Creamy Goat Cheese Tomato Pasta
This goat cheese tomato pasta recipe is so quick and easy to prepare. Goat cheese gets stirred into the pasta sauce making it extra creamy and SO delicious. It’s made with simple, healthy ingredients and is packed with fiber-rich veggies – perfect for a weeknight dinner!
It’s no secret that veggie-filled pastas are one of my go-to easy dinners! They’re so great for using up the veggies in the fridge and it’s always super quick to throw together. As a dietitian, I think they’re also one of the yummiest ways to get your veggies in 😉
An ingredient I LOVE adding to these pastas? Goat cheese! It makes the sauce soo deliciously creamy and also adds a ton of flavour. If you haven’t tried making a goat cheese pasta sauce before, you are in for a treat!
As always, I share a bunch of ways you can modify this recipe to suit your needs (including ways to make it gluten-free and/or vegan) and highlight some of the unique nutrition benefits of this easy goat cheese pasta below. Enjoy!
Want more pasta recipe inspiration? Check out my roundup of 20+ easy, healthy pasta recipes for more ideas!
Ingredients Needed
All you need to make this easy pasta recipe are 11 simple, healthy ingredients:
- pasta of choice (I used spaghetti)
- garlic
- olive oil
- cherry or grape tomatoes
- zucchini
- spinach
- strained tomatoes
- oregano
- thyme
- goat cheese
- fresh basil
Full measurements and detailed instructions are located in the recipe card below!
Recipe Modifications & Ingredient Swaps
- Instead of or in addition to zucchini and spinach, feel free to use other chopped veggies like mushrooms, peppers, asparagus, or leafy greens (like kale or swiss chard). You can also throw in some diced onions! This is a great recipe to use up any veggies in the fridge.
- You can use any pasta shape you’d like. For a gluten-free version, simply use a gluten-free pasta. You can also serve this with a legume-based pasta for extra protein.
- If you can’t find strained tomatoes, you can use a store-bought tomato sauce (like marinara). Fresh cherry or grape tomatoes can be swapped for canned tomatoes if they’re not in season!
- The spices are also flexible here – oregano and thyme work great, as will an Italian seasoning and/or dried basil.
- Feel free to serve this with a protein like chicken or shrimp.
- I haven’t personally tried a vegan goat cheese, but if you can find one that melts well then it should work for a vegan version!
- While goat cheese is the star of the show and is what makes the sauce nice and creamy, you can obviously make this pasta with another cheese (like feta or parmesan)! It’ll loose that creamy texture and flavour of goat cheese, but will still taste good and be more of a traditional tomato sauce 🙂
Goat Cheese Pasta Nutrition Benefits
Tomatoes are:
- rich in micronutrients, including vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K
- a good source of dietary fibre
- high in antioxidants, like lycopene and beta-carotene
Goat cheese is:
- a source of complete protein and satiating fat (helps keep us full!)
- a good source of micronutrients, like calcium and phosphorous (important for bone health), vitamin A, riboflavin, and iron.
The other veggies (zucchini + spinach) offer additional sources of dietary fibre, micronutrients, and beneficial plant compounds/antioxidants.
More Tomato Pasta Recipes
- Pasta With Vegan Cashew Cream Tomato Sauce
- Baked Tomato Pasta With Eggs & Feta
- Vegan Red Pesto Pasta
- Tempeh Tomato Sauce Pasta
- Mediterranean Canned Mackerel Pasta
Did you give this Creamy Goat Cheese Tomato Pasta Recipe a try? Let me know by leaving a comment and recipe rating below!
If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or Pinterest – seeing your creations always makes my day. You can also subscribe to my email list to never miss a new recipe or nutrition education post!
Get the Recipe: Creamy Goat Cheese Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- 4 ounces spaghetti (about 113 grams – enough for 2!)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup zucchini, sliced into half-moons
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 cup strained tomatoes
- 1/3 cup goat cheese
- Handful fresh basil, chopped
- Salt + pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Boil pasta water and cook according to package directions. Reserve a 1/4 cup of pasta water to add to the sauce.
- Heat a large saucepan with olive oil. Add garlic cloves and sauté for about 2 mins, or until lightly browned and fragrant.
- Add cherry tomatoes, zucchini, oregano, and thyme to the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally (allow the veggies to sit for a couple minutes at a time for browning!)
- Stir in spinach and strained tomatoes. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
- Add drained pasta, reserved pasta water, and goat cheese to the tomato sauce. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Serve pasta and top with chopped basil. Enjoy hot!
