This Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta, made in one pot, will be ready to devour in less than 30 minutes! Creamy goat cheese, basil and parsley for greens; this is the easiest way to marry homemade and gourmet. You’ll be saying “I DO!”.
It’s been a busy day, an even busier evening, and that take-out menu is looking awfully tempting. Stop right where you are and give this recipe a chance! In just 25 minutes I have created a gorgeous, creamy, cheesy pasta that will end any busy day with a big smile.
Sitting down and enjoying a gloriously successful meal you’ve curated is truly one of the finer things in life. It feels especially good when that meal was so easy to make! To me, this feels almost like an adult mac and cheese with that deep goat cheese flavor enveloped in a silky, creamy sauce. Speckled with fresh basil and a touch of lemon zest for the finishing touch.
Ingredients
Keep scrolling down to the printable recipe card for FULL ingredient amounts and instructions or click the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page!
- Penne – Cooked according to package instructions.
- Butter – I like to use unsalted to have control over the sodium. You can use margarine or butter substitutes instead.
- Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
- Lemon – We’ll use both lemon zest and lemon juice here for a fresh lemon flavor. You’ll love it!
- Goat cheese – Soft goat cheese.
- Cream – I used half and half which is 10% MF.
- Pasta water – Reserved from cooking the pasta.
- Herbs – Fresh basil and parsley.
- Salt & pepper – Season to taste.
- Parmesan cheese – Some freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Hot to make creamy goat cheese pasta
- Cook pasta: Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Make sauce: Heat the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until the garlic becomes aromatic. Add the goat cheese, half and half and stir. Whisk until smooth.
- Add pasta: Reduce the heat to medium. Add the cooked penne and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water to the skillet. Stir well to coat the pasta and let it bubble in the sauce for 1-2 minutes.
- Finish: If you’d like a thinner sauce, add more of the pasta water as needed. Mix in the basil, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the lemon juice and zest and more pasta water if needed. Turn off the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
- Garnish and serve: Garnish with parsley and serve.
What types of pasta can I use?
I prefer these thicker, creamy sauces with small shapes. Other great small-shaped pasta are rotini, farfalle, shells, macaroni, rigatoni, fusilli, and mafalda. The perfect vessels for carrying your silky sauce!
You can use long shapes if you like, of course. Linguini, fettuccine, spaghetti, spaghettini; anything you like. It will all taste wonderful!
How to choose the right goat cheese
In most grocery stores you’ll see goat cheese labelled as soft ‘chèvre’, which is more of an umbrella term for French goat cheese. This is what I used for my pasta, and it turned out fantastic! You can also get more specific and hit up your local cheese shop. Look for these soft varieties:
- Blue goat cheese
- Goat brie, rind removed
- Goat gouda
- Humboldt Fog
How to slice basil
The best way to slice basil for both texture and aesthetic is to chop it ‘chiffonade’. Stack your basil leaves, starting with the largest on the top up to the smallest. Roll the leaves tightly lengthwise. Starting from the pointy end, cut 1/4″ slices all the way down the roll.
Use your fingers to lightly fluff the rolls and break them apart. Now you have perfect basil that can be mixed into the pasta and used as a garnish!
How to store leftovers
Transfer your leftover goat cheese pasta to an airtight container and keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat either in the microwave, or on the stovetop over medium heat. Stir often and add a splash of water or cream if you find the sauce is too thick.
How to freeze creamy goat cheese pasta
This recipe is best enjoyed fresh, but you can absolutely freeze it for future dinners. It will last up to 6 months stored in an airtight container. Keep in mind after cooked pasta freezes and thaws, it will become a bit softer in texture.
Let the pasta thaw overnight in the fridge to make reheating easier and reduce the risk of breaking the pasta. If you find the sauce has separated a bit after thawing, the reheating and stirring will bring it back together.
Check out these popular one-pot pasta dishes:
- Pumpkin Goat Cheese Pappardelle
- Avocado Spinach Pasta
- Spinach Artichoke Pasta
- One Pot Creamy Parmesan Pasta
- Chicken Penne Arrabbiata
- Cheesy Gnocchi Bake
- Pasta Primavera
- Pepperoni Pizza Pasta
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Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 ounce penne dry
- 2 tablespoon butter unsalted
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 6 ounce goat cheese soft
- 1 cup half and half cream
- ¼ cup fresh basil sliced chiffonade*
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice from 1 lemon
- lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Cook pasta: Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Make sauce: Heat the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until the garlic becomes aromatic. Add the goat cheese, half and half and stir. Whisk until smooth.
