Mushroom Spinach Pasta with Shallots
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This is my kind of pasta dinner — chunky mushrooms and spinach simmer with shallots, white wine, and butter to make a light, clingy sauce for pasta. Easy enough for Tuesday, but definitely weekend-worthy!
No complicated steps, no fancy ingredients, it’s just the kind of easy, throw-it-together dinner that somehow makes you feel like you’ve got it together. I love this combination so much that I created this baked version with rigatoni and spinach in a creamy ricotta sauce.
Karen’s ingredient notes:
- Shallots: Shallots are the key flavor builder here. They make this recipe stand out from the rest. Compared to onions, they become sweeter, more delicate and nuanced when they’re sautéed, which really plays up the umami flavors in mushrooms.
- Mushrooms: I prefer a balanced mix of mild white mushrooms and meatier portobellos — the combination adds an earthy, savory depth and texture that makes this mushroom pasta so good. I like to slice them about 1/2-inch thick so they brown evenly and stay nice and chunky. If you only have one type, no problem — just cook them long enough to draw out their moisture and concentrate the flavor.
- Greens: Spinach is my first choice, but baby kale, chard, or any tender leafy greens will melt right into the sauce. Sturdier greens (like mature kale or collards) can work too — just give them an extra minute or two to soften before tossing with the pasta. A mix of greens adds nice flavor contrast and beautiful color, especially if you use rainbow chard.
Mushroom Spinach Pasta with Shallots
Equipment
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup thinly sliced shallots, about 1 large or 2 medium
- Kosher salt
- 10 ounces (275 g) white button mushrooms, sliced into chunky pieces
- 8 ounces (225 g) portobello mushrooms, sliced into chunky pieces
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon crushed red chili (use less for milder heat)
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 8 ounces (225 g) dried pappardelle or fettuccine pasta, or 1 pound fresh pasta
- ¼ cup (60 ml) rosé or dry white wine
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) butter, salted or unsalted
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 5 ounces (150 g) baby spinach leaves
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Place a large (12-inch) pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and shallots to the pan along with ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Cook until the shallots are softened, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms to the pan in one layer. Cook undisturbed for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with another pinch of salt. Stir them around with the shallots. Add the garlic, chili and black pepper and continue cooking 5 more minutes, or until they are softened and have released their juices.
- While the mushrooms cook, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package directions. Note that fresh pasta will usually be done in 2-4 minutes and dried pasta in 10-12 minutes. Drain.
- Raise the heat under the mushrooms to medium-high and pour in the wine. Let it bubble and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the butter until it melts. Remove the pan from the heat and add ¼ cup cheese and spinach to the pan. Stir until the leaves are wilted.
- Add the cooked pasta to the pan and toss gently with the sauce. Serve in bowls with additional cheese sprinkled over the pasta. Pour a glass of wine and enjoy!
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- Instead of spinach, you can substitute an equal amount of tender baby kale, chard, or other hearty greens, torn into bite-size pieces.
- Leftovers will keep for 3 days in the fridge. You may want to add some stock and more olive oil when reheating because the pasta will absorb the sauce as it cools.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
Professionally trained cook, cookbook author, and the person behind every recipe here. I cook the way I was trained: Start with good ingredients, understand why they work, and don’t apologize for the salt. These are the recipes I actually make, for the people I love. Read more about me here.
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Restaurant quality pasta dish. Love it making it again..and again..
You really gotta make this! I already saved it in my favorite recipes and my family loved it! I had to improvise with some purple onions and chives (not the darkest green part of it) instead of shallots, I also didn’t have any of the two pastas on the recipe but mine turned out to be perfect for this amazing 5 star italian dish
This Mushroom Spinach Pasta with Shallots was the best recipe! It was like eating in a 5-star Italian restaurant. I made my homemade pasta for the first time too. I didn’t make any substitutions, and followed the recipe exactly, and the flavor was perfect. I look forward to trying the other recipes in this post.
Five stars back to you for making this recipe with homemade pasta! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Delicious and easy!
One of the few recipes I found that doesn’t include cream with these ingredients.
No shallots in my house today so instead used 1/2 of Spain’s Figueres variety sweeter pink onions.
I thinly sliced 3 garlic cloves because I like seeing 👀 it in my pasta. Only used 160-170 grams of pasta for 2 of us served with chicken paillards.
Can you use chicken stock instead of wine?
Sure! You could add a little squeeze of fresh lemon too.
This recipe was simple and delicious! I used fettuccine (as pappardelle is hard to get where I live) and cremini instead of portobello (as I already had them on hand). We loved it and I look forward to trying some of your other recipes.
I made this tonight and it was such an amazing dish the whole family enjoyed. I used all ingredients but didn’t measure anything and it came out great. I did use gluten free fresh fettuccine I got from my local market.
I made this and it was such an amazing dish. I have to say I followed the ingredients mainly but didn’t measure anything! Thank you for the great pasta!
This is a very good recipe! I used rigatoni and added pancetta while sautéeing the shallots because I had some leftover from another dish. Followed the rest of the recipe as written. Delish!
Easy to make, healthy, and delicious. Highly recommend this pasta dish.
Delicious and filling
Not guilty
Great recipe! I used a mix of mushrooms from a mushroom farm.
Very very good. I only use a small pinch of Cayenne Pepper and I’ve been out of Garlic so powdered. Not as good as we all know Fresh Garlic is the best but still the dish is lovely.
One of my favorite dishes! Perfection.
I enjoyed this dish very much. It seemed like a lot of mushrooms, but it was fine when they cooked down. The wine and garlic make a great sauce. I left out the butter and went with just the olive oil to make it healthier. I’ll make it again for sure, maybe adding some grilled chicken breast next time.
My only issue with this recipe is I used the recommended amount of Kosher salt and found it to be way too salty. Half the amount would have been enough.
I’m surprised no one else commented about the saltiness.
Hi Rhoda – I wonder what type of kosher salt you used? Morton kosher salt tastes more salty than Diamond brand.
In one word, DELICIOUS!!! Especially with grilled chicken breast!
So yummy!
Delicious!! A keeper!
This was delicious. Directions were straightforward and easy to follow. I used whole wheat Rotini pasta and it came out perfect.
Thank you.