Linguine with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce takes just 30 minutes to make! This simple Italian pasta is a great choice for a weeknight dinner! Linguine is generously coated in a comforting creamy sauce made with garlic and Parmesan cheese.
This delicious linguine has been inspired by the sun-dried tomato pasta I made a while back. This recipe features the best homemade pasta sauce you'll ever try! It's full of flavor and color! The creamy linguine Alfredo sauce is made with garlic, paprika, cream, and shredded Parmesan cheese.
This linguine recipe makes a great meatless dinner. If you crave some protein, you can easily add grilled chicken or cooked shrimp to the dish. Just like in this simple chicken pasta or this shrimp pasta.
Linguine with creamy alfredo sauce
- Creamy comfort food. In this recipe, linguine is smothered in a simple homemade alfredo sauce made with cream, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. The silky sauce coats the linguine to produce one of the most comforting and decadent pasta dishes you'll ever try! Sun-dried tomatoes and spinach add so much flavor to the creamy deliciousness!
- 30-minute recipe. This beautiful pasta dish takes only 30 minutes to make.
- Only 9 ingredients. Simple recipes are the best! This recipe uses basic ingredients that you can easily buy in any grocery store.
- Beautiful presentation. This easy pasta makes a beautiful and colorful presentation. Creamy alfredo sauce has a light pink color thanks to sun-dried tomatoes and paprika. Spinach also adds vibrancy to the linguine!
What is linguine?
- Linguine is a long, thin, ribbon-style pasta of Italian origin. It's similar to fettuccine and spaghetti. Linguine is like flattened spaghetti and not as wide as fettuccine.
- Linguine originated in Genoa of Liguria region, Italy.
- Linguine is usually served with seafood or with pesto sauce. Other common dishes made with linguine include puttanesca sauce, linguine carbonara, and linguine with clams.
- Linguine is made with durum wheat semolina.
Fun fact: Did you know that "linguine" in Italian means "little tongues"? "Linguina" means "little tongue" in Italian, and "linguine" is plural of "linguina". The root of the word is "lingua" (Latin) which means tongue.
Substitutions
This pasta dish is very flexible, and you can use all kinds of different ingredients:
- Don't have linguine? Use spaghetti or fettuccine pasta.
- What can you use to replace Parmesan? Use Mozzarella cheese, Pecorino Romano, or Asiago cheese.
- Don't have spinach? Use Swiss chard, arugula, or kale.
Linguine vs. fettuccine
- Both linguine and fettuccine are ribbon style, long strand pasta. Fettuccine is a flat thick pasta. Fettuccine is noticeably wider than linguine. Linguine is more like flattened spaghetti.
- The most common dish made with fettuccine is fettuccine alfredo. Linguine is usually served with seafood, pesto, carbonara sauce, or with clams.
Linguine vs. spaghetti
- Both linguine and spaghetti are ribbon-style long-strand pasta. They are very similar in shape. Linguine is like a flatter version of spaghetti.
- Spaghetti is usually served with tomato sauce or meat. Linguine is traditionally served with seafood or pesto.
Sauces that go well with linguine
- White cream pasta sauce. Linguine tastes amazing when coated in the white cheese Italian pasta sauce. Make simple white cream pasta sauce for linguine or any other pasta!
- Sun-dried tomato cream sauce. Sun-dried tomatoes and basil in a homemade creamy Mozzarella sauce will make a perfect sauce for linguine. This sun-dried tomato pasta recipe shows you how to make it.
- Alfredo sauce. Make linguine alfredo by following this recipe for chicken broccoli alfredo. You can even add chicken and broccoli, or keep them out of the recipe and just follow the steps for the alfredo sauce.
Gluten-free friendly recipe
- You can easily make this recipe gluten free by using gluten free linguine.
What to serve with linguine
- Bread. Serve Baguette or Italian garlic bread.
- Fresh salad. Make this tomato cucumber avocado salad or tomato mozzarella salad.
- Spinach salad. Because this linguine has spinach, it would be a great combination to serve it with a basic spinach salad. Just toss together some spinach leaves with shredded Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Or, if you want something more sophisticated, try this spinach salad with prosciutto and pears. Or, make a spinach salad with beets.
How to cook linguine al dente
- To cook pasta al dente, cook linguine in salted boiling water about 2 minutes less than indicated on the package instructions. I cooked linguine for about 9 minutes in boiling water.
Cooking Tips
- Reserve some pasta water. Use it to thin out the cream sauce if it gets too thick.
- Make sure to season the creamy linguine sauce with just the right amount of salt. That means you might have to add more salt than indicated in the recipe. Salt really helps to bring out all the flavors!
How to prepare the sauce for linguine - step-by-step
1) Cook chopped sun-dried tomatoes and minced garlic with olive oil on medium heat, for about 30 seconds.
2) Add 1 cup of half-and-half, paprika, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer.
3) Add shredded Parmesan cheese. Stir for a couple of minutes until the cheese melts.
