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Home Collections Quick Dinner Recipes

Creamy Tomato Pasta

By:Nagi
Published:14 Mar '18Updated:6 May '20
150 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

Pink pasta! Spaghetti tossed with a creamy tomato sauce that’s totally slurp worthy, this Creamy Tomato Pasta is silky and indulgent tasting but the tomato cream sauce doesn’t actually have that much cream in it!

Serve it as is, or use it as a base for your own add-ins. Try tossing through some shredded leftover Roast Chicken or Poached Chicken, or adding a handful of spinach.

Creamy tomato pasta on a plate with marinated kale salad.

Creamy tomato sauce for pasta

Is it pink? Or orange?

It doesn’t sound nearly as fun to chat to you about an orange pasta sauce.

I’m sticking with pink.

Pink tomato cream sauce!

“This pasta with tomato cream sauce is a less guilty way to get your creamy pasta fix!”

Creamy Tomato Pasta in a skillet with parmesan.

Tomato cream sauce – a healthier creamy pasta!

This is the first recipe I’ve made for my website after being away for almost a month, firstly on the annual RecipeTin Family trip to Japan, followed shortly thereafter by a trip with friends to New Zealand.

You would think that she who sulked so mightily when she found her jeans were just as snug post-trek as they were pre-trek would be inspired to be share some bright, fresh salads, “goddess cleansing bowls”, be converted to zoodles or cauliflower crust pizza.

But alas, no. She craves creamy pasta. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Well, at least this is a less guilty creamy pasta!  There’s a generous amount of tomato cream sauce in this pasta (you’ll see in the video) but it’s mostly tomato and milk.

And actually, this can even be made without cream. Cream isn’t a pantry staple for me so I sometimes make the Creamy Tomato Pasta sauce just using milk and adding an extra dollop of butter to add richness.

Creamy Tomato Pasta - a less guilty way to get your creamy pasta fix, this luscious sauce is made with tomato, milk, parmesan, garlic and cream.

I’ve provided the recipe plain which is how I usually have it, because it’s so lovely and saucy it deserves to be twirled and slurped just as it is. However, add-ins are entirely possible and I’ve provided some tips in the recipe for how to do so.

Try this with a fresh garden salad with a Balsamic dressing, French or Italian dressing on the side. If you feel like going all out, add a side of Better-Than-Dominos Garlic Bread or Cheesy Garlic Bread. Enjoy! – Nagi x


More ways to get your creamy pasta fix!

  • Fettucine Alfredo – also try this One Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta

  • Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta

  • Creamy Garlic Shrimp/Prawn Pasta

  • Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta

  • Baked Mac and Cheese – and try the Shrimp version!

  • Browse all pasta recipes

Creamy Tomato Pasta on a fork.

Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce

Pasta with tomato cream sauce
Watch how to make it

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Creamy tomato pasta on a plate with marinated kale salad.

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

Author: Nagi
Prep: 5 minutes mins
Cook: 15 minutes mins
Total: 20 minutes mins
Mains
Western
4.95 from 60 votes
Servings4
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 228
Recipe video above. Pasta in a pink tomato cream sauce! You'll love how creamy this sauce is, how there's plenty of it and yet you don't need gallons of cream. Slurp-worthy as it is, or use it as a base for add ins of your choice - suggestions in the recipe notes. 

Ingredients

  • 300g/10 oz spaghetti
  • 2 tbsp / 30g unsalted butter
  • 3 garlic cloves , minced
  • ½ onion , finely chopped
  • 1 cup / 250 ml tomato passata / tomato puree (Note 1)
  • 3/4 cup / 185 ml heavy / thickened cream (Note 2 for subs)
  • 1/2 cup / 125 ml milk , low fat
  • 3/4 cup / 30g parmesan , finely freshly grated (Note 3)
  • 1 tsp dried basil, or other herb of choice
  • 1 tsp chicken or vegetable stock powder , or 1 bouillon cube, crumbled (Note 4)
  • Finely ground pepper + salt

Instructions

  • Cook pasta in a big pot of boiling water for time per packet MINUS 2 minutes. Just before draining, scoop out a mugful of pasta cooking water.
  • Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, cook until translucent - about 2 minutes.
  • Add remaining ingredients. Stir until parmesan is melted. Turn heat up slightly and simmer for 2 minutes. Adjust salt to taste.
  • Add pasta. Toss for 1 to 2 minutes or until sauce thickens and is clinging to pasta instead of swimming on the base of the skillet (video shows this well). Use reserved pasta cooking water if required to thin the sauce out if it gets too thick.
  • Serve immediately, garnished with more parmesan and parsley if desired.

