Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Boursin pasta is where comfort food meets elegance! Think of it as an adult version of mac and cheese. This pasta sauce is rich, creamy, garlicky, and easy enough for a weeknight.
How long it takes: 45 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: 9 x 13-inch baking dish, large pot
Servings: 4
Creamy Pasta, Almost No Effort
This is one of those dinners that looks like you tried really hard.
Creamy, herby Boursin cheese melts into the pasta and creates a ridiculously good sauce with almost no effort. Add juicy roasted tomatoes and suddenly it feels like something you ordered at a cozy little restaurant.
Meanwhile, you spent about ten minutes putting it together and the oven did the rest. Honestly, this is my favorite kind of cooking.
- Comfort food, elevated: On the Venn diagram of dinner recipes, Boursin pasta lands right in the overlap between comfort food and fancy (kind of like this baked feta pasta recipe). It’s rich and creamy, with juicy cherry tomatoes for bright pops of sweetness.
- Restaurant quality with minimal effort: The Boursin melts into an ultra-creamy, herb-infused sauce without the work of making a roux or heavy cream to thicken it.
- So customizable: The creamy sauce can be used on any of your favorite pastas. Add your choice of protein or seasonal veggies as side dishes, or incorporate them right into the pasta to put your own spin on this recipe.
Ingredient Notes
You’ll find the full list of ingredients and the quantities in the recipe card below, but here some notes on the heavy hitters.
- Boursin cheese: You can buy different flavors of Boursin cheese. I’ve tested this Boursin pasta recipe with Garlic & Fine Herbs, and Shallot & Chive, and both produced delicious results!
- Cherry or grape tomatoes: The small tomatoes burst as they roast, releasing natural juices that caramelize for extra flavor and become the base of the sauce. I love to add them to sheet pan dinners, too, for that very reason, like this sheet pan pesto chicken.
- Shallots and garlic: The shallots can be omitted if you’d like, but we really appreciated their mellow onion-y flavor.
- Uncooked pasta: Because the pasta is being cooked separately and not in the sauce, you’ve got options here! Short shapes like penne, shells, fusilli, cellentani, or even macaroni are best for holding onto the creamy sauce. We used cellentani, a hollow corkscrew-shaped pasta, also known as cavatappi.
- Parmesan: You can omit Parmesan but if you do, I recommend adding a little extra salt.
- Fresh basil or parsley: The freshly chopped herbs work well for cutting the richness of the sauce, although the garnish is optional.
Recipe Tip
Don’t forget to save the pasta water! Scoop a half cup of water from the pot of pasta before you drain it. The starchy liquid helps the sauce reach the right consistency and gives it a glossy finish. HINT: Set a measuring cup right by the boiling pasta so you don’t forget before you drain the pasta and it’s too late!
How to Make Boursin Pasta
Prepare. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Choose a baking dish (9 x 13-inch glass dish) or oven-safe skillet that is large enough to contain the sauce and the cooked pasta. Peel and cut the shallots into quarters, or eighths if they’re especially large.
Start the sauce. Toss the tomatoes (no need to slice them), cut shallots, and minced garlic with the olive oil, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. You can do that right in the baking dish or oven-safe skillet you’re going to use. Nestle the Boursin in the middle.
Roast. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes burst and the cheese is softened and golden in spots.
Cook the pasta. While the sauce is baking, begin cooking the pasta. Follow the package directions and use salted water, which seasons the pasta from the inside out. Reserve a half cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta.
Add the pasta to the sauce. When the sauce is ready, gently mash the tomatoes and Boursin, then stir to combine. Add the pasta to the baking dish, and toss to coat, adding the reserved pasta water a little at a time as needed to loosen the sauce.
Cool and serve. Let the Boursin pasta rest for 5 minutes to thicken, then season to taste, and garnish with fresh herbs and Parmesan.
Recipe Variations
- Add greens. Stir in a few handfuls of baby spinach or arugula after mixing in the pasta. Be sure to use tender greens that will wilt almost instantly when they are mixed in the hot pasta and sauce.
