This post may contain affiliate links. Read disclosure policy
This simple pasta recipe is ready in just 20 minutes. Toss your favorite shape of pasta in this cream cheese pasta sauce and you’ll never go back to plain old spaghetti again!
We’re here, you guys! We’re in our new home, we’re mostly unpacked, and we’re basically just wandering around the house in awe.
We’re all pretty in love with our new home and I’m so happy about that. We’ve moved so much lately and we made it a point to find something that we would want to live in forever. So far, I think we’re good. I’m never leaving this place, especially if that means I never have to pack another box!
Would you like to save this?
Would you guys be interested in a house tour once I have everything decorated (and the random half empty boxes taken away)? I thought it would be fun to share our space with you guys, but maybe that’s only fun to me. Haha!
Anyway, the first meal I made in our new house was pasta. My family loves their pasta and I’m right there with them. It’s so good and filling and I don’t even care about the carbs. I totally went off my low carb diet for the last half of April since I was traveling and moving (read: eating out allllll the dang time) and I’ve been hoovering in the carbs like there’s no tomorrow. Happy to report that I’ve managed to not gain weight while doing so, too!
So, back to the pasta! If you’ll remember, I shared my family’s recipe for this creamy baked spaghetti. It’s one of those meals that everyone just devours and it’s pretty easy. But, recipes can always be made even simpler, so I eliminated the bake time to make this a summer friendly dish. No hot oven means you won’t be heating up the whole house!
I called this million dollar pasta, because that’s what most people call the creamy baked spaghetti recipe that we all love.
Million Dollar Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 1 pound ground beef
- 24 ounces marinara
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, brown the hamburger meat in a medium skillet, crumbling it as it cooks. Drain the fat and return to the pan. Stir in the pasta sauce and set aside.
- Meanwhile, beat together the cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, garlic, chives, salt, and pepper with an electric mixer until well combined.
- Drain the pasta when it's finished cooking and return to the pot. Stir in the cream cheese mixture and the meat sauce until well coated.
- Serve immediately.
Wendy says
Love it! New family favorite!!??
Karly says
Oh, love to hear that! ๐
Pete Mathis says
What size jar of pasta sauce?
Karly says
Sorry about that! You’ll want 24 ounces of sauce.
Danielle says
Wondering if I could just take out the cottage cheese and not substitute anything in its place. I might try making this with shells pasta as well.
Karly says
The cream cheese mixture will be quite thick without the cottage cheese, but should work otherwise.
Luanne says
Sorry, way over priced, over rated. I made exactly as directed.
I t was easy and fast to make and looked beautiful on the plate with a sprinkling of fresh parsley. After a few minutes it got really thick and so I thinned it with some saved pasta water. I don’t think I would make it again but if I did I would cut the cream cheese entirely or reduce to an ounce or two. As written it is thick, and very heavy. Sorry, I have liked some of your other recipes.
Karly says
Sorry to hear this one wasn’t for you.
Mary Ann Tax Lady says
Instead of hamburger, how would sweet Italian sausage work? Or maybe 1/2 half sweet and 1/2 hot.
Karly says
Absolutely! That sounds great!
pam overmyer says
what kind of pasta sauce do you use
Karly says
I just grab whatever marinara is on sale. I’m not too picky about it.
Claire Willis says
Could the cottage cheese be switched out for ricotta? I have a fairly intense hatred for cottage cheese.
Karly says
Absolutely!