The BEST Creamy Pesto Pasta Recipe (15 Minutes!)
This creamy pesto pasta recipe is a quick and delicious dinner the whole family will love. All you need are 7 simple ingredients and 15 minutes. The perfect recipe for busy weeknights!
Table of Contents
Watch The Recipe Video
Note: You can also watch this recipe video on YouTube.
What Makes This Recipe Great
Too busy for complicated weeknight dinners, but still want a delicious meal that is ready FAST? I’ve got you covered! From walking into the kitchen to walking out of the kitchen with a warm bowl of this Creamy Pesto Pasta, it will take you 15 minutes or less. I promise you, I timed myself. And that even includes the boiling time for the water!
I use fettuccine pasta, but in the past, I’ve used faster cooking pasta like spaghetti, angel hair, or shells, which take even less time.
If you have some leftover chicken or veggies, throw them in as well. This quick and easy creamy pesto pasta dinner is so yummy and totally kid-approved! It will make your kids think you got takeout from an Italian restaurant!
Easy ingredients, easy recipe, the perfect family meal!
Homemade Pesto vs. Storebought Pesto
In the summer, when my basis is overflowing, I love to use my homemade basil pesto recipe to make the creamy sauce. However, I have found that store-bought works as well to make a creamy pesto sauce!
Pro tip: I find that refrigerated store-bought pesto has a better flavor than shelf-stable pesto. Trader Joe’s sells a delicious pesto in their refrigerated section, which you can see in the ingredient photo above!
Ingredient Notes
Homemade Pesto Sauce
- Basil Leaves: For this recipe, you’ll need to use fresh basil.
- Olive Oil: I like to use extra virgin olive oil because it adds a great flavor to the pesto.
- Roasted, Unsalted Pine Nuts: If you’re allergic to nuts, you can skip these, however, they really do add a lot of flavor, so if there is no allergy, make sure to use pine nuts.
- Garlic Cloves: You can buy already peeled cloves or peel them yourself! The fresher, the better.
- Salt: Use whatever you have on hand. I love kosher salt!
Pesto Cream Sauce
- Milk & Heavy Cream: Feel free to substitute these for non-dairy alternatives if you prefer.
- Parmesan Cheese: Use grated or fresh, whichever you prefer.
- Pasta: I use fettuccine pasta, but in the past, I’ve used faster cooking pasta like spaghetti, angel hair, or shells, which take even less time.
- Pesto: Either homemade or store-bought!
Plus, your pasta of choice! Penne pasta, fettucini, spaghetti, or whatever shape you love!
Step-by-Step Instructions
How to Make Homemade Pesto
- In a food processor, combine the basil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt. Pulse until all the ingredients are finely chopped. Add in the olive oil, and blend until combined. If needed, add in more olive oil until desired consistency.
- To prevent the top of the pesto sauce from turning brown as it sits in the fridge (oxidizing), pour on enough olive oil to cover the whole top. This will prevent oxygen from reaching the pesto sauce and will keep it green. Not necessary, for looks only.
- Store in a wide-mouth pint mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 1 year. I store my dairy-free pesto in wide-mouth pint mason jars since they’re freezer-friendly!
*for more details & a how-to video for homemade dairy-free pesto, click here!
How to Make Creamy Pesto Pasta
- Boil a large pot of water over high heat. Season the water generously with salt, and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. If you prefer al dente pasta, take one minute off the cooking time.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the butter and garlic. Cook for 30-60 seconds until the garlic is fragrant.
- Pour in the heavy cream, milk, and pesto. Stir and cook for 1 minute to warm through. Turn the heat to low, then add in the parmesan cheese. Stir until it is melted.
- Grab the cooked pasta with tongs out of the boiling water and add it directly to the sauce. Toss to combine. Add pasta water if the sauce needs to be thinned out.
- Serve this creamy pesto pasta warm, garnished with parmesan cheese.
Expert Tips
- Pasta: I love my creamy pesto sauce smothered over fettuccine noodles, but use whatever pasta you have on hand and love. You can also use gluten-free pasta if needed.
- Adding Protein: For extra protein, add your favorite meat or seafood to this pasta. Creamy pesto sauce goes great over chicken breasts, shrimp, etc.
