Creamy brie pasta melts buttery brie into a silky sauce with tender pasta, garlic, and herbs for an easy dinner that feels a little special.

Creamy brie pasta is what you make when regular mac and cheese feels a little too predictable, but you still want dinner to involve plenty of melted cheese and very little emotional commitment!

Ingredients

• 10 ounces pasta, such as rigatoni, penne, fusilli, shells, or fettuccine
• 8 ounces Brie cheese
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3 large garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus plenty for pasta water
• 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup reserved pasta water, as needed

Servings: 4

How to Make Creamy Brie Pasta

One important detail: do not boil Brie once it goes into your skillet. High heat can cause cheese to become oily or grainy. Gentle heat plus starchy pasta water is what gives you that gorgeous, restaurant-style glossy sauce!

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat. For 10 ounces of pasta, use around 3 quarts of water so pasta has enough room to move around without requiring an enormous stockpot.

Once water is boiling, salt it generously, then add pasta and stir immediately so pieces do not stick together. Cook according to package instructions until pasta is just al dente, usually around 9 to 12 minutes depending on shape.

I would actually stop about 1 minute before you think it is completely ready because pasta gets another minute or two in sauce later, and nobody came here for soft, floppy rigatoni!

Before draining, scoop out at least 1 cup of pasta cooking water. Even though you probably will not use all of it, having extra beside stove is much better than remembering approximately four seconds after you pour it down drain.

Starchy pasta water is especially important here because starch helps Brie, cream, Parmesan, and butter come together into one smooth sauce instead of leaving you with melted cheese sitting in a little puddle of fat.

While pasta cooks, place a large skillet over medium-low heat and add butter. Let it melt gently, then add minced garlic. Cook garlic for about 45 to 60 seconds, stirring frequently, until it smells fragrant and looks slightly softened but has not begun turning dark brown.

Garlic moves from fragrant to burned surprisingly fast, so this is one of those moments when I would stay beside pan rather than attempting to answer an email!

Pour heavy cream into skillet and keep heat at medium-low. Let cream warm for about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until you can see gentle steam and perhaps a few tiny bubbles around edges.

You do not want a vigorous simmer. If cream starts bubbling aggressively, turn heat down immediately because lower temperatures give you much more control once cheese enters pan.

Reduce heat to low, add Brie pieces, and stir slowly as they melt. Depending on how cold your cheese was, this should take about 2 to 4 minutes. Do not worry if sauce looks very thick at first.

Brie is supposed to melt into what looks almost like an overly rich cheese dip before pasta water transforms it. Once most pieces have disappeared, stir in 1/4 cup reserved pasta water and watch sauce loosen and become noticeably glossier.

Add Parmesan a little at a time while stirring continuously. I prefer adding it in two or three small handfuls rather than dumping everything in at once because finely grated cheese melts much more evenly this way.

Keep heat low. If sauce seems thick enough that your spoon leaves a clear trail across skillet, add another 2 to 4 tablespoons pasta water. You are looking for sauce that coats back of a spoon but still slowly runs off it. Remember that it will thicken further when pasta goes in.

Add drained pasta directly to skillet along with black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss everything together over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, moving pasta constantly so sauce works its way into ridges, tubes, and curves.

If pasta starts looking sticky rather than silky, add pasta water 1 tablespoon at a time. This small adjustment is one of those micro-decisions that makes a huge difference.

Sauce should cling to pasta while still collecting lightly at bottom of skillet. If all liquid disappears immediately, it needs more water.

Turn off heat completely before adding lemon juice. Start with 1 teaspoon, toss, then taste. If sauce still feels very rich on your palate, add second teaspoon.

Don’t skip this step just because lemon sounds strange with Brie. Acidity wakes up buttery cheese and gives finished pasta far more balance without making it taste citrusy.

Taste one final time and adjust salt and black pepper. Brie and Parmesan can both be quite salty, so this is why I wait until near end before adding much additional salt. Sprinkle in parsley if using, then give pasta another good toss.

If it has thickened while you were tasting, which happens quickly with cheese sauces, loosen it with another tablespoon or two of warm pasta water.

Serve immediately while sauce is glossy and loose, finishing each bowl with a little freshly grated Parmesan and plenty of cracked black pepper.

Brie sauce gets thicker as it stands, so this is not a recipe I would leave sitting in skillet for 20 minutes while everyone decides whether they are hungry. They are hungry now!

Serving Suggestions

Serve creamy brie pasta straight from skillet with a simple green salad dressed with lemon vinaigrette or red wine vinaigrette, since something crisp and acidic works beautifully beside rich cheese sauce.

Roasted asparagus, garlicky green beans, broccolini, Brussels sprouts, or roasted broccoli are equally good choices.

If you want to turn it into a fuller dinner, serve pasta with grilled chicken, roasted chicken, sautéed shrimp, or seared salmon.

And if this is date-night pasta, warm crusty bread on side is never a bad decision.

Technically you already have pasta, but nobody invited carbohydrate accounting to dinner.

Creamy brie passta manages to feel special without turning dinner into a project, and that may be my favorite part about it!

Hungry for more feel-good meals? Explore these 21 Anti-Inflammatory Breakfast Recipes for a nourishing start and 10 Anti-Inflammatory Dinner Recipes for delicious evenings that make healthy eating easy!