Quick and creamy pesto pasta is a delicious recipe that is ready in about 10 minutes with only 5 ingredients. It's a both a kid and adult favorite and works as either a main or side dish.
Pasta with homemade pesto is a good, classic recipe. But pasta with a creamy pesto sauce is a great recipe. A creamy white sauce elevates pesto to a whole new level.
What is pesto?
Pesto is traditionally a mixture of olive oil, basil, pine nuts, and parmesan with salt added for flavor. The ingredients have been mashed together for centuries in a mortar and pestle, though a food processor or blender does the work for us now.
There are also now many variations where the basil is replaced with other herbs, pine nuts with other nuts, and even use other cheeses.
My recipe for "frugal" pesto is a riff on the classic, but replaces the expensive pine nuts with a much cheaper ingredient - that I think makes it taste even better!
But back in the first years of our marriage, Brian and I went to an Italian restaurant and ordered pasta with pesto. I thought it was good. Brian thought it was like "eating chopped grass" with his pasta.
So when I started growing basil and making pesto to keep in our freezer all winter long, I had to figure out a way to have pasta with pesto that wasn't quite so "pesto-y."
Well I suppose I didn't have to, I just wanted to because it's such an easy meal, on its own, or mixed with chicken and dried tomatoes, or even as a side dish alongside chicken or sausage.
Plus by the time I started making pesto with our garden basil, we had kids and they loved pesto pasta anyway.
Creamy Pesto Pasta
What is creamy pesto made of?
My solution was to create a creamy white sauce of butter, flour, and milk and then mix it with pesto.
You could also just heat heavy cream until it thickened a bit and add the pesto, but I wanted a thicker sauce than that would produce, kind of like an Alfredo.
And this creamy pasta has become one of our family's favorite dishes - and yes, even Brian.
Plus it's one of those recipes I always have the ingredients for and is so fast (10 minutes!) that when we are tempted to buy something to eat on our way home from something, I always think "I could have creamy pesto pasta made in less time than it would take to get fast food."
Having recipes like these in our back pocket makes it easier to stick to a budget and bypass those times we're tempted to order out.
How much savings? Combined with a salad, this recipe would come in around $4.00 for the whole meal, serving a family of 4-5.
Make Creamy Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- pasta of choice (I always try to use a whole grain or healthier pasta - I really like the chickpea pastas)
- premade pesto
- milk
- flour
- butter
- plus salt for flavor
- optional variations: cooked protein like chicken, shrimp, or chickpeas; added vegetables like spinach mixed in or chopped tomatoes added on top.
Note on Making a White Sauce:
Making a white sauce is really very simple. I didn't use to think so, back when I made everything with a can of cream-of-something soup. But once I learned how, there was no going back.
Especially when I realized that a white sauce has four ingredients (butter, flour, milk, and salt) and the canned creamed soups have...well, a lot. Plus things I don't recognize as food.
It goes without saying that the taste of homemade white sauce is way better.
Directions
Timing Note: Start the water boiling first before starting the sauce, adding the pasta to the water when it's ready as you're making the white sauce. In this dish, it's the pasta that needs the most time to cook. See? Really just 10 minutes!
Make the Sauce
1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the flour and mix well over medium heat. You just want it combined and bubbly a bit like shown above, but not brown (that's becoming a roux, then).
2. Slowly add the milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook and stir until the sauce thickens. Add a teaspoon of salt or to taste.
You've made a white sauce! How easy is that? I can't believe I ever thought it was hard.
3. When the sauce has thickened, add the pesto and stir together.
This can be to your taste - I usually add one of my small containers of frozen pesto which are between 1/2 and 3/4 cup. It's just about right for this amount of white sauce.
Make the Creamy Pesto Pasta
4. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
5. Add the creamy pesto sauce to the pasta and toss until the noodles are coated. Serve as is with a salad or use as a side dish or base for chicken or shrimp.
There you have it. One more easy recipe in the arsenal against the last-minute "let's just grab something to eat" scenario - which may be your next family favorite recipe, too!
Creamy Pesto Pasta FAQs
You can use the method in this recipe - making a white sauce of flour, butter, and milk before adding the pesto - or use heavy cream and cook on low until it thickens slightly (it will be runnier than a white sauce).
Another option is to thicken your pesto with potato starch or corn starch and add a milk product until it's as creamy as you wish (this is a good dairy-free alternative).
Any pesto pasta can be served on its own as a light meal. It can also be a side dish to any grilled or roasted meat or seafood.
It's also a wonderful based to add ingredients too, like sautéed spinach, onions, and peppers, cooked chicken or shrimp, or any leftovers you need to use up.
All the things you love about pesto - the flavor from garlic, basil, and parmesan - are there int he creamy version, but just a bit lighter with less bite. The texture is smoother, too, with less of a feel of chopped herbs (for want of a better description!)
Top Reader Comments:
"Can I say it, OMG? This was so easy and so good. I added Parm Cheese and Grilled Chicken. OMG x 2!"
"This is so simple and so delicious! My husband also is not a fan of full on pesto, so this was a perfect compromise. 🙂 I made some turkey meatballs and let them simmer in the sauce. We enjoyed this very much!"
"I made this tonight and it was wonderful. Will def be making your recipe again."
Creamy Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups milk
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt to taste
- ½ to ¾ cup pesto to taste
- ¾ pound pasta
Instructions
- Start the water boiling for the pasta. When it boils, cook as directed on the package.
- Meanwhile, make a white sauce by melting the butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until combined; cook for a couple minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly add the milk and stir over medium-high heat until thickened.
- Add the pesto to the white sauce, stir and remove from heat.
- Drain the pasta and return pasta to the pot.
- Toss the sauce with the pasta and serve.
Notes
- Add cooked chopped cooked chicken, shrimp, sausage, or smoked salmon.
