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This creamy tomato pasta recipe comes together quickly and uses everyday ingredients. You’ll love the silky tomato sauce!
You may also like my Easy Pink Sauce Pasta or Best Penne alla Vodka Recipe.
Why you’ll love it
Making a creamy tomato pasta sauce from scratch with canned tomatoes is simple! The best part is that it can be ready by the time your pasta has cooked. It’s perfect for those on-the-go weeknights.
This sauce uses a can of tomato sauce for liquid, and I also add in some tomato paste to punch up that tomato flavor. Garlic, Italian seasoning, butter, and cream complete it. Add some freshly grated parmesan cheese to take it over the top!
What you’ll need
- Pasta – you can use whatever pasta you’ve got on hand. I love penne for this sauce because those little tubes are so nicely coated.
- Butter – for sautéing
- Garlic – adds savory goodness
- Tomato paste – for concentrated tomato flavor
- Tomato sauce – I’ve been asked by a few UK readers what to use instead of tomato sauce, and passata would be a good equivalent
- Heavy cream – to make the sauce luxuriously creamy
- Italian seasoning – it’s a great all-purpose herb blend
Pro tip
Canned tomato brands can vary, and some tomatoes are more acidic than others. My favorite brands are Mutti and DeLallo. If you find the sauce is a little bit too tart, you can add a pinch of sugar to balance the flavors/enhance the sweetness of the tomatoes.
How to make creamy tomato pasta
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cook the pasta until al dente. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet. Sauté the garlic for a minute. Stir in the tomato paste, tomato sauce, cream, and Italian seasoning until smooth.
Let the sauce gently bubble until thickened to your liking. Season generously with salt & pepper. Add a pinch of sugar if desired. Toss with the drained pasta, and top with parmesan cheese if using.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- This is the skillet I use for this pasta.
- Easy mince garlic with one squeeze of a garlic press, and store the rest of the cloves in a garlic saver.
- I love this butter dish because it has measurement markings right on it for ease.
Substitutions and variations
- I don’t recommend subbing the cream for half-and-half or something with less fat. The sauce is likely to curdle due to the acidity of the tomatoes.
- You could definitely change the herbs up a bit… some dried oregano or basil would work great. You could even add fresh herbs if you happen to have some.
- You could stir in some spinach or other veggies towards the end of cooking if you want to dress it up a bit.
What to serve with creamy tomato pasta
- Pair it with a salad to round out the meal. Try my 10 Minute Caesar Dressing or this homemade Italian Dressing.
- Go all out and make some Cheesy Garlic Bread to go with it.
- This sauce will actually work for other things (like over chicken or shrimp, for example), so you could skip the pasta altogether if you want! Or you could add a bit of cooked chicken/shrimp/your protein of choice to the sauce for a more filling meal.
Leftovers and storage
- You can keep this sauce in the fridge for a few days, or freeze it for up to 3 months if you’ve got some left over.
- I’d re-warm it over a low heat in a saucepan.
Will you give this creamy tomato pasta a try? Questions? Let me know in the comments below! Tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram if you’ve made one of my recipes.
Creamy Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked pasta
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving, to taste
Instructions
- Boil a large, salted pot of water for your pasta and cook it al dente according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile (once the pasta starts to cook), add the butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once it melts, add the garlic and sauté for about a minute, stirring constantly.
- Add in the tomato paste, tomato sauce, cream, and Italian seasoning. Stir until it's nice and smooth. Let the sauce cook for about 5 minutes or until it's thickened to your liking (it should be very gently bubbling, so you may need to turn down the heat).
- Season the sauce with salt & pepper as needed (I'm pretty generous with both). If the sauce is a little too acidic/tangy for your liking, add in a pinch of sugar.
- Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce (add a splash of hot pasta water if the sauce gets too thick). Serve immediately with plenty of parmesan cheese over top.
Notes
- I don’t recommend subbing the cream with something that has a lower fat content as it’s likely to curdle due to the acid in the tomatoes.
- This recipe can also be found in the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials hardcover cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Easy quick dinner. Kids love it and I love that it takes no time to make. I make this at least once a week.
Fantastic!! 😀 I’m so glad it’s a hit, Tracy!
I absolutely love it! I’ve made it twice and it’s just so delicious. I will never use bottled up pasta sauce again.
Yay!! That’s so nice to hear, Marly! 😀
Very good! Was looking for an easy creamy pasta sauce recipe that I had all the ingredients for. Totally turned out better than expected, so simple and even my tomato-hating younger brother liked it. My only advice is when I make it again, I’ll add the whole box of penne instead of the amount recommended- it made a lot of sauce!
That’s great! Yes, you can definitely add more pasta next time. Thanks for your review! 😀
Very tasty and effortless…absolutely delicious!!!
Thank you so much!!
This was so very good! My family is used to tomato sauce that cooks for hours with all sorts of meat. They loved this! 😊 it seemed like too much sauce at first but after it was off the heat and I sprinkled some Parmesan on top I’m so glad all the sauce was there! We will make again!
I’m so happy it was a hit, Sarah! Thanks for your review!
This was great. I will say, I doubled the recipe and used all the right amounts and I needed to add more pasta. 16 ounces wasn’t enough. I will be making this again and sharing the recipe with friends.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!! Appreciate you sharing the recipe!
Love this but it is too much for just myself and my son. I added chicken and bacon to ours,delicious thank you. Do you think it would freeze OK?
I’m glad you liked it! See the “leftovers & storage” section of the blog post.
My husband made this for my daughter. She is extremely picky but loved it enough to have seconds.
That’s fantastic!! 😀 Thanks for letting me know!
And we are having this again tonight. Love this recipe.
😀
The sauce to pasta ratio is way off. You need 12 ounces of pasta so it isn’t drowning in sauce (and I like sauce). Sugar is a must…otherwise too acidic. Otherwise good.
Haven’t heard that one before 🙂 Feel free to add more pasta if you make it again. Yup, you’ll see in the “Helpful tip” in the blog post that we discuss sugar.
So delicious and easy! I added more garlic than it called for and used half and half instead. I did add some onion powder and oregano alone with dried basil. I love more seasoning. But it can do without too! Fantastic meal!
So pleased you liked it, Laura!! Yup, it’s definitely easy to customize it to your tastes. Thanks for your review! 😀