TikTok's 'Better Than Feta' Pasta Only Requires 3 Trader Joe's Ingredients

Trader Joe's has long been touted as a budget-friendly grocery store with delicious, high-quality pre-made products to streamline weeknight dinners without sacrificing flavor. And its products have garnered wide acclaim on TikTok with foodies who share clever ways to transform them into show-stopping meals. Even the Tasting Table staff has taken a lesson or two from TikTok, evidenced by this recipe for baked feta pasta.

Now, a TikTok influencer has come up with a Trader Joe's-inspired upgrade to the baked feta pasta that cuts down on the ingredients list, transforming Trader Joe's spinach artichoke dip, fusilli pasta, and cherry tomatoes into a rich, savory, and colorful meal in under an hour.

The recipe, from Mari Lebaron, is as simple as popping a couple of packages of spinach artichoke tips into a baking dish with cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil before throwing it in the oven for 45 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While the dip is baking, bring water to a boil over the stove, salt it, and add Trader Joe's fusilli pasta to cook until al dente. Finally, add the drained pasta to the bubbling spinach and artichoke dip and tomato bake, stirring to combine.

Read more: 44 Types Of Pasta And When You Should Be Using Them

Tips For The Better Than Feta Pasta

Lebaron demonstrates in about 30 seconds just how easy it is to throw these ingredients together into a comforting one-pot meal. The cherry tomatoes roast and burst, imparting a caramelized umami complement to the earthiness of the spinach and artichokes, and the salty, creamy richness of parmesan, swiss cheese, and half-and-half. Plus, the gooey, creamy combination of dairy coats the fusilli pasta more effectively and evenly than crumbly feta.

If you find the baked dip too thick once you've stirred in your pasta, you can always add a bit of reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce. While Lebaron uses fusilli, Trader Joe's has a wide variety of different types of pasta that would all work well with a spinach artichoke sauce. If you want an extra burst of cheese, you can swap fusilli for Trader Joe's cheese tortellini. For a delightfully curly shape and a lemony complement to the cheesy goodness of the spinach artichoke dip, try Trader Joe's lemon torchietti.

While the "better than feta pasta" is a hybrid of baked and boiled, you can instill those decadent baked flavors by broiling the dip for the last few minutes of baking time. The broil will bring a bit of bubbly char to the cheese. You can also garnish your pasta or artichoke dip with breadcrumbs for a toasty, crunchy contrast.

Read the original article on Tasting Table