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Tikka Masala Pasta

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Tikka masala pasta is the comfort food dinner you didn’t know you needed. It’s creamy, spicy, and tastes just like you’d imagine chicken tikka masala sauce on pasta would! And it comes together in just 25 minutes.

Indian fusion tikka masala pasta amde with rigatoni and garnisheed with fresh cilantro on a white plate.

If you’ve been following us for a while, you know we love fusion food! So we just had to make a bold, flavor-packed pasta recipe inspired by one of our favorite Indian dishes, chicken tikka masala. It has a creamy tomato based sauce flavored with tons of Indian spices and aromatics. And a little bit of the spicy heat you’d expect from Indian food.

And it’s delicious!

So if you love Indian food as much as we do, you’ll probably love this fusionpasta recipe and should also check out our Indian fusionleftover butter chicken pizza recipe!

What To Expect

  • Great for: Easy, flavorful, and cozy weeknight dinners.
  • Ready in: 25 minutes
  • Serves: 2 people
  • Flavor profile: Bold, spicy, and creamy with all the traditional Indian flavors from chicken tikka masala that we love.
  • How to make it: Boil the pasta, sauté the aromatics, add in the spices to bloom, and then stir in crushed tomatoes and heavy cream to simmer. Finish the sauce with lemon juice, fenugreek, cilantro, and butter before combining with the pasta and a little pasta water. Serve hot.

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Why We Love This Recipe

This recipe is super decadent, warm, and cozy. It’s exactly what I wanted from turning one of my favorite Indian dishes into a pasta dinner – there’s just so much to love about the spicy, bold, and creamy sauce!

– Alex

Key Ingredients

Ingredients with labels for making tikka masala pasta: rigatoni, minced garlic, minced ginger, yellow onion, butter, crushed tomatoes, lemon, cilantro, heavy cream, and spices.
  • Rigatoni – We love using rigatoni for this pasta dish because it feels extra decadent. The creamy sauce clings to the ridges in rigatoni super well. You could substitute penne if you’d like, but we recommend a thicker/larger noodle for this comfort food dish!
  • Aromatics – Yellow onion, garlic, and ginger.
  • Seasonings – This seasoning blend is based on our slow cooker chicken tikka masala recipe: Kashmiri red chili powder, garam masala, cumin, paprika, ground turmeric, ground coriander, and salt. 
  • Sauce base – Crushed tomatoes and heavy cream are the volume of the sauce and continue to bring in traditional flavors from chicken tikka masala.
  • Finishing ingredients – Fresh lemon juice and fresh cilantro are a must for this recipe! They both help cut some of the heat and lighten up this otherwise heavy, creamy dish. Plus a little bit of butter for extra silkiness.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How To Make Tikka Masala Pasta

A ceramic pot of boiling pasta on the stove.

Step 1: Boil the rigatoni in a large pot of salted water until al dente according to package directions. Reserve some pasta water before draining.

Step 2: A sauce pot of minced garlic and chopped white onion being sauteed.

Step 2: Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger until soft. They’ll be smelling really good at this point.

Step 3: Sauteed minced garlic and diced onion in a sauce pot coated in a seasoning mixture.

Step 3: Sprinkle in the spice blend and cook until fragrant.

Step 4: A sauce pot of a red tikka masala sauce being cooked.

Step 4: Stir in the crushed tomatoes and heavy cream until well combined and simmer until slightly thickened.

Step 5: A sauce pot of a bright red tikka masala sauce being cooked with bits of green cilantro mixed in.

Step 5: Add the lemon juice, dried fenugreek leaves, chopped cilantro, and butter. Stir to combine well and make sure all the butter has melted.

Step 6: A sauce pot filled with cooked rigatoni coated in a creamy, light red tikka masala sauce.

Step 6: Add the rigatoni to the sauce and stir to combine. Make sure the pasta is well coated in the sauce, and add a splash or two of pasta water (up to 3 tablespoons) to help it cling.

Expert Tips

  • Spices – You should be able to find kashmiri chili powder and dried fenugreek leaves at an Indian or Asian market, or a specialty spice store if there’s one near you. Sometimes you can even find these ingredients online. If you can’t find them, substitute in ground red cayenne pepper for the kashmiri chili powder and skip the fenugreek.
  • Mise en place – It’s helpful to practice mise en place for quick pasta recipes like this one. You’ll want all your ingredients prepped and ready to go, and your equipment handy, before you start cooking! That’s why we recommend mixing the spices in a small bowl before getting started. Learn more about mise en place here.
  • Timing – Since the sauce only has to thicken for a couple minutes you can start cooking the sauce at the same time as the pasta. The timing should work out for both to be done at about the same time.
  • Variations – You can easily make this recipe into chicken tikka masala pasta for added protein. The simplest and easiest way is to make pan-seared chicken, slice it up, and add it in when combining the pasta and sauce.
  • Storing and reheating – You can store leftover tikka masala pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat single servings in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Serving Suggestions

This pasta is super saucy and creamy, so it’s best served with fresh bread or buttered naan! Use it to sop up extra sauce, or serve it with some dipping oils or butter.

