Penne Rosa is a creamy tomato pasta dish, with a delightful kick! This 15 minute meal is sure to please!
Noodles and Company makes a delicious pasta dish they call Penne Rosa. It was love at first bite and we knew it would be incredibly simple to make it at home. And bonus, at home you get to add more of the good stuff that restaurants always skimp out on to cut costs. That’s right, this recipe is even BETTER than Noodles and Co. And better yet, it takes just 15 minutes to whip this pasta up, making it a staple weeknight meal. It’s packed full of fresh ingredients like tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach, so you’re also getting your veggies in. This is a complete meal. Add some chicken if you’d like, but this is a meal we enjoy meatless. Welcome to one of our family favorites!
Pasta Options for Penne Rosa:
We love this dish with penne, but you could really use just about any pasta. Penne, rigatoni, elbows, and shells are all great options.
Mushrooms:
We know many of you have strong opinions about mushrooms. While you technically could make this dish without mushrooms, we find that they add so much to this dish, and we highly recommend them!
Spice Level:
This dish has a delightful bit of heat to it, but it is not overpowering. If you are particularly spice sensitive, keep it at 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. If you enjoy spice, go ahead and use that full 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, or even add more!
Heavy Cream Substitute:
Heavy cream makes penne rosa perfectly creamy. If you would like a bit lighter version of this dish, you may use half and half.
Storage and Reheating Instructions:
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat in a skillet on the stovetop over medium-low heat until warmed through.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious pasta recipes:
- Super Easy Olive Oil Pasta
- Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta
- Easy Stovetop Mac and Cheese
- Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti
Watch the video below where we will walk you through every step of the recipe with a video demonstration.
This was fabulous! Really delicious and the seasoning was spot-on. Will definitely make this again; the family LOVED it! Thanks for sharing the recipe –
AMAZING! Literally tastes exactly the same as Noodles!
Can I substitute the marinara sauce? I would like to use a tomato & sweet basil sauce.
Thanks.
I liked this recipe!
This was pretty close to perfection. I used barilla’s marinara with merlot. The red pepper gave it just a hint of spice. The amounts of each ingredient were right on.
(I also really like macaroni grill’s penne rustica, it’s something like this but has prosciutto (if I’m not mistaken) and asiago and shrimp and paprika, I think. Plus they bake it)
Just made this tonight. Is it supposed to taste a little sweet? Mine did and I was wondering how I can tweak this so that it’s not as sweet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Nevertheless, I will try again and see how it turns out then. Thanks!
I made this a few months ago and will be making it again this weekend. Our closest two Noodles were closed and I crave Penne Rosa all the time. This takes exactly the same and was so easy to make, even for me, who rarely cooks. I added far too much of the red pepper flakes, but was able to cool it down with more heavy cream. I will say that 4 Roma tomatoes did not seem like enough for vegetable lovers. I’ll be putting in 6 with extra mushrooms and spinach next time. Can’t wait to make this again with some homemade bread!
THIS WAS SO GOOD!
I just made this and loveeeed it! It’s my fav dish at noodles and co. It wasn’t spicy enough for me but I’ll add more pepper flakes next time, thanks for the easy recipe!
I have made this several times-tweaks like bacon fat to sauté mushrooms &garlic- adding sweet Italian sausage (also served with Parmesan crusted chicken) . Different generational tastes. Easily adjusted! Spot on copycat recipe!