the page)

• Gently cook the garlicwith the butter until smells good.
• Cook pasta untilal denteand reserve some of the starchy pasta water.

• Add cream cheese, pasta water, parmesan, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper to the skillet.
• Stir until nice and smooth.

• Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet.
• Toss until well combined and nicely coated. Enjoy!

Recipe notes

Ingredients for this creamy penne pasta

Butter:salted or unsalted butter works great, but olive oil works well too.

Garlic:go for fresh garlic, not garlic powder. It’s an essential flavour base for this simple pasta sauce.

Penne: I used good-quality penne pasta, and if you love those chunky tubes and their sauce-capturing ridges check this collection penne pasta recipes. But you’re welcome to use another similar pasta shapes if you wish.

Cream cheese:full-fat soft cream cheese is the way to go for the best creamy pasta sauce. I used Philadelphia, but whichever brand you prefer will do. And if you have any cream cheese leftovers, why don’t you make some yummy sweet cream cheese dip?

Parmesan: it addsumami(savoury flavour) into this otherwise very simple pasta sauce. Best if you use freshly grated if you can because it melts much better than the pre-grated stuff. I always prefer to grate my own parmesan.

Pasta water: in this recipe the starchy cooking water is used to thin out and emulsify the cream cheese and the parmesan turning them into a pasta sauce.

Lemon: finally, the bright lemon zest and juicebalance the richness of the cream cheese sauce. To grate the lemon zest, I always use this microplane, it’s brilliant and lasts for ever.

Salt and pepper: taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning to your liking before adding the penne pasta.

Add-ins for this creamy penne pasta?

This is a quick pasta recipes that tastes great on its own but it’s also versatile and easy to customize! Add-ins like spinach pesto, sun-dried tomato paste, fresh arugula, roasted cherry tomatoes, grilled chicken, sautéed peas make delicious options!

If you look for more easy pasta recipes…

• Pappardelle pasta
• Pasta with artichokes
• Tomato basil pasta
• Mushroom ricotta pasta
• Penne arrabbiata
• Penne with pesto
• Lemon garlic pasta
• Baked penne
• Creamy spinach tomato pasta

Lastly, I hope you’ll love this luscious creamy penne pasta recipe, and if you have any questions, let me know! Leave a comment, send me a message, or rate it. I would love to hear from you!

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