This one pot creamy pasta with corn and tomatoes features grilled summer sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, and fresh cilantro in an ultra-simple cream cheese and lemon sauce. Ready in 30 minutes, this pasta dinner is worth making all summer long! Vegetarian.
This one pot pasta is the PERFECT farewell to summer produce, and it comes together in no time! The most time consuming step is grilling a few ears of sweet corn: We like to meal prep a bunch of grilled corn at the start of the week in summer, but you can also grill your corn up while you wait for the pasta water to boil. Once that's done, it's just a matter of cooking the pasta, chopping a few things and tossing it all together!
This sauce is deceptively simple: We'll melt a dollop of cream cheese into the hot pasta, add a splash of lemon juice, and thin it out with some reserved pasta water to create a smooth, silky consistency. The result is a very light sauce that adds creaminess without heaviness: if you're used to richer cheese sauces (like a mac and cheese sauce or our parmesan spinach gnocchi), this will definitely feel a little different.
The light cream cheese sauce and short ingredient list mean it's especially important to season this dish properly (don't skip the salt, please!) and to use high quality, peak-season produce. This recipe just won't taste the same with winter beefsteak tomatoes as it does with fresh, sweet cherry tomatoes and ears of summer corn! (PS - If you love this recipe, try our summer gnocchi or summer risotto next.)
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Ingredients
For a full ingredients list and exact quantities, scroll to the recipe card below.
This recipe relies on a few key components:
- Pasta! We used orecchiette pasta here to mirror the perfectly bite-sized cherry tomatoes, but you can use any type of noodle you like!
- Grilled Sweet Corn makes all the difference. Use leftover grilled corn (one of our favorite things to meal prep in summer!) or grill up a few ears specifically for this recipe. Use a sharp knife to remove the grilled kernels from the corn cobs.
- Fresh summer cherry tomatoes. Look for cherry tomatoes at the height of their season (May-October, depending on where you live). Buy them from a local grower at your farmers' market if possible: Local tomatoes are often left on the vine longer (and include a wider variety of colors or species) because they don't have to travel as far, which means they'll be extra flavorful.
- Cream cheese. Our favorite shortcut to a quick and creamy pasta sauce! We're using just a dollop here, but you can double the amount of cream cheese if you'd like a richer sauce.
- Lemon juice. A little brightness helps balance out the richness of the cream cheese, and adds important flavor to this simple pasta. Double the lemon juice if you'd like more citrus flavor.
- Fresh cilantro is our go-to here, but you can swap it for fresh basil, parsley, dill, or a mix of your favorite summer herbs.
Variations and Substitutions
- Add aromatics! If you have a few extra minutes and would like a more complex sauce, sauté some diced onion or shallot and minced garlic in a bit of butter or olive oil before adding the hot pasta and cream cheese.
- Use other in-season veggies. Add peas, broccoli, grilled zucchini, spinach, or other veggies to this pasta to make it heartier. If they aren't in season, you can swap the fresh corn and tomatoes for other mix-ins (like roasted butternut squash and kale in fall and winter, or fresh asparagus in spring à la our goat cheese asparagus pasta).
- Top with protein. This pasta is good with grilled chicken, shrimp, salmon, or bacon! Garbanzo beans (chick peas) or butter beans are also tasty in this pasta.
- Mix up the pasta shape. Other short pasta varieties like orzo, rigatoni, or cavatappi work well here. You can also use spaghetti or fettuccine if you prefer!
- Mix up the sauce. Add a splash of heavy cream or parmesan broth to this sauce if you like, or toss in a pinch of red pepper flakes for a hint of spice. You can also swap in a richer sauce like our traditional creamy white sauce or creamy cilantro pasta sauce for extra oomph (and cheesiness!)
Step by Step Instructions
Cook the Pasta
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a generous pinch of kosher salt. (Please don't forget to salt your pasta water - this is essential to having a flavorful final dish!) Add your orecchiette or pasta of choice and cook until al dente (check the package instructions for exact timing).
