This creamy gochujang pasta recipe is one you will likely make again and again. Made with pasta, cream, tomato paste, gochujang, and a few other ingredients, you will love how easy this dish comes together and it makes for for a delicious and easy weeknight dinner!
If you are in the mood for pasta, then try my creamy, bright and delicious Pasta al Limone and luscious Pasta alla Vodka recipes, next!
Creamy Gochujang Pasta
Nights when I don’t feel like cooking but want something delicious, I go for this creamy gochujang pasta. It is simple to make and promises BIG on flavor.
Oh and the best past about this recipe? The creamy gochujang sauce. Its luscious and velvety in texture with just the right balance of heat.
Why You Need to Make This Creamy Gochujang Pasta ASAP!
Nights when you are teetering on ordering takeout, creamy gochujang noodles is here to make dinner plans simple and rewarding.
Not only are the flavors incredible, but you can have this dish in 30 minutes, start to finish! So scroll out of the food ordering app you were contemplating on ordering from and read on to see how easy (and toothsome!) this dish is.
What is Gochujang?
Gochujang is a Korean fermented pepper paste that’s fundamental to Korean cooking. The consistency is thick and paste-like, deep red in color, has a spicy-sweet flavor, and comprised of red chili pepper flakes, fermented soybeans, glutinous rice, and salt.
Where to Find Gochujang
Your nearest Asian market would be your best bet! When looking for it, look for a rectangular tub labeled as “Hot Pepper Paste” or “Gochujang”.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Gochujang Pasta
If you have made Pasta alla Vodka before, then the list of ingredients will look familiar to is you. The biggest changes you will notice are a reduced amount of tomato paste as you don’t want the flavors to be tomato-forward.
Also, creamy gochujang noodles does not call for using vodka, like my Pasta alla Vodka recipe.
The marriage of these ingredients will definitely swoon your tastebuds. It’s rich, creamy and packs a little bit of heat.
Let’s get into the details:
- Quality olive oil
- Salted butter
- Shallot
- Garlic
- Tomato paste
- Red pepper flakes
- Heavy cream
- Parmigiano Reggiano
- Pasta of your choice
- Kosher salt
- Reserved pasta water
How to Make Creamy Gochujang Pasta
These Simple Gochujang Noodles are here to make your life easy. Follow these steps and you are on your way to a pasta bowl filled with deliciousness:
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic, then cook until softened, 6 minutes.
- Add butter, tomato paste, gochujang, and red pepper flakes. Stir and press tomato paste and gochujang into pan. Cook for 4 minutes or until paste mixture turns a deep red color.
- Turn heat to low and slowly add cream. Stir until sauce is smooth and creamy in texture. Remove skillet from heat.
- Using a large dutch oven, cook pasta according to package. Be sure to add salt to the water –salty as the sea, as they say.
- Reserve ¾ cup of pasta water and drain pasta into a colander
- Return to skillet containing sauce and turn heat on low. Add ¼ cup of pasta water and ¼ cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until cheese dissolves and water is fully incorporated into sauce. Add pasta and stir to combine. Add more pasta water, if needed.
- Divide pasta among bowls and top with remaining parmesan.
Best Pasta Shape for This Creamy Gochujang Sauce
As far as the perfect pasta shape goes, oftentimes you’ll see penne, fusilli, rigatoni, or other tubular or textured pastas used, as it’s a great vessel to holding sauce.
Mafaldine is also a great pasta shape for its fun twirl appeal and ability to capture the sauce well.
Pictured above is capitelli pasta. The pinwheel shape of this pasta is perfect for holding on to the gochujang sauce.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t forget to salt your pasta water. “Salty as the sea” as they say. Salting the water allows noodles to absorb some of the salt as it cooks, thus, enhancing the flavor.
- Pasta Water aka Liquid Gold. This pasta water key to creating a smooth sauce, as the starchy water helps bind sauce to noodles.
- Add pasta to sauce when it’s very al-dente. Remove pasta from the pot two minutes before al dente (or two minutes less than the suggested cook time suggests) and add to sauce. The pasta will continue to cook and better absorb the sauce as it finishes cooking.
- This recipe goes fast. So be sure to have all your ingredients and tools ready.
Looking For More Pasta Dishes?
Try these favorites:
Loving This Recipe?
Leave a comment below and share your love for this recipe on Instagram and Pinterest. We love to see you get down in the kitchen. Happy eating!
Creamy Gochujang Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons quality olive oil
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- ½ cup shallots, diced
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon, gochujang
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated
- 8 ounces pasta of choice
- Kosher salt, to taste
- ¾ cup reserved pasta water
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Start on gochujang sauce while you wait.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic, then cook until softened, 6 minutes. Careful to not let the mixture brown.
- Add butter, tomato paste, gochujang, and red pepper flakes. Stir and press tomato paste and gochujang into pan. Cook for 4 minutes or until paste mixture turns a deep red color.
- Turn heat to low and slowly add cream. Stir until sauce is smooth and creamy in texture. Remove skillet from heat.
- Add pasta to boiling salted water and cook according to the package. When pasta is very al dente (two minutes before finished), reserve ¾ cup of pasta water, then drain pasta.
- Return the skillet to the burner and turn heat on low. Add ¼ cup of pasta water and ¼ cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until cheese dissolves and water is fully incorporated into sauce. Add pasta and stir to combine. If mixture is too thick, add more pasta water.
- Divide pasta among bowls and top with remaining parmesan.
Marie says...
Love this recipe! It’s a comfort staple in our household.
Just two things about the recipe I’ve not managed to figure out, that could use some clarification (unless its just me being dumbass that keeps missing it):
1. What is the extra 1tsp of gochujang for?
2. It says add pasta to sauce twice, both in step 5 and 6 ☺️ (we just do 6)
Jeri Mobley-Arias says...
Hi Marie! Glad you love the recipe–thank you! The extra 1 tsp of gochujang is part part of the total amount for the recipe; instead of scooping for 7 tsps, I just broke it down to 2 tbs and 1 tsp. But if the lesser amount works for you, great! Also, thank you for catching that oversight. I made the change so that adding pasta is only in step 6. 🙂
Maira says...
This was delicious, very different from any kind of pasta I’ve had! It was a bit spicy for me (even with omitting the red pepper flakes) so I think I would reduce the gochujang by a bit if you’re sensitive. I’ll try this again with probably 1tbsp of gochujang.
Eve says...
This was good. All of the flavors were balanced and it had a nice amount of heat. I used rigatoni noodles and will try your suggestion of fusilli next time I make it.
Jeri Mobley-Arias says...
Thank you, Eve! I love playing with different pasta shapes; fusilli is a fun one.
Leila says...
This was insanely delicious. I loved the addition of gochujang and creaminess of the sauce. Definitely a keeper of a recipe and I will make this again!
Jeri Mobley-Arias says...
Thank you! I can’t get enough of the sauce; luscious texture with a delicious kick.