- Boost the protein. Add rotisserie chicken, leftover baked chicken breast, cooked shrimp, or canned white beans.
- Swap the Boursin flavor. Try Black Pepper or Caramelized Onion & Herb for a flavor variation.
- Add vegetables. Roasted mushrooms, steamed broccoli, sautéed zucchini, or roasted red peppers would all work well. You can either mix them into the pasta, or serve them on the side.
Serving Suggestions
Salad: With a rich and creamy pasta, a fresh, crisp salad is the perfect accompaniment! Try my healthy Caesar dressing recipe with romaine lettuce and homemade Caesar croutons for an easy salad. A restaurant-style house salad is always good, or this simple lemony arugula salad.
Bread: Texas toast garlic bread is always a hit and it’s super easy to make. We also love warm bakery bread served with my bread dipping oil on the side. Homemade cheesy bread made with my easy pizza dough recipe is popular, too, or you can form the dough into kid-friendly breadsticks.
Veggie sides: This roasted asparagus recipe (it can be roasted at the same time as your Boursin pasta sauce) or my air fryer carrots are fabulous easy sides.
Proteins: Serve your Boursin pasta as a side with marinated flank steak or easy air fryer pork chops, or add air fryer breaded shrimp on top for a crispy contrast to the creamy pasta.
Refrigerate: Store leftover Boursin pasta in a covered container for 3 to 4 days. Add a splash of water or broth when reheating to loosen the sauce. (I don’t recommend freezing this recipe, as I think the texture of the pasta and the sauce would both suffer.)
Reheat: Warm over low heat on the stovetop or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until heated through and creamy.
More Pasta Recipes
Boursin Pasta
Ingredients
- 4 shallots
- 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 package (5.3 ounces) Boursin cheese (Garlic & Fine Herbs or Shallot & Chive)
- 8 ounces uncooked pasta (short shapes like penne, cellentani, shells, or fusilli work best)
- ½ cup reserved pasta water (as needed)
- grated Parmesan cheese (for optional garnish)
- chopped fresh basil or parsley (for optional garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Peel the shallots and cut them into quarters, or eighths if they are large.4 shallots
- In a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or large oven-safe skillet, combine tomatoes, shallot, minced garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (if using). Toss to coat.2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, 4 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Nestle the Boursin cheese in the center of the tomato mixture.1 package (5.3 ounces) Boursin cheese
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, or until the skins of the tomatoes split and are saucy, and the cheese is soft and golden in spots.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions. Reserve about ½ cup pasta water before draining.8 ounces uncooked pasta
- Once the Boursin and tomatoes are done, remove the dish from the oven. Use a spoon to gently mash and stir everything together into a creamy sauce.
- Add the cooked pasta directly to the baking dish and toss to coat, adding a splash of reserved pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce (see note). Let the pasta and sauce sit for 5 minutes before serving. The sauce will thicken slightly as the pasta absorbs more of the liquid.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. (You may need to add salt if you're not planning on garnishing with Parmesan.) Garnish with fresh basil or parsley, a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese, and serve warm.
Notes
- Sauce consistency: Don’t pour in the entire half cup of water all at once. I find that I usually need very little extra water, but it can vary depending on how juicy the tomatoes are or how well you drained the pasta. The sauce should be creamy, not thick or sticky, so it coats the pasta evenly. The starchy water helps give the sauce a nice texture.
- Storage: Refrigerate leftover Boursin pasta for up to 4 days. Add a splash of water or broth when reheating to loosen the sauce, if needed. Boursin pasta doesn’t freeze well.
- Variations: Add a few handfuls of baby spinach or tender arugula right after stirring in the pasta, stirring until wilted. Stir in chopped or shredded rotisserie chicken or white beans for protein. Swap in other Boursin flavors for variety (like Black Pepper or Caramelized Onion & Herb).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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