Reserve some pasta water. When the pasta is cooked, use a large measuring cup to reserve ½ cup of pasta water (see image above). This starchy pasta water will help us create a light, silky sauce later on! Learn More: Does Pasta Water Make a Difference?
Drain the pasta, then return it to the pan and place it over low heat.
Build the Sauce and Add Veggies
Melt the cream cheese in the pot with the cooked pasta (Image 1, below). Then add the grilled corn kernels, halved cherry tomatoes, and lemon juice (2) and stir everything together.
Loosen things up by adding a splash of your reserved pasta water (Image 3, above). Add a Tablespoon or so of pasta water at a time, and stir well between each addition.
Continue adding pasta water a little at a time, until the cream cheese has thinned into a light, silky sauce that evenly coats the pasta. You likely won't need to use all of the pasta water. This technique can take some practice. Remember that the pasta water will be salty - taste this pasta as you go to make sure you're still ok with the seasoning level!
Stir in your fresh cilantro (4). At this point, give the pasta a taste, and add salt, pepper, or extra lemon juice as needed to help the flavors pop. Serve immediately.
3 Tips For Maximum Flavor
This is a SIMPLE pasta dish built for convenience – but no matter how busy you are, it still deserves to taste great! To achieve maximum flavor with only a handful of ingredients, keep a few things in mind:
- Always salt your pasta water. This helps season the pasta as it cooks. Properly salted water should taste "briny, but not knock-you-over salty".
- Use in-season produce. This corn and tomato pasta just is not as good with watery winter tomatoes (sorry!) Lean into whatever produce is freshest near you: If corn and tomatoes aren't in season, check out what is available at your local farmer’s market and use that instead!
- Adjust as needed. One of the most important skills you can develop in the kitchen is to taste as you go. Add small pinches of salt in layers as you stir this pasta dish together for proper seasoning, taste it before serving, and don't be afraid to add extra ingredients (like salt, pepper, herbs, or lemon juice) to help this recipe suit your individual palette.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your cream cheese sauce is looking dry, simply add a bit more liquid! Another splash of pasta water is usually easiest, but you can also add heavy cream, half and half, chicken stock, or parmesan broth to thin out the cream cheese sauce so it’s smooth and silky.
Sure! Just use your favorite dairy-free cream cheese and you’re good to go.
We'll be honest: Grilled corn is our favorite by a very wide margin. You can use canned or frozen corn in a pinch, but you'll sacrifice some flavor (the smokey, rich char you get from grilled corn adds a ton of essential depth to this dish).
And fortunately, you don't actually have to grill corn on a GRILL: You can achieve the same grill-like char by roasting corn in the oven or searing it in a hot cast iron skillet or grill pan.
Of course, you can always swap the corn for something else (like frozen peas, roasted butternut squash, broccoli, or fresh chopped kale) if you don't have corn available (or aren't able to grill a few ears).
If this pasta tastes bland, it's either because 1) it needs more salt or 2) some corners were cut with the corn, tomatoes, or herbs. If you use canned or frozen corn instead of grilled corn, for example, this pasta won't have as much flavor. Same goes for diced winter beefsteak tomatoes - they just won't taste as good as fresh, peak-season cherry tomatoes.
If the noodles themselves taste bland, it means there wasn't enough salt in the pasta water as they were cooking. This is tough to fix after the pasta is already cooked, but you can make a mental note to salt your pasta water more thoroughly in the future! Learn More: Why and How to Salt Pasta Water.
If the pasta feels bland to you after you've stirred it all together with the sauce, you can add more lemon juice, cilantro, salt, or pepper. Salt is what makes the flavors "pop" in a recipe: Don't be afraid to season your food! It's also important to taste as you go and make adjustments to suit your own palette. If you're following a low-sodium diet or don't wish to add salt to your food, you may want to add extra lemon juice, cilantro (or other herbs) or grilled corn to this dish.
How To Video
More Summer Pasta Recipes
30 Minute One Pot Creamy Corn and Tomato Pasta
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A one pot corn and tomato pasta recipe perfect for busy weeknights!
