Spinach Artichoke One Pot Pasta

The comforting pasta dish in an easy to make freezer meal is a win-win for everyone in the family. You are going to love this spinach artichoke one pot pasta recipe. Rich, cheesy pasta with the classic combination of spinach and artichoke hearts comes together in twenty minutes or less! Shove some garlic bread in the oven and your meal is on the table.

Pasta is one of our favorite types of freezer meal. This one uses ingredients straight from the pantry for a bag you can pull together and freeze without ever leaving the house. We have a nice collection of recipes you can make from pantry staples to give you a flavor for the Freezer meals 101 Club membership. You can also try one or two recipes from our website to get more ideas, including One Pot Creamy Sausage Rigatoni or One Pot Skillet Lasagna.

Spinach Artichoke One Pot Pasta Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. red chili flakes
• 2 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, shredded

Ingredients for the Day of Cooking

• 2 cups penne
• 2 cups fresh spinach

How to Cook Spinach Artichoke One Pot Pasta

Assembly Instructions

1. Add artichokes, onion, seasonings, and broth to a large freezer bag.
2. Place shredded mozzarella cheese in a medium sized bag.
3. Seal both bags, removing excess air.
4. Staple together above the seal and freeze.

Cooking Instructions

1. Dump the contents of the large bag into a large stovetop pot.
2. Stir in pasta.
3. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring every few minutes, keeping covered when not stirring.
4. When pasta is cooked, stir in the cheese and spinach and allow the spinach to wilt and cheese to melt before serving.

Do I need to drain the pasta dish?

No. The chicken broth mostly soaks into the pasta and what is left becomes the sauce for this dish along with the cheese. To create an even richer sauce, add a half stick of butter to the dish and half a cup of white wine to the pot.

Can I use a different type of pasta?

Yes. If you have bow tie, rotini, or rigatoni any of those similarly shaped pastas will work. I would not recommend spaghetti for the freezer meal method.

Can you use frozen spinach?

No. I do not recommend using frozen spinach because it has so much moisture. If you absolutely must use it, thaw it completely and squeeze out all of the liquid before tossing it with your dish.

Why make this a freezer meal?

You can certainly make this meal from scratch in a fairly short amount of time. In fact, you could mix up one recipe in the pot and one for the freezer at the same time. The benefit of having it in the freezer is that you don’t even have to think to fix this dish when the perfect storm happens midweek.

Just dump it all in a pot, give it a stir, set it to medium heat and walk away. With freezer cooking, the heavy lifting (chopping, weighing, measuring, etc.) is done on the weekend or a day when you have more time at home so that on the day you have three different appointments in two different towns, the job of feeding your family is easy.

Spinach Artichoke One Pot Pasta Recipe Ideas

If you want protein in this dish, you could add cooked chicken, cooked bacon, or cooked ground sausage to your freezer bag. Another option would be to grill or bake chicken to serve with the pasta on the day of your dinner.

Diced or sliced red peppers, mushrooms, brussels sprouts, green beans, broccoli, or squash could be added to your freezer bag to add veggies and servings to this dish. Whatever you add needs to be thin enough to cook through in 20 minutes on the stovetop. If you do this, you may need to add extra chicken broth to make sure there is enough liquid for everything to cook.

Grape tomatoes could be cut in half and stirred into the dish with this spinach to add flavor and brightness.

Increase or decrease the amount of red pepper flakes to adjust the heat level to your liking. You could also add hot peppers to the dish.

I have, in the past, used up all of the various open bags of cheese in my cheese drawer. I don’t know how we end up with so many partially used bags, but there they are! A handful of Parmesan, a handful of jalapeno jack, the last little bits of cheddar, and half a bag of mozzarella works just as well as two full cups of mozzarella or an Italian cheese blend. Even the amount is flexible. You need *about* two cups, but it doesn’t have to be exact.

How do I store Spinach Artichoke One Pot Pasta?

If you have leftovers, keep them refrigerated in an airtight container. The leftover pasta can be microwaved or reheated in a skillet for several days and makes a perfect packed lunch for that reason.

What to Serve with Spinach Artichoke One Pot Pasta

Add a loaf of freezer garlic bread to your dinner plans and you are golden. Picking up a bagged salad from the store on the way home is a great way to add veggies to your family’s diet. Roasted broccoli, green beans, or asparagus would all work as well. I like to dust the veggies I’m roasting with salt and pepper and toss them lightly in olive oil. Bake at 400ºF for 10-15 minutes and you have a super tasty side dish!

Print

Spinach and Artichoke One Pot Pasta

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

 

Servings: 4

Calories: 353 kcal

Ingredients

Ingredients for the Freezer Bags

• 1 1/2 cups artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
• 2 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, shredded

Ingredients for the Day of Cooking

• 2 cups penne
• 2 cups spinach

Instructions

Assembly Instructions

1. Add artichokes, onion, seasonings, and broth to a large freezer bag.

2. Place shredded mozzarella cheese in a medium sized bag.

3. Seal both bags, removing excess air.

4. Staple together above the seal and freeze.

Cooking Instructions

1. Dump large bag contents into a large stovetop pot.

2. Stir in pasta.

3. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring every few minutes, keeping covered when not stirring.

4. When pasta is cooked, stir in the cheese and spinach and allow the spinach to wilt and cheese to melt before serving.