4) Add spinach.
5) Keep stirring on medium heat until the spinach wilts, about 1 minute.
6) Add cooked and drained linguine to the sauce. Stir well. Taste the linguine, and season with more salt, if needed.
Other pasta recipes
Below are other meatless pasta sauce recipes that will go great with linguine. What's beautiful about these recipes is that you can easily add protein. Add grilled chicken, pan-seared scallops or seared shrimp.
- Creamy Spinach Mushroom Pasta with Caramelized Onions
- Sun-Dried Tomato Mushroom Pasta
- Four Cheese Garlic White Cream Pasta Sauce
Linguine with spinach and sun-dried tomato cream sauce
Ingredients
- 8 oz linguine
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes , chopped
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese , shredded
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 oz spinach
- 5 basil leaves fresh, finely chopped
Instructions
- Cook linguine according to package instructions. Drain.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
- Add chopped sun-dried tomatoes and minced garlic. Cook on medium heat for about 30 seconds, constantly stirring.
- Add 1 cup of half-and-half, paprika, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer.
- Add ½ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese (half of what the recipe calls for). Stir for about 30 seconds or longer until the cheese melts. If the sauce is too thin, gradually add more cheese. Keep stirring around all of the skillet for a couple of minutes.
- Note: if the sauce gets too thick, add more half-and-half.
- Add spinach. Keep stirring on medium heat until the spinach wilts, about 1 minute.
- Add cooked and drained linguine to the sauce. Stir well.
- Taste the linguine and add more salt, if needed. Top with finely chopped fresh basil leaves.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I made this tonight and it was very tasty but the half and half separated! Do you have recommendations to keep it from doing that next time?
So sorry to hear about that! Make sure to bring the sauce to a quick boil, but then IMMEDIATELY reduce to a low simmer. That should fix this.
This turned out so well everyone had second helpings. Easy to make and not a bit leftover.
Cindy, I am so happy to hear that! Thank you for the 5-star review - I really appreciate it! 🙂
Delish! I've made this twice now! I add chicken its Fabulous!
Robyn, I am so happy you've enjoyed this recipe!
Looks and smells delicious!
I am happy to hear that!
This is one of my favorite pasta recipe. So simple, fast and flavorful. Thanks for the sharing. It’s definitely a keeper.
I am so happy to hear it's one of your favorite pasta recipes. Thank you for the comment! 🙂
I have not tried it yet but I am definitely going to after reading all of these post and looking at the ingredients and instructions in the photo I am in all in love Italian food I’ll post once I made it
Enjoy! Hope you like it!
Just about every recipe that calls for sun dried tomatoes never specifies if it uses sun dried tomatoes packed in a jar in olive oil or the sun dried tomatoes that are packaged dry. Which do you use for this recipe?
Thank you
I use the ones in a jar with olive oil and always comes out delicious!
I also used the sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil sold in a glass jar.
I use sundried tomatoes in a jar with olive oil. They're more flavorful and softer. I also use the olive oil in the jar to cook with.
Can the sauce minus the pasta be refrigerated. If so how long will it keep?
I made this dish tonight for dinner, it was a delicious and flavorful hit! My family loved every fork full! It is a keeper! I made a few changes as we are vegan! I used gluten free pasta, full fat coconut milk and dairy free parmesan cheese.
Thank you for sharing!
Elsie, you are very welcome - so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Fabulous recipe!
Can you make the sauce ahead of time or will it loose something?
What is a good non-dairy substitute for half and half? Coconut milk maybe?
I made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious! Very tasty. If I’d been served this in an Italian restaurant I’d have been very happy
even after adding extra paprika, the sauce was not like the picture at all in terms of color. the sauce also came out liquidy and somewhat lumpy because of the cheese i guess. it’s upsetting that i spent so much money on this recipe and it came out gross.
I must say this recipe looks delicious too!
After reading the recipe, one change I would/will make right off the bat, is to change the half and half to heavy cream!
I make creamy pasta dishes all the time, and this is a must!
This will make it more smooth and luxurious.
Make sure you cook the cream till it thickens to a nice consistency. The recipe also said to add the Parmesan cheese to the sauce before the noodles, but I prefer to stir the noodles in the sauce first, THEN add the cheese afterwards.
(just my personal preference) I think it always turns out better;)
Hope that helps！
Can someone please tell me what half and half is. Thank you
Half and half can be found in the grocery store near the heavy whipping cream usually. But you can substitute it.
Recipe Notes
What is half-and-half? To substitute for 1 cup of half-and-half, do this: combine 1/2 cup of whole milk with 1/2 cup of heavy cream.
Delicious, a quick recipe that is so luxurious. I made it for the second time last night and it was even better second time around. I used smoked paprika, as I found the jar of that first and thought "what if..." The first time I used a supermarket salad mix of spinach, kale and shredded beetroot (beets) which gave it a pretty pink colour.