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This Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta is super quick and seriously delicious. The perfect meal to add to your family rotation dinners!

Creamy roasted red pepper pasta embodies everything a weeknight dinner should be. Simple to prep, quick to cook and packed with flavour. Follow me…

overhead shot of Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta in skillet with fork diving in

Roasted Red Peppers

I use jarred roasted red peppers for this recipe for 2 reasons:

  1. Convenience – I’ve really tried to make this as weeknight-friendly as possible and roasted red peppers from the jar are key.
  2. Brine – They usually come in a vinegary kind of brine and although I don’t pour it in the sauce, what’s left on the peppers after I drain it away actually works nicely with the creamy sauce. The sauce itself is quite rich, so just a touch of acidity cuts through quite nicely.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Roasted red peppers lend themselves perfectly to a pasta sauce. It makes a nice change from tomatoes AND you don’t have to cook them for a long period of time.

To kick things off, we’ll be frying some onion and garlic in a little bit of butter. From there, they’ll be blitzed together with the roasted red peppers to create the base of the sauce. This actually makes quite a pleasant pasta sauce as it is, but we’ll be sprucing it up significantly for maximum flavour.

Recipe Tip #1

If you’re struggling to get the blender going with peppers, onion, garlic and butter, just add a splash of liquid (stock, milk or even water) to get things going.

Process shots: melt butter (photo 1), fry onion and garlic (photo 2), add to blender (photo 3), blitz until smooth (photo 4).

How to make a sauce with roasted red peppers - step by step photos

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

After blitzing the peppers with butter, onion and garlic, you’ll have a perfect canvas to work with. Let’s welcome our good friends cream, parmesan, parsley and smoked paprika. Oh, and pasta.

As I mentioned, you don’t need to cook the sauce for long. Just enough to melt the parmesan and bring everything together. It’ll be pretty thick already!

Recipe Tip #2

If for whatever reason the sauce does over-thicken, just toss through some of the pasta water to thin it out again. This will actually help bind and emulsify everything too.

Process shots: add blended peppers to pan (photo 1), stir in cream (photo 2), stir in parmesan, smoked paprika, parsley and seasoning (photo 3), toss in pasta (photo 4).

How to make a creamy roasted red pepper pasta sauce - step by step photos

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta FAQ

What kind of pasta should I use?

For this recipe, I recommend a long-cut pasta. The way the sauce oozes in and out of the pasta is truly irresistible and has to be experienced. My personal favourite is linguine, but fettuccine, tagliatelle and spaghetti work great. You can also use shortcut pasta!

What is the best Cream for this sauce?

Double (UK) or Heavy (US). Some recipes use half and half, but I find it thins out the sauce too much and dilutes the flavour. In any instance, just make sure your cream is at room temp so it doesn’t curdle in the sauce.

What type of Parmesan is best?

Always go freshly grated, or at least pre-grated. Stay away from the powdered stuff, it’ll turn the sauce grainy.

Can I make my own roasted red peppers?

Yes! Especially if you’ve got some fresh peppers lurking around that need using up. Here’s what I do:

1. Place your peppers next to the live flame on the hob or under the grill.
2. Rotate it every minute or so until all sides are completely charred.
3. Place in a bowl with cling film over until completely cooled.
4. Peel away the skin.

close up shot of linguine roasted red pepper in the saucepan

Serving Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

This recipe will comfortably feed 4 (don’t be deceived, it’s quite rich!). If you want to add any additions to the pasta I recommend either grilled chicken or even chorizo!

It’s pretty hearty as it is, but you could consider adding:

All in all, this quick dinner is the perfect midweek meal to add some heartiness to the table. Thick and creamy yet vibrant and flavoursome, you’d be a fool to not get this foolproof dish a go.

If you like the sound of this recipe definitely make sure you check out my Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Pasta and Roasted Red Pepper Chicken!

Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe shall we?!

fork diving into skillet of pasta

How to make Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta (Full Recipe & Video)

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta- Overhead Shot
4.95 from 18 votes

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

By: Chris Collins
This Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta is super quick and seriously delicious! The perfect meal to add to your family rotation dinners!
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes
Servings: 4
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Equipment

  • Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
  • Large Deep Frying Pan & Wooden Spoon
  • Large Pot & Tongs (to boil pasta)
  • Food Processor or Blender (to blend peppers)
  • Fine Cheese Grater

Ingredients 

  • 14oz / 400g Long-Cut Pasta (here I use Linguine)
  • 16oz / 450g jar of Roasted Red Peppers (see notes)
  • 1 tbsp Butter
  • 1 medium White Onion, diced
  • 2 small cloves of Garlic, finely diced
  • 1 cup / 240ml cup Heavy/Double Cream, at room temp
  • 1/2 cup / 40g Parmesan, finely grated (plus extra for serving)
  • 1 tbsp finely diced Fresh Parsley, plus extra to serve
  • 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
  • pinch of Chilli Flakes, to preference
  • Salt & Black Pepper, to taste

Instructions 

  • Pop the pasta in salted boiling water and cook until al dente.
  • Squeeze the brine out of the roasted red peppers and discard (don't rinse them).
  • Melt the butter in a large deep pan over medium heat and fry the onion until soft and golden. Add the garlic and fry for a minute or so longer, then scrape it all into a blender with the roasted red peppers. Blend to a smooth consistency.
  • Pour back into the pan and keep on a low simmer. Add in the cream and stir until completely blended, then stir in parmesan, parsley, smoked paprika and seasoning to taste.
  • Use tongs to add the pasta straight from the pot and toss through the sauce until completely coated. The sauce should thicken around and cling to the pasta. If it dries out at all just toss in a splash of the leftover pasta water.
  • Serve with extra parmesan and parsley and enjoy!

Video

Notes

a) Roasted Red Peppers – Jarred roasted red peppers usually come in a vinegary brine. Although you should drain them, don’t wash them. The tiny amount of brine left on the peppers will add a touch of acidity which will help balance out the richness of the dish. Just squeeze as much out with your hands as you can. 
b) Homemade Roasted Red Peppers – I use jarred roasted red peppers for this recipe to keep it a speedy 15min meal. However if you only have fresh simply broil (grill) skin side up until black on the outside, turning throughout to keep an even char. Place in a bowl with cling film over it and allow to cool. After peel off the skin, deseeded and slice. For reference, the drained weight of the roasted red peppers is 12oz/350g.
c) Parmesan – Make sure it’s freshly grated, or at least pre grated. Stay away from the powdered stuff, it’ll make your sauce go grainy.
d) Liquid – Try and scrape as much of the melted butter into the blender after you’ve fried your onions & garlic. This will help to blend into a smooth consistency. If for whatever reason your blender is struggling to blend, consider adding a small amount of chicken stock or water to get things going.
e) Calories – Based on sharing between 4 with no extra parmesan and no sides.

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Nutrition

Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.34g | Protein: 9.91g | Fat: 18.22g | Saturated Fat: 10.421g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.21g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5.108g | Trans Fat: 0.11g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 499mg | Potassium: 245mg | Fiber: 3.4g | Sugar: 5.27g | Vitamin A: 6550IU | Vitamin C: 141.9mg | Calcium: 150mg

Looking for more?

You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’

If you’re looking for more easy and delicious creamy pasta recipes then check these out too:

Creamy Pasta Recipes

Chris Collins, food blogger at Don't Go Bacon My Heart in white jumper eating a slice of garlic flatbread
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Recipe Rating




46 Comments

  1. Susan W Hartl says:

    5 stars
    Wonderful recipe! The red pepper sauce was superb!

    Reply
    1. Chris Collins says:

      Thanks for the review, Susan! C.

      Reply
  2. Jacqueline Vadala says:

    5 stars
    I’ve made this several times with no changes. Thank you for a great recipe!

    Reply
    1. Chris Collins says:

      Thanks so much for the review, Jacqueline! C.

      Reply
  3. Yas says:

    5 stars
    This pasta comes out amazing!!! So easy and simple to follow and the best part is everyone comes back for seconds. All my friends ask for the recipe.

    Reply
    1. Chris Collins says:

      Thanks so much for the review, Yas! 🙂 C.

      Reply
  4. Katy says:

    5 stars
    This was great thank you! I was wondering what to do with a jar of roasted peppers….. I didn’t have any cream so put in some milk and it still worked a treat!

    Reply