Chile Crisp Fettuccine Alfredo With Spinach

By Genevieve Ko

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(7,550)
Comments
Read comments

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.

Featured in: Feeling Tired? Feeling Frugal? Make This Spicy Alfredo.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

Advertisement

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.

Powered by

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.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

5 out of 5
7,550 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

Blodwyn

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.

Independent Observer

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).

Pixie

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.

mary

Fly by Jing chile crisp. Sublime. This is next level. And sooooo easy

Lindy

We all loved this, used ITSU chilli crisp which was amazing, about 1tbsp to make it child friendly and took to the table to add more if needed (we all did, it was so good). Used gigli pasta as thats what I had. Didn't have the cheese as specified, used up what I had and added until it tasted good, used a bit of cheddar, a corner of blue cheese, slice of emmental and a bit of parmesan style. Out of this world gorgeous comfort food feeling. Served with pea shoot salad with simple lemon dressing.

Olivia

This pasta is amazing as written. This is now part of our weekly rotation!

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.