- Add pasta: Reduce the heat to medium. Add the cooked penne and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water to the skillet. Stir well to coat the pasta and let it bubble in the sauce for 1-2 minutes.
- Finish: If you'd like a thinner sauce, add more of the pasta water as needed. Mix in the basil, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the lemon juice and zest and more pasta water if needed. Turn off the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
- Garnish and serve: Garnish with parsley and serve.
Recipe Notes
- *Chiffonade: Stack your basil leaves, starting with the largest on the top up to the smallest. Roll the leaves tightly lengthwise. Starting from the pointy end, cut 1/4″ slices all the way down the roll.
- Transfer your leftover goat cheese pasta to an airtight container and keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat either in the microwave, or on the stovetop over medium heat. Stir often and add a splash of water or cream if you find the sauce is too thick.
I’m sure this would have been good as is, but I felt like I needed some veggies so here are the adjustments I made: I doubled the butter (used salted as well) and used it to sauté about 8 ounces of spinach, 4 ounces of sliced baby bella mushrooms, 4 chopped and deseeded Campari tomatoes, and one roasted red pepper. Because of the additional veggies, I increased all of the other ingredients by about 50% (everything except the pasta). My wife also grabbed curly parsley (which I don’t enjoy) instead of flat so I left that out. Otherwise, I would’ve used it. The trick to this recipe is to move fast once the goat cheese is in the pan. You don’t want it to be exposed to the heat for too long so it doesn’t get gritty! I used medium heat for most of the recipe and turned it down to low once the goat cheese was melted. It’s easy to ruin the dish if you overcook the goat cheese. Turned out great though!
Would this work with gnocchis too?
Hi Patricia,
Gnocchi would work as well, just make sure you don’t overcook them. But some other types of pasta that would work well are small-shaped pasta like rotini, farfalle, shells, macaroni, rigatoni, fusilli, and mafalda. The perfect vessels for carrying all that silky sauce!
You can use long shapes if you like, of course. Linguini, fettuccine, spaghetti, spaghettini; anything you like. It will all taste wonderful!
Let us know how it all turns out!
Sooo yummy! But I subbed a couple TBS of jar pesto in place of the lemon, and fresh herbs since I didn’t have any on hand. Seriously soooo good with the goat cheese! And I added oven roasted chicken thighs as well
Could you try evaporated milk instead of cream?
I’m not sure, I haven’t tried it. You probably can, half and half is just higher in fat content than evaporated milk, but I think it should be fine.
Most delicious pasta recipe, we loved it….so nice to see a recipe with goat cheese! I can’t have to many other cheeses. I also added some cooked chicken and fresh mushrooms. Definitely will be making this recipe over and over.
This is a Delicious pasta recipe, Jo! We thought the lemon and herbs (basil and parsley) paired perfectly with the creamy goat. Fan-tas-tique!!! Big fat yummy. TY!!! 😀 <3
So glad to hear you liked it!!
Another winning recipe! Super easy, and family loved it (you know it’s delicious when there is a race for seconds!) Next time around, will add more fresh spinach, but other than that, it’s a practically perfect recipe — and perfect to make as a “one pot wonder” dish. Thank you, Jo!
Where is the spinach? I do not see it in the recipe? How much to add?
I combed through the post and I didn’t see spinach! If you want to add some, mix it into the sauce and let it wilt for a minute or two before adding the pasta.
Sorry, spinach was an inspirational addition. Out of habit, I tend to toss in an extra veggie to dishes. I added a healthy handful of spinach, because we love it — purely an optional taste preference.
Delicious!!!
It’s really 2 pots but no issue with that. To me, a bit over on the lemon and goat cheese flavours. I’d try it with maybe half a lemon’s zest and may 75% of the goat cheese. I’d also maybentey a bit of cheddar with the parmasean.
Given the name we wanted it to be a nice and strong goat cheese flavor! You can experiment as much as you like to make it perfect for you.
This is an AMAZING recipe, has become our favorite and it’s on the weekly menu…!