Ingredients
- ¾ pound pasta (we used orecchiette)
- ⅓ cup light cream cheese
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 ears sweet corn, grilled, with the kernels removed (about 1 ½ cups)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (about 2 cups)
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup fresh chopped cilantro, plus extra for garnish
Instructions
Cook the Pasta:
- Cook pasta in very salty water until al dente.
- Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water.
- Drain remaining water from pasta.
- Return drained pasta to the pot, then return the pot to the stove over low heat.
Assemble:
- Add cream cheese to hot pasta; stir until it begins to melt and break apart (it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth yet!)
- Add lemon juice, grilled sweet corn kernels, and cherry tomatoes to pasta. Stir to combine.
- At this point, the cream cheese should have mostly melted, and the pasta will look a little bit dry. Add reserved pasta water a Tablespoon or so at a time, stirring well between each addition until you have a thin, silky sauce (you may not need all of the pasta water here!)
- Taste pasta; and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Stir chopped cilantro into the pasta. Serve immediately.
Notes
Don't forget to salt your pasta water! Seasoning makes all the difference here since there are so few ingredients: If you omit the salt in this recipe you'll end up with a bland dish.
Additions and Substitutions. Top this pasta with grilled chicken, shrimp, salmon, or bacon if you'd like extra protein. Swap the cilantro for basil, or use a mix of your favorite summer herbs (chives, parsley, and dill are all tasty here). Add extra seasonal veggies (peas, asparagus, roasted squash or sweet potato, or roasted cauliflower are all good!)
This is a very light, simple sauce. It was developed to be quick, so it isn't as rich or complex as a mac and cheese or alfredo sauce. For a thicker, creamier sauce: Double the amount of cream cheese, add a splash of heavy cream, half and half, or cauliflower sauce. You can also swap the cream cheese for your favorite alfredo sauce if you prefer a thicker, cheesy sauce. If your sauce looks dry: Add liquid! A splash of heavy cream, parmesan broth or turkey stock, olive oil, or a bit of extra cream cheese will help stretch the sauce a bit more. Keep in mind that this is a very light sauce: It should lightly coat the noodles and veggies, but it won't pool at the bottom of the pot or create a ton of extra liquid.
This recipe is only as good as your ingredients. Use fresh, in-season cherry tomatoes (they're sweeter and more flavorful than out-of-season tomatoes!) and fresh grilled sweet corn for flavors that really shine.
Grilling corn. We like to meal prep some grilled corn during the summer - this is a great place to use prepped or leftover grilled corn! You can also grill your corn fresh while you wait for the pasta water to boil, and slice the kernels off while the pasta is cooking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 servings
- Calories: 433
- Sugar: 10.1 g
- Sodium: 237.9 mg
- Fat: 5.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 82.1 g
- Protein: 15.8 g
- Cholesterol: 10.7 mg
Ruchika
Omg!!! This is deliciously easy-peasy to make! I added spinach and garlic
Jessie
LOVE those additions! I'm so happy you liked the pasta, Ruchika!
Emma Nolan
It was tasty!! I decided to add a little more flavor and add chicken I know this is a vegetarian dish but since family was coming over I did it.we didn't add any sauce but I wish we did I think it would add more flavor. I definitely recommend this was delicious and pretty quick I will look into more recipes in ge future though
Jessie
I'm so happy you liked it! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
Kierstin
Completely lacked flavor. It was definitely quick and easy to make, however I even added garlic and more salt than should ever go in to food just to give it some sort of taste. I'm not sure how I would alter the recipe, but I definitely will not be making this again
Jessie
Sorry you didn't like it! Did you salt the pasta water? That's generally the culprit behind lackluster pasta.
Jessie
Hi Catherine! Thanks for letting me know the recipe wasn't working - I had a bit of a glitch with my recipe software but reloaded it on my end and it should be working fine now! Hope you enjoy the pasta!
