Creamy Mushroom Ricotta Pasta

I cannot stop making this creamy mushroom ricotta pasta! It’s made in under 30 minutes, uses minimal ingredients, is a meatless dish, and is a hearty dinner (think super special, but not complicated), that will make everyone fall in love with mushrooms all over again.

Creamy Mushroom Ricotta Pasta

We have a few favorite mushroom dishes on the site: The Ultimate Garlicky Mushroom Side Dish, Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup (Lightened-Up!), Meatless Chipotle Mushroom Tacos, and One-Pan Chicken in Mushroom Sauce. If you love mushrooms like we do, you are going to LOVE this creamy mushroom ricotta pasta. There’s something about the combination of these flavors. garlic, thyme and mushrooms, that come together to make the perfect comfort food meal.

I keep making this easy pasta with ricotta cheese (and mushrooms) for a quick weeknight dinner for me and Mike after Skylar goes to bed, and we can’t get enough of it! Baby Bella mushrooms are now a staple in my grocery haul.

Here’s what you need to make it:

• Baby bella mushrooms
• Onion
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Garlic cloves
• Red pepper flakes
• Fine sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Dried thyme
• Ricotta cheese
• Package of pasta of choice
• Parsley, for garnish

Ricotta Cheese

If you tolerate cheese, ricotta is a great one. It’s delicate, creamy, spreadable, and has a light (not at all overpowering) flavor. I recommend buying good-quality ricotta!

You can often use cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese in recipes. You may need to adjust spices more, but it can be a good substitute.

Pasta

I use gluten-free pasta for this ricotta pasta. I’ve made it with elbow pasta, bow ties, and tagliatelle. You can use ANY pasta you like in this dish, gluten-free or regular! You can also adjust the quantity if you want it to be pasta heavy or mushroom heavy!

How to customize this mushroom ricotta pasta:

Add in more veggies:

• Add in 2 large handfuls of fresh spinach at the end and cook until wilted.
• Add in 1/2 cup or more of frozen peas and let cook until soft!

Make it dairy-free:

Can’t use ricotta cheese? Make a quick batch of our cashew cream to make it creamy without any added dairy! Cashew cream is simply soaked cashews that are blended until they are smooth and creamy. We love that it’s simple to make and adds more nutrition ( healthy fats and protein!) to the pasta dish if you can’t have ricotta cheese.

Also, you can ditch the butter if you need, and just add a drop more oil if needed.

Love garlic?

If you love garlic, this is a dish where the more the better! If you have extra cloves on hand, toss them in for an extra garlicky mushroom pasta dish!

Add a protein:

Serve this meatless mushroom pasta with a protein if you’d like. We love it with our Spatchcock Chicken or our easy Steak recipe.

Watch the video here:

Love this pasta dish? Try these other favorites:

• One Pot Pantry Pasta with Chickpeas and Peppers
• Sausage and Vegetable Pasta
• Gluten-Free BLT Pasta Salad
• Italian Pasta Salad

Creamy Mushroom Ricotta Pasta

4.80 from 10 votes

I cannot stop making this creamy mushroom ricotta pasta! It's made in under 30 minutes, uses minimal ingredients, is a meatless dish, and is a hearty dinner (think super special, but not complicated), that will make everyone fall in love with mushrooms all over again.

Servings 4

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 12 ounces uncooked pasta I like Jovial gluten-free elbow pasta
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion halved and sliced
• 16 ounces baby bella mushrooms cleaned and sliced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• Pinch crushed red pepper flakes optional
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 cup leftover pasta water
• 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta plus more for garnish
• Chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions

• Cook pasta-of-choice following package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta water before draining in a colander, then drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onions and cook, for 3-5 minutes until beginning to soften. Then, add in mushrooms and cook until all their water has been released and evaporated, about 7-10 minutes.
• Add the garlic continue to cook for 1 minute, or just until the garlic softens.
• Add in red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and thyme to your mushroom mixture and stir to combine.
• Add 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water to the skillet and stir to combine, then add in your ricotta cheese. Add more reserved pasta as desired. I usually find 1/4 cup to be enough. Discard remaining if you don't use.
• Add in pasta and stir until everything is evenly combined, adding in more pasta water as necessary. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, and the additional ricotta on top of the pasta if desired. Add a pinch of additional red pepper flakes, if desired, and serve.

Notes

• You can make this dish more pasta heavy or less, just add in as much pasta as desired when combining the pasta in step 6!

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 recipeCalories: 479kcalCarbohydrates: 71gProtein: 14gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 332mgFiber: 4gSugar: 1g

Keyword: Mushroom Ricotta Pasta

Course: Dinner

Method: Stovetop

Author: Lexi

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