- Garnish: You can top your pasta with any of your favorite garnishes– additional salt or black pepper, grated parmesan cheese, or red pepper flakes for extra spice. Some people also like to top it with sliced cherry tomatoes– yum!
- Dairy-Free & Vegan: You can make this creamy pesto pasta & sauce recipe dairy-free if needed.
- Use ghee or plant-based/vegan butter in place of regular butter.
- Use dairy-free pesto (my recipe for homemade pesto is dairy-free!).
- Substitute the original flavor Nutpods in place of the cream and milk.
- Measure the same quantities for all substitutions.
Storage Tips
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or over the stovetop until warm. Add a little water or butter to the dish to break up the pasta and get that creamy texture back.
To freeze, place leftovers in an airtight, freezer-safe container and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw, reheat, and serve with your favorite garnishes.
Recipe FAQs
Pesto by itself is amazing on eggs, avocado toast, and sandwiches and makes a great dip. This creamy pesto sauce is the perfect topping for multiple types of meat and protein and a variety of pasta dishes. It would even go great in a casserole! Pesto is so versatile!
This recipe is not keto because of the Fettuccine pasta. However, you can make this creamy pesto pasta with Natural Heaven Hearts of Palm pasta to make it low-carb!
More Creamy Pasta Recipes!
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The BEST Creamy Pesto Pasta Recipe (15 Minutes!)
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 4 cloves of garlic, grated or finely minced
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- kosher salt
Equipment
Instructions
- Boil a large pot of water over high heat. Season the water generously with salt, and cook the pasta according to the manufacturers instructions.
- Heat a large skillet over medium low heat. Add in the butter and garlic. Cook for 30-60 seconds until the garlic is fragrant.
- Pour in the heavy cream, milk and pesto. Stir and cook for 1 minute to warm through. Turn heat to low, then add in the parmesan cheese. Stir until it is melted.
- Grab the cooked pasta with tongs out of the boiling water and add it directly to the sauce. Toss to combine. Add pasta water if the sauce needs to be thinned out.
- Serve warm, garnished with parmesan cheese.
- See the Recipe Notes below for more tips, FAQ's and ingredient substitutions.
Notes
Expert Tips
- Pasta: I love my creamy pesto sauce smothered over fettuccine noodles, but use whatever pasta you have on hand and love. You can also use gluten-free pasta if needed.
- Adding Protein: For extra protein, add your favorite meat or seafood to this pasta. Creamy pesto sauce goes great over chicken breasts, shrimp, etc.
- Garnish: You can top your pasta with any of your favorite garnishes– additional salt or black pepper, grated parmesan cheese, or red pepper flakes for extra spice. Some people also like to top it with sliced cherry tomatoes– yum!
- Dairy-Free & Vegan: You can make this creamy pesto pasta & sauce recipe dairy-free if needed.
- Use ghee or plant-based/vegan butter in place of regular butter.
- Use dairy-free pesto (my recipe for homemade pesto is dairy-free!).
- Substitute the original flavor Nutpods in place of the cream and milk.
- Measure the same quantities for all substitutions.
70 Comments on “The BEST Creamy Pesto Pasta Recipe (15 Minutes!)”
Thanks guys for all the great recipes. I love my hat and t-shirt. I always look forward to the new videos and geometry dash lite recipes.
I cook a decent amount, but was busy and didn’t have time to read comments and compare recipes. I am a big fan of modifications/adjustments, but if things need to be changed this much the recipe is flawed. I added the specified cream and mild and immediately realized this was WAY too much liquid for 1 lb pasta. So I added extra pesto and cheese, some garlic salt and tried to let it cook down a bit. I drained the pasta as someone suggested, then put it back in my pot with the protein. Then I scooped the sauce onto the pasta and mixed, stopping pre-soup. So I now have a bunch of leftover sauce but nothing was ruined. Will not be making again.
I’m so disappointed in this recipe! I’m disabled and on a tight budget, but wanted to make something different. This recipe had 5 stars so I didn’t read the reviews. I don’t usually cook Italian cuisine so followed the recipe exactly. When I ended up with a soupy mess, I thought I’d messed it up, but re-reading it, I did exactly what the recipe said. I have this sitting on my counter and have no idea what to do with it. Obviously MANY people have had the same problem so maybe rework this so we don’t waste our precious grocery dollars?