- Add chopped fresh spinach along with the sauce and toss it all together.
- Add chopped dried tomatoes.
- Top pasta with fresh chopped tomatoes.
Nutrition
Other quick meals to try:
20 Minute Mediterranean Chicken Pesto Pasta Recipe
Sheet pan dinner: Roasted Sausages, Peppers and Onions
This recipe has been updated - it was originally published in April of 2010.
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Sue Baker says
Added Romano cheese to the sauce, sautéed diced chicken in olive oil and garlic and onion powders and substituted Half and Half for the milk. The changes made this a keeper for us. 1/2 cup of the pesto was plenty.
Jami says
Love your additions!
Thanks so much for the review and I'm so happy this is a keeper recipe for you!
Patsy says
I made this tonight. This is a keeper recipe! Easy and delicious!! Thank you for sharing it with us.
Jami says
I'm so glad you enjoyed this, Patsy! Thank you so much for the review!
Marcia says
Yum!!! I’m finishing this right now, because I saw the comments of the sauce thickening, I took about a tbs of the flour out of the mix everything else the same. At the end when mixing with pasta I had set aside a cup of the pasta water and slowly added to it so it’s not so “gummy” and a clove of finely chopped garlic since the husband thinks it needed a kick of something. I think like everything is a matter of adding your own to fit your family. Thanks for the recipe 😉
Jami says
So true, Marcia!
Appreciate your comment and your review!
John says
Made this last night with homemade spinach and basil pesto, it was so delicious.
Thanks for the recipe
Jami says
Great idea to add the spinach, John! Thanks for taking the time to review.
John says
OMG what an awesome recipe, made this tonight and it is great. I had the same issue with it becomeing a roux but just added the milk and it was a sauce. Added homemade pesto and chicken breast chunks and it was delicious.
Thank You for this recipe!!+
Mavis says
I actually found it very hard to make the sauce. It was very gooey like thick and gummy. I did the 2 tbsp. Of flour and butter and immediately got gummy, I tried olive oil to smooth it out but it was basically inedible. The pasta dinner was ruined. Cream sauce not easy.
Jami says
I'm so sorry, Mavis, I know that would be disappointing.
Not sure what could've happened - you can see from the photos that flour and butter usually make a classic roux that thickens sauces. 😕
Sabah says
Just made this super easy and delicious!! Love the instructions and pictures!
Jami says
Thank you for the review, Sabah!
Kathy Opitz says
Can I say it, OMG? This was so easy and so good. I added Parm Cheese and Grilled Chicken. OMG x 2!
Jami says
Sounds amazing, Kathy!
Mary says
This is so simple and so delicious! My husband also is not a fan of full on pesto, so this was a perfect compromise. 🙂 I made some turkey meatballs and let them simmer in the sauce. We enjoyed this very much!
Jami says
Oh, yum - sounds wonderful! Glad you and your husband like this. 🙂
Reena Manalo says
To save time, could I use a jar of alfredo sauce to mix with the pesto? Or would it taste different? Looks so delish, going to make that tonight but with shrimp!
Jami says
Probably, Reena. I've never bought those, so I don't know about the flavor.
Teresa says
I made this tonight and it was wonderful. Two days ago I made the homemade pesto from your recipe and froze some of it. I saved some for tonight for the white sauce, then I added sautéed shrimp to my thin spagetti with pesto and it tasted like a fine restaurant meal. Will def be making your recipe again. I actually love all your recipes that I have tried from this site:)
Thanks
Teresa
Jami says
Thank you so much, Teresa! It's such a simple and good tasting recipe - and I bet it went great with the shrimp, I'll have to try that!
Amy Walker says
Oh my goodness...why didn't I think of this...I make white sauce, and love pesto but haven't thought about putting them together!! YAY!!!
~Amy @ http://www.thecheapandchoosy.blogspot.com
Candi says
That sounds so good, I've placed it on our Monthly meal plan for next month. But I think I'll add leftover grilled chicken to make it more hearty for my hubs. He said he'd try it...he's never had pesto anything...picky eater of mine 🙂
Diane Stecik says
I had just made some pesto, over the weekend with my son, needless to say it is really delicious. I love pesto. My favorite is on grilled chicken either hot or cold. I also like pesto with pasta but I never thought of making a white sauce and adding to the pesto. I just use pesto and toss over pasta. While Troy (my son) and I were making this I said I had no pine nuts but I do have every other kind so we heated several handfuls of walnuts in the skillet then added this to the basil and also added lemon basil in the food processor. It is very good. This was the first time I ever tried lemon basil and I will surly plant that again next year.
Jami says
Oh, lemon basil sounds like it would make a wonderful pesto, Diane, I'll have to try that!
Jenny says
I just learned the beauty of making my own white sauce to use in place of a can of cream of soup. I also made my own pesto this summer and froze it. Was so glad to have this in the freezer this winter! I will be making a lot more this summer. I have a recipe on my blog that is delicious made with homemeade pesto. Here is the link if you want to check it out.
http://lovebeinginthekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/02/spinach-ravioli-lasagna.html
Jami@ An Oregon Cottage says
Jenny- That sounds yummy- my son loves ravioli so I would love to try it!
Jenelle- oh, that is such a good idea to make it all in one pan like that! I love those "one pan wonder" meals, they're right up my alley. 🙂
Jenelle says
You are making me hungry........
I also make a similer pasta as a go to dish. I take what ever random veggies I have in the fridge and saute them in a pan with some olive oil and basil (just dry, I don't have pesto in my freezer 😉 Once the veggies are done I sprinkle about 2 tbs of flour over it and cook for a minute or two. Then I add my two cups of milk and cook unitl thick. It's quick, easy, delicious and used up veggies that might otherwise have gone bad.