This easy creamy gochujang sauce recipe comes together in the time it takes a pan of pasta to boil – it is a simple 30 minute meal which you can flex endlessly to your own tastes! The flavors of gochujang chili paste, lime and basil make this a truly unique pink sauce with a spicy twist.
This creamy gochujang pasta is the easy dinner you never knew you needed in your life
I recently discovered that gochujang pasta sauces were a whole Thing over on social media, and it was not something I could ignore. I had some in the fridge left over from my Mushroom Gochujang Noodles recipe, I have the “marry me” sauce committed to memory at this point, so this just clicked together very easily in my kitchen one night. The gochujang’s sweet, smoky flavor provides the perfect base for a tasty but simple cream sauce – you just don’t need a lot here!
Adding a bit of kale adds some texture to the dish and rounds it off to a complete meal. All together, this doesn’t take much longer to cook than the pasta takes to boil. These are the kinds of meals we all need more of in our lives! And it’s super flexible – you swap around the veggies as needed to fit with what is in your fridge or freezer. Peas, spinach, mushrooms or asparagus are all obvious choices but the sky is the limit!
Is this sauce spicy?
The spiciness will depend on your brand of gochujang. I use the Sun Hee brand and my sauce has a little kick, but nothing too wild. Unless you have a very mild gochujang paste, I’d expect a little heat, but the cream will mellow it for the most part.
What you need to know about the ingredients
- I love rigatoni for this one, but any pasta will work fine, it’s not a big deal.
- I use lacinato kale (cavolo nero) which is particularly hearty, but any kale would be fine. A few other easy ideas for veggies: frozen peas or broccoli (add them to the pasta cooking water a few minutes before the pasta is ready), spinach (add to the sauce alongside the cooked pasta- it will wilt quickly), mushrooms or asparagus (saute in a separate pan and add to in at the end). A can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) would also be right at home here. However, if you add a lot of extras, just reduce the pasta a little to make sure the sauce is not spread too thin.
- I use basil as the fresh green herb of choice, but parsley, chives or even cilantro (coriander) will work too, albeit with a slightly different flavor profile.
- I love to add lime to this sauce, but it’s not a deal breaker. A lemon works too, or you can leave it out if you need to.
More spicy vegetarian pasta dinners
Easy Gochujang Pasta
Ingredients
- 10 oz (280 g) rigatoni or other short pasta shape
- ½ red onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp gochujang paste
- ¾ cup (180 ml) vegetable broth
- ½ cup (120 ml) double or heavy cream
- ½ cup (50 g) parmesan or Italian hard cheese, grated – plus more for topping if you wish
- 1 small bunch fresh basil, chopped
- 1 handful kale, chopped or torn
- 1 lime, half for squeezing, half cut into wedges for serving
Instructions
- Start your water boiling for the pasta, and start prepping the sauce. Once the water is boiled you can get the pasta cooking – as long as all your ingredients are already gathered and prepped, the sauce will come together at the right time.
- Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, saute the onions in a little olive oil until soft. Keep the heat low and add the garlic. Cook for another minute or two until softened.
- Add the butter and the gochujang to the pan. Cook over a low heat for a couple minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add the vegetable broth to the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer and allow to cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes to thicken up. Stir regularly.
- Once your pasta has a couple of minutes of cook time left, add the kale leaves into the saucepan with the pasta.
- Add the cream to the sauce, over a low heat, and stir through. Add the cheese and basil and mix until the cheese has fully melted in.
- Drain the pasta and kale, squeeze in the juice of half a lime, and toss through. .
- Serve immediately, with extra lime for squeezing and extra cheese for topping if you like.