You can also serve this pasta with a lighter side dish like dressed greens to contrast the heaviness of the dish. We like to use a combo of Sicilian lemon olive oil and fig balsamic vinegar on sweet baby lettuce.

A spicy Indian tikka masala pasta.

This tikka masala pasta is somewhere between Italian and Indian food, and we’re all about this unique mashup! It’s probably one of our favorite unique pasta recipes we’ve made (up there with our creamy gochujang pasta and our shakshuka pasta). Give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments!

Other Fun Fusion Pasta Recipes

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Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex

A spicy Indian tikka masala pasta.

Tikka Masala Pasta

Nicole & Alex Langdon
Tikka masala pasta is the comfort food dinner you didn’t know you needed. It’s creamy, spicy, and tastes just like you’d imagine chicken tikka masala sauce on pasta would! And it comes together in just 25 minutes.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine Fusion, Indian, Italian
Servings 2 servings
Calories 822 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • ½ pound rigatoni
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • ¼ medium yellow onion diced
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 14 ounces crushed tomatoes
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • ½ medium lemon juiced
  • 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro chopped, plus extra for garnish
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Spice Blend

  • ¾ teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder
  • ¾ teaspoon garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 pinch salt

Instructions
 

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rigatoni and cook until al dente according to package directions. Reserve some pasta water before draining.
  • In the meantime, combine the spice blend in a small bowl and set aside.
  • Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion, garlic, and ginger and sauté until soft, about 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Sprinkle in the spice blend and stir to combine with the onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
    Then, stir in the crushed tomatoes and heavy cream until well combined. Simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes, lowering the heat if it starts bubbling too much.
  • Add the lemon juice, dried fenugreek leaves, chopped cilantro, and butter. Stir to combine well and make sure all the butter has melted.
  • Add the rigatoni to the sauce and stir to combine. Make sure the pasta is well coated in the sauce, and add a splash or two of pasta water to help it cling.
    Serve hot, garnished with additional chopped cilantro.
One last step:Please consider leaving a review to let us know how it was!

Notes

Specialty ingredients: You should be able to find kashmiri chili powder and dried fenugreek leaves at an Indian or Asian market, or a specialty spice store if there’s one near you. Sometimes you can even find these ingredients online. If you can’t find them, substitute in ground red cayenne pepper for the chili powder and skip the fenugreek.
Serving suggestions: This pasta is super saucy and creamy, so it’s best served with fresh bread! Use it to sop up extra sauce, or serve it with some dipping oils or butter. Or, go with a lighter side of mixed greens tossed with your favorite olive oil and balsamic.
Storing and reheating: You can store leftover tikka masala pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat single servings in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring halfway through.
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 822kcalCarbohydrates: 107gProtein: 21gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 19gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 365mgPotassium: 998mgFiber: 9gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 1777IUVitamin C: 36mgCalcium: 155mgIron: 5mg
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If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.

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90% of Nicole’s thoughts are about food. She’s had a passion for cooking (and eating) for as long as she can remember! Growing up, she started cooking with her mom at a young age, learned family recipes from her Italian grandmother, took every opportunity to make cookies (so many bake sales), and always loved going out to restaurants to try new foods.

Nicole currently works part-time as a marketing professional for OmieLife while also working nonstop on The Candid Cooks. As a former mechanical engineer, Nicole has consistently found herself at the intersection of creativity and logical reasoning. She credits not only her passion for photography, design, and writing, but also her problem-solving nature and desire to learn, as the foundation on which The Candid Cooks was built.

Nicole’s hobbies include anything that gets her moving - mainly hiking, skiing, ice skating, and dancing - as well as reading fantasy novels and scrapbooking. Her favorite food is a big plate of nachos, as long as they’re cheesy enough!

5 from 1 vote

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One Comment

  1. 5 stars
    I love chicken tikka masala, so taking the sauce and adding it to pasta is such a great idea. I may have to try adding some chicken to this recipe next time.

    Reply