Chile Crisp Fettuccine Alfredo With Spinach

Updated July 23, 2024

Chile Crisp Fettuccine Alfredo With Spinach
Kate Sears for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
Total Time
25 minutes
Rating
5(5,318)
Notes
Read community notes

Swirling chile crisp, a popular Chinese condiment, and spinach into fettuccine Alfredo gives you an immensely satisfying meatless one-dish dinner. The firecracker crunch of chile crisp intensifies when sizzled in butter before cream tempers its heat. Parmesan heightens the sauce’s savory umami, and pregrated cheese works just fine here. This astoundingly simple meal — it doesn’t even require any chopping — comes together in under 30 minutes but tastes as complex as anything you’d get at a restaurant.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • Salt
  • 4tablespoons butter
  • 1 to 2tablespoons chile crisp, plus more to taste (see Tip)
  • 1cup heavy cream
  • 1pound dried fettuccine
  • 1(5-ounce) package baby spinach
  • ¾cup finely grated Parmesan (2¼ ounces), plus more for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

533 calories; 26 grams fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 60 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 16 grams protein; 372 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water heats, melt the butter with the chile crisp in a very large skillet or Dutch oven over low heat.

  2. Step 2

    Whisk in the cream and keep warm over low. (It should steam, not bubble.)

  3. Step 3

    Cook the fettuccine until al dente according to the package directions. Use tongs to transfer the noodles to the cream mixture, reserving the pasta water.

  4. Step 4

    Add the spinach and turn with tongs until the noodles are well coated.

  5. Step 5

    Add the Parmesan and toss, still over low heat, until the noodles are slicked with a creamy sauce, adding a spoonful or two of pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce. Divide among serving dishes and top with Parmesan and more chile crisp, if you’d like. Serve immediately.

Tip
  • You can make chile crisp easily at home or buy it in supermarkets or online. It varies in spiciness, so adjust the amount to your taste. For this dish, try to add more of the solids than the oil to the sauce for the most flavorful dish.

Ratings

5 out of 5
5,318 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Do you have a Trader Joe’s near you? You can get an 8 ounce box of shelf-stable whipping cream there. I keep a few boxes in the pantry. It’s perfect when you just need a small amount of cream.

I'd recommend putting some minced garlic and sliced mushrooms into the butter and chili crisp combo and sauté over medium heat for around 30 seconds (do not brown garlic). Heat the cream and melt a dollop of gorgonzola into it before adding it to the butter, garlic and mushrooms (and go easy on the gorgonzola since you don't want it to dominate the entire dish).

now that I have a induction cooktop, the water boils in a minute, tops. It is so fast it requires reorganizing cooking strategies. Love it!

This tastes like a decadent dish you'd pay a lot for in a restaurant. I diluted the heavy cream a bit: 1/2 half and half, 1/2 heavy cream. Next time I will toss in some more spinach. I added garlic slices while sautéing the butter/chile crisp. Next time I will add mushrooms as well. Definitely add chile crisp on top when plating the dish - SO good!

Heated the butter, added shrimp and garlic. Sautéed shrimp til pink. I then removed shrimp from pan, set aside. Followed other directions exactly. Added shrimp back in at the end. Delicious and easy.

I am familiar with chili condiments but have not heard of "chili crisp." Can anyone enlighten me or provide a photo of how this product is sold? Many thanks in advance! Also, love the idea of garlic in this dish (Vitamin G as it is known in my house).

Used kite hill cream cheese instead of heavy cream and Miyoko butter to make this vegan. Had kale from the garden rather than spinach. Really great: the sauce, just spicy enough, coated the fettuccine perfectly.

Chili Crisp - if you have time, Momofuku has the most amazing chili crisp on the market in my opinion but you have to order online and it ships. They have several different types and spice levels so if you're unfamiliar, just start with their original. After awhile, you'll use it like Americans do ketchup or ranch dressing....at anytime, on anything, anywhere, breakfast, lunch and dinner. :-)

Can this be done using pasta water or butter instead of cream?

