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.

If you’ve been following us for a while, you know we love fusion food! This month’s pasta recipe is 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 fusion pasta recipe. Give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments!

What This Recipe Entails

You can easily make our tikka masala pasta in under 30 minutes for a quick and cozy dinner.

• Prep time: 5 to 10 minutes
• Cook time: 15 minutes

It takes just a few minutes to prep the ingredients, and then the sauce can be made in the time it takes to boil the pasta. So easy!

Tikka Masala Pasta Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make our tikka masala pasta:

• 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.

How To Make Tikka Masala Pasta

Making tikka masala pasta is as easy as boiling noodles, building the sauce in the meantime, and combining them before serving. It’s super easy and can be done in under 30 minutes!

1. Cook the pasta – Boil the rigatoni in a large pot of salted water until al dente according to package directions. Reserve some pasta water before draining.
2. Sauté – Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger until soft. They’ll be smelling really good at this point.
3. Season – Sprinkle in the spice blend and cook until fragrant.
4. Simmer – Stir in the crushed tomatoes and heavy cream until well combined and simmer until slightly thickened. 
5. Finish – Add the lemon juice, dried fenugreek leaves, chopped cilantro, and butter. Stir to combine well and make sure all the butter has melted.
6. Combine – 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.
7. Serve – Serve hot, garnished with additional cilantro.

This sauce only needs to simmer for a few minutes to thicken very slightly. If you’ve started making the sauce once the pasta is boiling, the timing should work out pretty well so that your sauce is done by the time the noodles are ready.

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.

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.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

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.

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. Give it a try and let us know what you think in the comments!