Recipe Notes:

1. Tomato Passata, known as Tomato Puree in America, is pureed strained tomatoes that is sold in tall bottles. It's 100% tomato, no additives or flavourings. It's smoother than crushed tomatoes and makes gorgeous thick tomato based sauces. In Australia, you'll find it in the pasta section in supermarkets and it costs around the same as canned tomato. Passata is not the same as tomato paste which is a concentrate.
American canned Tomato Sauce (Hunts etc) is a suitable substitute, or your favourite tomato pasta sauce (use 1 cup). Canned crushed or finely diced tomato can also be used but you'll need 1 x 400g/14oz can, add it first and cook down for 5 minutes before adding milk, cream etc.
2. The sauce thickness mostly comes from the passata so this recipe could actually be made with just milk, no cream, for a healthier alternative though you will miss the richness that cream brings to the sauce. You could also use evaporated milk, again for a healthier alternative. If you want to add richness to the sauce, add extra butter!
3. Don't try this with store bought grated parmesan as most don't melt properly in the sauce.
4. Stock powder brings more flavour to the sauce than just using salt. If you don't have it, I would add an extra 1/4 - 1/2 cup parmesan.
5. ADD-IN SUGGESTIONS: Shrimp/prawns, BACON, pancetta, chicken, turkey, diced or sliced capsicum / bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, grated zucchini. For prawns/shrimp and whole chicken pieces (breast, thigh), cook it first then take it out, cut chicken then toss back in later with pasta. For chopped chicken, bacon, pancetta and vegetables, add them when the onion is partway cooked, then proceed with recipe. Stir through delicate vegetables like baby spinach into the sauce with the pasta.
Don't go overboard with the add-ins otherwise you might not have enough sauce! 
6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 284gCalories: 546cal (27%)
Keywords: Creamy tomato pasta, Creamy tomato sauce, Tomato cream sauce
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Life of Dozer

Just like his Mama, he needs a creamy pasta fix every now and then too….

….. though I am happy to say his Mama doesn’t have this problem (Food Catching Chest Hair).

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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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150 Comments

  1. Kavita says

    October 4, 2023 at 8:27 am

    Hi, am about to try this recipe. Just wondering is it possible to use fresh tomatoes instead? If yes, what is the substitution amount?

    Reply
  2. Jeannine says

    June 25, 2023 at 10:20 am

    SOOOOO GOOD!

    Reply
  3. Victoria W says

    January 1, 2023 at 3:43 am

    5 stars
    Cooked many times. Absolutely delicious. Portions are perfect size. A regular go to dish.

    Reply
  4. Lisa says

    November 3, 2022 at 5:14 pm

    5 stars
    Lovely, quick and easy

    Reply
    • Sophie says

      November 23, 2023 at 2:49 pm

      Tried this without the cream and my parmesan didn’t melt very well – came off the stove alright, but as it came to room temp it became very grainy. Might try w/a diff cheese next time.

      Reply
  5. Jennifer Matthews says

    June 4, 2022 at 10:10 am

    5 stars
    Delicious!! My new favorite pasta sauce. Followed the recipe as written.

    Reply
  6. Lina says

    May 21, 2022 at 1:37 am

    I tried this today but the cream curdled with the acidity from the tomato purée. How to avoid that?

    Reply
  7. Rania says

    May 7, 2022 at 8:02 am

    Hi Ms. Nagi, is it okay to substitute nutritional yeast instead of parmesan?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 8, 2022 at 12:55 am

      The yeast won’t melt into the sauce like cheese so the texture will be quite different but it’s a good sub if you can’t have dairy – this one thickens from the passata so it should be thick enough without the cheese…let me know how it goes! N x

      Reply
  8. Rokshan says

    February 24, 2022 at 11:28 am

    5 stars
    Hi Nagi, I tried this recipe today. It was absolutely awesome! My son loved it sooo much, he thanked me at least 100 times. All thanks goes it you!

