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There’s so much to love about springy pasta, creamy pesto sauce, and bright diced tomatoes, so it’s no wonder Pesto Cavatappi is Noodles and Company’s most popular dish. Here’s the perfected copycat recipe that’s faster, less expensive, and maybe even just a little more delicious.
Meggan’s notes
This is one of my absolute favorite quick dinners to make, whether or not I’m pressed for time. It used to be my standing order at Noodles and Company, but now that I don’t live anywhere near one, I set about figuring out how to crack the cavatappi code and make it myself
And that’s just what I did! Because when you can’t get to a Noodles, you have to bring the Noodles to you. The basil pesto flavor mixed with heavy cream is just to die for, and if you toss it over cavatappi noodles, nothing is better!
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Cavatappi: You can substitute rotini, rigatoni, bow-tie, or any small or medium-sized pasta.
- Mushrooms: Noodles & Company puts them in, but you can leave them out.
- White wine: Choose a dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay. Or, leave the wine out and substitute more chicken broth.
- Pesto: Make homemade pesto in your blender with fresh basil, parsley, olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, and a nut. Pine nut pesto is classic but Walnut pesto is really great too and a little cheaper to make. Store-bought pesto is fine too!
Step-by-step instructions
- In a large saucepan or stock pot, bring 4 quarts of water and salt to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain well. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add tomatoes and mushrooms (if using) and cook for about 5 minutes, until some of the liquid has been released and the tomatoes are heated through.
- Stir in the broth, wine, and cream and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 2 minutes.
- Add pesto and stir until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add pasta and toss until uniformly coated in the sauce. Transfer to a serving dish or individual plates and garnish with Parmesan cheese.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 8 cups of pasta, enough for 8 first-course or side dish servings or 4 extremely generous bowls of pesto pasta.
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Vegetarian: Substitute pasta cooking water for the chicken broth. The starches in the pasta water make the recipe even creamier.
- Chicken: Cut up chicken breasts into chunks and add it to the olive oil before you add the tomatoes and mushrooms.
- Shrimp: Add them to the skillet with the mushrooms and tomatoes to cook (they cook quickly).
- Zucchini noodles: Super healthy dinner ahead! Get the sauce made and stir in raw zucchini ribbons. Serve when the zucchini is just warm. Don’t overcook it, because zucchini tastes best as pasta when it still has a little crunch.
- More mix-ins: Black olives, fresh spinach or kale, or chopped sun-dried tomatoes are all tasty options. Throw in whole grape tomatoes to save on prep time, and add pinches of red pepper flakes for spice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Wedges of fresh Focaccia bread would be absolutely delicious, but if you’re looking for something lower in carbohydrates and higher in protein, try a side of simple grilled chicken or steak. You can really balance out the meal that way (and maybe even avoid a food coma!).
Cavatappi is a cork-screw-shaped, hollow pasta.
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Pesto Cavatappi (Noodles & Company Copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Salt
- 1 pound cavatappi pasta or other small pasta
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 large tomato cored and diced
- 4 ounces white button mushrooms trimmed and sliced (optional)
- 1/4 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup pesto (see note 4)
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large saucepan or stock pot, bring 4 quarts of water and salt to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add tomatoes and mushrooms (if using) and cook for about 5 minutes, until some of the liquid has been released and the tomatoes are heated through.
- Stir in the broth, wine, and cream and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook until the sauce has thickened slightly, about 2 minutes.
- Add pesto and stir until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add pasta and toss until uniformly coated in the sauce. Transfer to a serving dish or individual plates and garnish with Parmesan cheese.
Recipe Video
Notes
- White wine: Choose a dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay. Or, leave the wine out and substitute more chicken broth.
- Pesto: To make it yourself, In a food processor or blender, add 2 c. fresh basil, 1 c. fresh parsley, ¼ c. Parmesan cheese, ¼ c. walnuts or pine nuts, and 3 cloves garlic. Pulse until coarsely chopped, about 10 pulses. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in ½ c. olive oil and process until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 8 cups of pasta, enough for 8 first-course or side dish servings or 4 extremely generous bowls of pasta.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
I just made this last night, It was AMAZING!!! Seriously the best copycat recipe I’ve ever made, good work. I would love to make it again. Just wish I had cavatappi noodles, any recommendations on where to find those? Also, where do you buy your basil in such large quantities for your homemade pesto? Or do you grow it yourself?
Hi Lauren! So glad you loved this recipe. I’m obsessed with it, especially since there are no Noodles & Co. where I live. I find Cavatappi noodles at my Ralph’s store (a Kroger store and it’s their label, “Private selection”). I agree, sometimes they are hard to find. I checked on Amazon; they have them but they’re pretty pricey. DeCecco is the pasta brand I’m seeing on Amazon, so if you know if your stores carry that brand, you might be able to find it. I checked Walmart.com and they have some deals but you have to buy massive amounts. However, they indicate that Ronzoni brand cavatappi is sold in stores (not at any within 50 miles of me, though). Good luck! I hope you track down that fantastic noodles. Oh, and the pesto. I buy the basil plants at Trader Joe’s, generally, and then in the summer yes I grow it myself in an Earthbox (I don’t have a yard; I start with the TJ’s plant and transfer it to the Earthbox). I tend to make this more in the summer for sure because the plants do so well. Good luck and thanks for your questions. I love feeling useful! Take care.
Not sure where you are, but my local Meijer has store brand cavatappi noodles.
barilla has cellentani noodles, if you store doesn’t carry, they may be able to request. They may be slightly smaller, but they work!
As an employee of Noodles & Company I’ll give you a few tips, we use half broth and half white wine, also go easy on the oil as we only use a spray or two.
Thank you so much, Zoey! Much appreciated. 🙂 I’ll update the recipe with your suggestions. I always wanted to get a job there just to learn how to make all the amazingness.
so, any chance you have the recipe for the pork add-on 🙂
Hi Josh, I don’t! Next time I’m in Wisconsin I’ll order that so I can try it and replicate it. 🙂 Thanks for the suggestion!
Only missing one thing, mushrooms! I’ve been a fan of Noodles and Co since moving to Wisconsin from NY. Will be trying this recipe this week!
Dawn, you are really right about the mushrooms. I left them out because no one in my family will eat them but me… but YES! I will have to go review this post and make sure I at least MENTION the mushrooms. Because yes. You are so right!
Do you make your own pesto? If so, would you share the recipe? Is there a good store bought pesto?
Hey there! I DO make my own pesto, it’s one of my favorite things to make. My version is made with walnuts thought, not pine nuts, because pine nuts are so expensive. But I think it tastes great. The recipe below is technically a vegan version, but I have a note about adding Parmesan cheese at the bottom of the recipe if cheese is your thing. Cheese is definitely my thing! Thanks and please let me know if you have any questions!
Recipe here: https://cash-surge.live/basil-walnut-pesto/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Ooh yum, pinning this for later. Thanks.
I’ve loved cavatappi. pesto pasta ever since I went to cornered bakery in Austin
Lovely, Meggan. Looks like a quick, easy and tasty meal. Cream definitely makes any pasta dish more delicious! Naughty but nice (but we’re not worrying about that!)
I’m not familiar with Noodles & Company, but I’m pretty much pesto’s #1 fan, so I am super into this recipe! Thanks for the reminder to bring pesto pasta back into my life. 🙂
Happy to help! Anytime I can add heavy cream to someone’s dinner table, I consider it a job well done. Noodles & Company has a lot of fantastic dishes, it’s just hard to pay $7.95 for buttered egg noodles sometimes. 🙂
Ha, yep. I love this dish + their tuscan linguine.
This looks super delicious!