Dusty
I was looking for a pasta recipe using summer corn and tomatoes and this looked like a good option. I made a few changes. I also added some chopped baby zucchini. I cooked in regular olive oil as I find extra virgin too strong flavored. I cooked the zucchini and corn together then added the tomatoes and cooked about 30 seconds. Added the cream cheese plus about 4 ounces of goat cheese and 3/4 cup of reserved pasta water. Swapped chopped basil for the cilantro. Used about 10 fresh basil leaves, a cup would be too much for this recipe.
Tasted delicious! Next time I think I would increase the number of veggies as I like a lot. I would probably add more of everything, maybe some sauteed onions would be good too or fold in some baby spinach leaves at the end and let them wilt a bit!
Jessie
I'm so glad you liked it - thanks for letting me know! Your changes all sound delicious - this is a great "blank canvas" food, and I love switching up the veggies depending on the seasons 🙂
Shilps
This was a great quick recipe for a weeknight. I made the following modifications:
-Reduced the amount of pasta-less carbs more veggies!
-Added cumin, which went great with the corn and cilantro
-Used more cream cheese
Jessie
I'm glad you liked it! Cumin sounds like a great addition - thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
ReyloCook
Um veggies are carbs. Unless you're eating ice chips everything is a carbohydrate that you eat. I don't mean to be rude but if you're trying to cut carbs you should be thinking about the amount within the food rather than what type of food it is...
justginster
Good recipe...I've made this about 3 times now, and am back for the instructions to make it once again. I don't usually comment on recipes, but wanted to point out that salting the water in this recipe is a necessity if you want it to turn out well. The 2nd time I made this, I'd had my bf boil the pasta as I quartered the tomatoes and I forgot to tell him to salt the water...the result was an incredibly bland dish which we could barely eat. Salt makes all the difference here! I also found that the amount of cream cheese in this recipe didn't seem quite enough to coat all the pasta, but rather than add more, I save some of the water when I drain the pasta and add just enough to thin the cream cheese a bit and make enough to coat the pasta.
Jessie
Thanks for letting me know how it turned out! Yes, salting your pasta water is ABSOLUTELY necessary to bring out the flavor of any pasta. Most of the time when a dish tastes bland, it's because it hasn't been properly seasoned. I'm glad you like the recipe, and thanks for the review!
Ahmed Abdullah
As I'm not a fan of tomatoes, I swapped them for jarred roasted red peppers. I agree with others that the flavor left something to be desired (although I did leave out the cilantro because I forgot to buy some) and added extra cream cheese for extra creaminess (that, and I had nothing else to put it on). I think next time I'm going to melt in some cheddar so there's a slight bite to it.
Jill Newman
Cool website!!
Ashley
I was pretty impressed with this dish. I did add more cream cheese than the recipe called for - half of a 250g tub - and gluten free pasta. I think I'd like to try this recipe and use basil instead of cilantro next time.
Jenna
This was fantastic. I used shells instead of orecchiette since that was the closest thing I could find and dried cilantro since fresh proved to be elusive. I just eyeballed the cilantro since I wasn't sure what the conversion of dried to fresh would be. I also added a wee bit more cream cheese for extra creaminess and coverage. (I hate nothing more than pasta with too little sauce coverage.) I also sauteed up remaining mushrooms I had left from another recipe and added those to my plate only. I will definitely be making this again.
Jen
This was bland but I used light cream cheese. So I combated that problem with adding about 1 cup of shredded mozzarella (the high-test stuff...not the low fat!) It tastes better. Still seems like it's missing a spice. I made it for tomorrow, maybe the cilantro will set in better overnight.
Mirta
These are the recipe that I like , delicious.
Julia
I am loving the addition of corn to this pasta! And orecciette pasta is my fav!
Zainab
I've been on the traveling bandwagon too since the did August! After BHP the boy and I went to Montreal and I feel like I'm playing catch up now. Love love this pasta. It's one pot, it's 30 mins, it's delicious! Win win!
Thalia @ butter and brioche
Definitely could devour a bowl of this pasta right now.. it looks SO delicious and creamy. I have never used cream cheese in a pasta before so this is something that I must make. Thanks for the great recipe!