    Reply
  9. Aike says

    February 22, 2022 at 1:56 am

    Hi Nagi, I wanted to try this recipe today, but unfortunately found out too late that I have way too little parmesan. Im from the Netherlands and we measure everything by weight here, so thats why I only looked at that part of the recipe. The recipe says 30 grams of parmesan, but 3/4 cup of parmesan weighs way more than that. Perhaps you can edit it in your recipe 🤗. Im gonna try it out after buying more parmesan cause it looks delicious

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      February 23, 2022 at 10:10 am

      Hi Aike – go with the weight as that is correct. I grate my parmesan with a microplane so it is much lighter than the pre grated type. N x

      Reply
  10. Lisa says

    December 26, 2021 at 6:30 pm

    5 stars
    This was amazing, and so simple

    Reply
  11. Sally says

    December 11, 2021 at 1:13 pm

    I added a punnet of halved cherry tomatoes with the garlic and onion and would definitely recommend

    Reply
  12. Sally says

    December 11, 2021 at 1:11 pm

    5 stars
    This is utterly delicious!!

    Reply
  13. Squeaky says

    October 31, 2021 at 9:44 am

    5 stars
    My neighbour gave us a huge packet of fresh tortellini (700g) and this recipe was the perfect amount for it. Although that was a lot of leftovers! After the sauce was done I stirred in quite a lot of baby spinach, then after it was wilted added the packet of cooked tortellini. Very yummy!

    Reply
  14. Beth McB says

    August 17, 2021 at 10:26 am

    5 stars
    Really six stars: my super picky kid ate it!! Huzzah!!!

    Really quick and easy too. You have saved me from a rut of boooooooring dinners!

    (& Please give Dozer pets from me, he is so cute.)

    Reply
  15. Jess says

    July 27, 2021 at 1:12 pm

    Can I add beef mince? Would it taste ok?

    Reply
    • Karina T says

      July 27, 2021 at 9:46 pm

      I personally wouldn’t – I don’t think cream and pasatta would go well with beef. White meat would go well (chicken). I’ve made this sauce with prawns and it’s delicious!

      Reply
  16. Hils Elliott says

    July 10, 2021 at 5:00 am

    Good recipe, thank you. I used a stick blender when it was cooked for a completely smooth sauce.

    Reply
    • Shea says

      July 26, 2021 at 6:42 am

      5 stars
      I tried this today. Tweaked it a little and used penne + fusili.
      Also added mozzarella and various seasonings like all purpose and Italian. Made it into a pasta bake with loads of Parmesan + mozzarella on top and its incredible!

      Reply
      • NT says

        September 8, 2021 at 7:28 am

        5 stars
        Fabulous! Made this to go with store bought cheese tortellini and it was delicious.

        Reply
  17. Clara says

    May 16, 2021 at 12:39 am

    5 stars
    I come from a pretty traditional Asian family with parents who don’t like cream-based pastas because they’re too ‘cheesy’, which sucks for me since I looove anything with cream. It was my turn to cook dinner tonight and I really wanted to make something that wasn’t just plain tomatoes, which is why I’m so thankful I stumbled across this recipe!! It was super easy to cook, and my parents scraped the sauce clean off their plates. I added some broccoli into the sauce in the beginning with the onions and garlic and it tasted SO. GOOD. I still have left over tomato paste, so I’m definitely making this again sometime soon! Thank you so much!!

    Also, I was wondering if you have any tips on how I can freeze this sauce for later? I feel like it would go amazing with other dishes. Thanks in advance!

    Reply
  18. Jenny says

    April 20, 2021 at 1:27 pm

    Would minced pork work with a creamy tomato sauce?? Generally don’t see it in creamy sauces..

    Reply
  19. Kasia says

    April 6, 2021 at 2:37 pm

    5 stars
    Very good! Easy to make. Even my picky eater was happy.
    I just wish I had chopped the onion to really small pieces because it was a little too crunchy and visible.
    But anyway thank you very much, it saved my busy day!

    Reply
    • Sharon Carter says

      July 25, 2021 at 5:28 am

      First time I had this type of sauce was when I visited my Sister in Germany. I love it, server over delicious Lasagna. There were a lot of Italian restaurants there.

      Reply
  20. Fiona says

    April 3, 2021 at 3:25 am

    5 stars
    Nagi i came addicted to this website! I doing various meals everyday and all the family loves it! Wow! I am so happy that I discovered you, cooking is fun now! Xxx

    Reply
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I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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