Made this tonight. Used whole milk instead of cream and upped the chili crisp. It was GOOOOODDDDD. Will def make again.

Go easy on the chili crisp. It does not taste really hot, but it builds on the palate. I think this a great, inventive, easy dish, and All American drawing from different traditions. I love floggin' down new pasta dishes. But my waistline does not.

Maybe it's because I used Parmigiano Regianno. Maybe it's because I added a little garlic (per a reader suggestion, gratz!) Maybe it's because I made the full amount of sauce for half the amount of pasta called for. Whatever. This is a KEEPER!

Great recipe. Substituted silken tofu blitzed in a bullet blender for the heavy cream (added a bit of water). Whole wheat pasta... Tasted great, good protein, less empty carbs. Used jarred Momokufu chili crisp - super simple.

Tried this as written and was a hit for a quick meal last night. Used one tablespoon of chili crisp, but will use two next time—the cream mitigates the heat. Tip, use a roomy skillet; mine was a little tight for tossing the mixture around.

Just made a vegan version of this with homemade pasta, Miyokos butter, homemade cashew milk, store bought chili crisp, and Whole Foods plant based shredded Parmesan. Super delicious, but would definitely add a bit more pasta water to the sauce next time as the cashew milk definitely thickens up quite a bit!

Double the veg (broccoli is perfect with this, or chard) and top it with a fried egg before showering with good freshly grated parm and a drizzle of chile crisp. Only a minute more prep and still no chopping. So good!

There’s no way that pre-grated Parmesan Reggiano bought in a plastic jar will ever work. There’s just no comparison.

Following some notes, I used Miyokos cream cheese and butter to make it dairy free, and I used gluten free pasta. I added garlic sautéed shrimp, and extra spinach. Love this recipe!

This is fantastic! I made almost exactly as suggested, but used frozen spinach and added a pinch of salt (I used unsalted butter, and it felt like it needed a little something).

Add the spinach to the cream after step 2 and cover; otherwise, it will never wilt properly.

HA anyone tried making this with a bit of greek yogurt to make it more calories friendly?

Season the sauce with some fish sauce to really kick up the flavor a bunch!

An easy dinner! Definitely needs salt though

This was a great dish from the get go as I added NUMEROUS cloves of garlic to the butter and cooked it slow and low before adding the cream. I kind of found it lacking in “something”……..but it was quick, easy and got a lot of greens in my dinner!!!

Delicious! We are trying to be plant-based so we lightened this up with olive oil instead of butter, evaporated milk instead of cream, vegan parm from Trader Joe’s, and whole wheat pasta. The sauce has a wonderful texture and was very rich. Trader Joe’s was out of spinach so I subbed arugula and it was great. The chili crisp added depth and richness but not too much spice. Big hit at my house.

Wonderful dish! And so quick to put together with lots of possible add ins. I took one members suggestion and added some slivered garlic, a small knob of Gorgonzola and it was yummy! A keeper for sure

Add garlic and mushrooms to butter and chili crisp

This was absolutely delicious. I wasn’t sure about the alfredo and chili crisp combo but it was outstanding. We were looking to make this more filling so I sautéed some ground pork and mushrooms with a little chili crisp, soy sauce, and a splash of black vinegar and set that aside to add back after the cream. I also swapped arugula for spinach because that’s what I had on hand. Will make again.

Here are my mods. It was great and we enjoyed. Add 5 cloves minced garlic with the crunch to the butter. Add a healthy splash of fish sauce to the cream. Roast small florets of broccoli for 15 minutes at 450 until blackened. Sauté chicken and finish w/ broccoli in oven. Toss broccoli, cut up chicken, and cooked pasta in sauce. To finish, add chopped green onion, chive, and a healthy squeeze of lemon. Benefits greatly from a lean, bright wine. We enjoyed Pinot Gris.

Sautéed mushrooms, garlic and shrimp with the chile crisp. Removed the pink shrimp. Used chicken broth and goat cheese for cream. Added shrimp as a garnish after pasta was dressed with Chile crisp and Parmesan.

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