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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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it looks good
It was amazing! I made it with spinach pasta and added some ground beef it was so good.
Wonderful!
I tried this recipe last night and loved it! Am not a fan of using cream in my cooking, but this really worked. I found this dish comforting. Next time will add more freshly cracked black pepper and maybe some dried chilli seeds to amplify the flavour.!!
Fabulous!! I’m so glad you liked it.
This is such a great recipe! For anyone wanting to make it dairy free, I used a full can of coconut cream and it tasted delicious.
Thank you!! Glad you were able to adapt it.
adding a tbs of sour cream near the end of cooking really gives it a creamier texture with another level of flavor.
What do you mean by Italian seasoning?
Hi! It’s a standard herb blend that you can buy… any major grocery store will sell it in the herbs & spices section. I usually buy McCormick brand, but many brands make it. It’s handy because it’s well-balanced and you don’t need like 5 jars of individual herbs.
Love it!
Thank you!!
Was craving pasta for lunch and I made this in so little time! It was delicious and simple, I only swapped out the Parmesan for some grated mozzarella for extra creaminess 😍
Fantastic!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Emily! 🙂
Can you make this without pasta sauce?.. I have everything but that!
Do you mean without the tomato sauce? I’m not really sure what you’d replace the tomato sauce with since it uses 14 ounces of it. Do you have crushed tomatoes? That could work. If not, I suppose you could up the tomato paste and cream perhaps, but I’m not really sure what it’ll taste like… you’d have to do a bit of experimenting.
I know the nutrition provided is estimated but is that for one serving or is it 447cal for the whole dish?
Yes, that amount is per serving. Enjoy the recipe, Kayla!
I made this sauce for gnocchi as a dupe for a local Italian restaurant I used to go to before we moved. It is excellent. Adding some fresh mozzarella, basil, and pine nuts. Thank you! I miss Caffe Molise so much and this is a great craving fix for their tomato cream sauce!
That’s awesome!! I’m so happy that worked out. I just love when it’s possible to replicate a restaurant favorite. 🙂
Is this tomato oasta sauce or passatta or tinned tomatoes
Are you in the UK? Then passata would work. I did put the note in the blog post. In Canada/USA tomato sauce is a thing in itself (not ketchup). It’s in a can (tin) and it’s similar to passata.