After reading the reviews, I watched the video. You have WAY MORE liquid in the recipe than in the video. By 300%. I left another review where I added eggs and more pesto to counteract the thinness and blandness of the liquid. My family said it was the best they’d ever had. But I read the reviews AFTER I added the liquid (something seemed off about the amount). I had to act fast and lucky I had lots of pesto on hand but was able to save it and it was wonderful. I would leave this recipe on the site, just make the adjustments.
FREAKED OUT AFTER I PUT IT TOGETHER, BUT SAVED IT. If you did the same, fear not:
Way too much milk and cream with NOTHING to thicken it. So…DRAIN the pasta so it’s more dry. Add 2 eggs beaten with a little heavy cream and whisk them into the liquid to thicken it. After about a minute on medium high heat, the sauce will thicken, then add MORE pesto in large spoonfuls, one at a time till it tastes right. Next time omit 1/2 c milk and 1/2 c cream, beat 2 eggs into the cream and add more pesto.
Horrible, it’s just all milk, last time I blindly follow a recipe but I wasted the rest of my homemade pesto on this.
I can’t tell if this recipe or website is a joke because it has almost 5 stars but all I see are 1 star reviews.
Does the author not have tastebuds or any experience in a kitchen? The only reason I made this is because of being in a zombie state after working a 14 hr shift and by the time I came to my senses It was too late.
After a long day, wasting the time, effort, and money to make a GIANT pot of herby milk is an easy way to ruin a dinner and night home.
I don’t want to run a recipe creator down, so I’ll just say that anyone considering making this should heed the negative reviews.
There has got to be something missing from this recipe. I recommend adding 1/4 cup flour to the butter and garlic to make a roux and then add the liquid and cook down for several minutes. Otherwise, this is a runny soup.
Yes, 2 beaten eggs and less milk. Any cream sauce for pasta has eggs in it to thicken. Think Carbonara (eggs, Parmesan and a little cream and pasta water) Unless you are using heavy cream only, but it would be too thick that way as the cream must boil to reduce, with the herbs (as in a French sauce). The instructions were off on this recipe. One minute to warm 3 cups of milk?? There is no way this recipe works as written.
Absolutely terrible recipe! No matter what you do it will not make a creamy sauce, it will only make a soup. You’d have to change it so much to get even remotely close to a sauce, that it would just be a completely different recipe.
I tried to take the comments into consideration regarding the “soupy” consistency, but was still unfortunately let down. I used 3/4 of the amount of milk and heavy cream, way more pesto, garlic (but my household personally likes things extra garlicky), and parmesan but was still left with a soup like bland pesto sauce. I have had creamy pesto from all over the world and personally did not like this one. I even simmered the sauce for 5-7 min and set it aside to allow it to thicken… but it did not.
If I were to recreate this recipe, I would instead omit the milk, use 1/2 of the amount of heavy cream adding more if needed, 8 oz of parmesan, and if using store bought pesto, an entire 6.5 oz jar.
Amazing! Best pesto cream I’ve made. For those who complain about it being soupy let it sit for about 10+ min after it’s done and it will thicken up or you can also whisk while you’re making it before adding the pasta. I added red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and also blended in some of our fresh basil. Big hit with my husband.
Great tips! Thank you so much!
WHY ISNT ANYONE TALKING ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF CREAM AND MILK? There are 5 start reviews which is why I picked this recipe but the measurements for cream and milk are way off. That’s 3 whole cups in total of liquid that doesn’t reduce. I followed the recipe to a t and I’m so bummed because I used the last of my homemade pesto and bought ingredients to make the rest of this recipe. A HUGE disappointment in this pasta pesto SOUP!
So sorry to hear this didn’t turn out for you. I’ve never had an issue with it not reducing, but I get how that would be frustrating!
Did you use AI to churn out a book of recipes for views because there is no possible way you made this ONCE and continue to stand by it as written, unless you added a WHEEL of Parmesan cheese, flour to make rue, and then dumped it out in favor of a different recipe, there is no possible way a human being could like this.