Name: Cream Cheese Pasta
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 8 oz spaghetti noodles; 4 oz cream cheese; 3/4 cup reserved pasta water; 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated; 6 cloves garlic, minced (see notes); 1 tablespoon butter; salt and pepper, to taste

Need an easy dinner idea? This Cream Cheese Pasta recipe is perfect for making white spaghetti in just 10 minutes!

This cream cheese pasta is so yummy!

Wondering what to add to plain noodles for dinner? Cream cheese sauce might be your new favorite thing to make! This cream cheese pasta is an easy and delicious recipe that can be served by itself or with a protein and veggie on the side for a complete meal.

When I am craving comfort food that is quick, I love making a batch of cream cheese pasta. It’s so flavorful, easy to make, and who doesn’t love good pasta?!

This would be amazing with a side of roasted frozen vegetables and your favorite protein for a quick dinner!

roasted frozen vegetables

Cream Cheese Pasta Ingredients

Cream Cheese: full fat cream cheese
Butter: unsalted is what we used, but either will work, you will just salt to taste at the end.
Parmesan Cheese: Freshly grated is a must for this sauce!
Fresh minced garlic: a must have for any cheese sauce in my opinion! If you are making this for kids you can reduce the amount of garlic you use.

tons grabbing cream cheese spaghetti noodles from the pan

how to make cream cheese pasta

Step 1: Cook 8 oz of spaghetti noodles to al dente, according to package instructions.

Note: While I used spaghetti for this recipe, any type of noodle will work. This would be great with penne, ziti, macaroni, bowtie, linguini etc!

Step 2: While the noodles are cooking, make the cream cheese pasta sauce.

Step 3: Melt the butter in a pan, then add the minced garlic. Cook for one minute, stirring often, until the garlic is fragrant. Be careful not to burn.

Step 4: Add in the cream cheese, pasta water from the pot of cooking noodles, and fresh grated parmesan cheese. Whisk the sauce until everything is melted and smooth.

ingredients laid out - spaghetti noodles, butter, garlic, cream cheese, and parmesan

How much garlic do I use in the sauce?

For this recipe, I used 6 cloves of fresh minced garlic, which gives the noodles a lovely garlicky flavor. If you are not a fan of garlic, or are cooking for kids, you can take this amount down to one or two cloves of garlic for a more mild flavor.

Step 5: Once the spaghetti noodles are done cooking, drain them and return to the pot. Add the cream cheese sauce and toss to combine. Salt and pepper the cream cheese pasta to taste, then serve immediately.

Like most cheese based pasta recipes, the sauce will dry out once cooled and will absorb into the pasta. This is most creamy when served fresh! I had leftovers the next day and while they were not as creamy, the noodles were still delicious.

cream cheese pasta sauce in a skillet with a whisk

spaghetti noodles with cream cheese sauce poured on top

How to serve this pasta

The ways you can customize this dish are endless! You could add roasted vegetables such as:

mushrooms
tomatoes
peppers
onions
peas
cauliflower

You can also serve your favorite simple protein along with it if you like! Really, you just can’t go wrong here. Such a simple but really flavorful dish you can eat however you want!

We love making sauce with cream cheese for a “white spaghetti” as my kids call it.

More pasta recipes you’ll love

Creamy Mushroom Pasta
Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
Garlic Butter Noodles
Ranch Pasta Salad
Bow Tie Pasta
Parmesan Cream Sauce Pasta
Vegetarian Baked Ziti
Roasted Vegetable Pasta
One Pot Sweet Potato Pasta
Veggie Lover’s Baked Rigatoni
Three Cheese Baked Ziti

This pasta is a family favorite, so flavorful, and a great easy dinner when you need something fast!

Notes

This pasta is garlicky and flavorful! if you do not love garlic, or are cooking for kids, you can take the amount down to just one or two cloves. This pasta is more saucy when served fresh, and will dry out like most cheese based pastas do when reheated.