Notes
- Instead of or in addition to zucchini and spinach, feel free to use other chopped veggies like mushrooms, peppers, asparagus, or leafy greens (like kale or swiss chard). You can also throw in some diced onions! This is a great recipe to use up any veggies in the fridge.
- You can use any pasta shape you’d like. For a gluten-free version, simply use a gluten-free pasta. You can also serve this with a legume-based pasta for extra protein.
- If you can’t find strained tomatoes, you can use a store-bought tomato sauce (like marinara). Fresh cherry or grape tomatoes can be swapped for canned tomatoes if they’re not in season!
- The spices are also flexible here – oregano and thyme work great, as will an Italian seasoning and/or dried basil.
- Feel free to serve this with a protein like chicken or shrimp.
- I haven’t personally tried a vegan goat cheese, but if you can find one that melts well then it should work for a vegan version!
- While goat cheese is the star of the show and is what makes the sauce nice and creamy, you can obviously make this pasta with another cheese (like feta or parmesan)! It’ll loose that creamy texture and flavour of goat cheese, but will still taste good and be more of a traditional tomato sauce.
Nutrition
As a dietitian, I create recipes with whole food ingredients that provide the nutrients needed for optimal health. My nutrition philosophy does not focus on numbers; however, I understand that this information can be helpful.
Do note that the nutrition info provided is an estimate and I cannot guarantee correctness of the displayed values. These numbers will differ depending on brands used, recipe modifications, and amount eaten. If you require specific nutrition information due to medical reasons, please consult with your dietitian or physician.
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know by leaving a recipe rating below, or by tagging @walderwellness on Instagram. I love seeing your beautiful creations!
Pin it for later:
14 Comments on “Creamy Goat Cheese Tomato Pasta”
What a TASTY weeknight dinner! I used chickpea penne for protein and instead of the strained tomatoes I used a tomato and pesto pasta sauce. So sooo creamy and delicious!!
Hi Lisa! Thank you so much for sharing your experience!! I LOVE all the additions you made here – the combo of tomato and pesto sauce with goat cheese…I’m drooling!! So happy to hear you enjoyed this one 🙂
Hello. I just finished making this and I feel like the pasta water made it like soup. I’ll let ya know how it turns out. I didn’t even use your recommended amount. I used less. Confused
Hi Kara,
Hm I’m not sure what went wrong here! Did you double check that you only used 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water (as indicated in the recipe)? It’s a small amount (4 Tbsps) and should stir in nicely with the rest of the sauce. As you can see from the recipe photos and video, it should not be soupy at all. I hope things turned out ok in the end!
You’ve done it again! Everything came together perfectly. My husband and I are keeping this in our menu rotation. I personally find the taste and texture restaurant worthy. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and delicious recipes with us!
Hi Aimee! Thank you so much for the kind words!! So happy to hear that you and your husband enjoyed this one. I love being able to share these recipes with you, too 🙂
Do the thyme and oregano measurements call for dried or fresh thyme and oregano?
Hi Cecelia! Thank you for your question – it calls for the dried version of both 🙂
Do you have the breakdown of the nutrition facts? This sounds amazing!
Hi Samantha! For both personal and professional reasons, I intentionally choose not to include the exact nutrition breakdown of my recipes. Ultimately, focusing on numbers goes against my nutrition philosophy as a dietitian and I much prefer to highlight the various health benefits of the whole food ingredients that I use! You can read more about my decision not to include them on my FAQ page if interested.
That said, if you would like to calculate the nutrition breakdown you can always enter the recipe into a nutrition calculator like MyFitnessPal! Thank you so much for understanding.
This has become a go-to meal for me whenever I’m short on time. So delicious and easy!
Hi Colleen! I’m so happy to hear that! Such a great go-to! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Looked like a quick easy recipe and was excited to try it for our family pasta night! It turned out tasting very raw to me – the Cherry tomatoes and strained tomatoes seemed to need much longer cooking time to not taste as acidic (I tasted the sauce at the recommended time and let it cook about 10-15 min longer but still tasted kind of raw when serving) – I imagine using pasta sauce or fire roasted tomatoes in place of the strained tomatoes would reduce the acidity/raw tomato taste or using a much longer time simmering the sauce to cook it before adding the pasta. I liked the recipe overall though and will try again with some modifications! Thanks!
Hi Christine! Thanks so much for your review. I’m sorry this didn’t come out exactly to your liking, but hopefully with some different tomatoes you will enjoy it!! I personally LOVE using vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, I find they have so much more flavour if you’re able to find them. And yes a pasta sauce in place of strained tomatoes will work great also 🙂