The 3-Ingredient “Better than Feta” Pasta Is So Delicious, I’ve Already Made It for Dinner 2 Weeks in a Row

Remember when everyone was making that baked feta pasta that was all over TikTok and even had the entire country of Finland running out of feta cheese? To be honest, I think about that recipe a lot. I think about how delicious it is despite being so simple, and how the entire world fell in love with it so quickly.

Like many food trends we see out there — like whipped coffee or the tortilla hack — people usually try to replicate it with other variations of the concept. And if you’ve spent any time on social media, you know the same is true for baked feta pasta.

As such a big fan of the baked feta pasta trend, I was skeptical when I came across a viral recipe claiming that it’s “way better than feta pasta.” It uses the same technique, but instead of feta cheese, it simplifies the recipe with only three ingredients: cherry tomatoes, pasta, and the Trader Joe’s Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip.

So, is it really better than the original? I decided to give it a try.

Get the recipe: Trader Joe’s “Way Better than Feta” Pasta

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Unwrap two boxes of the Trader Joe’s Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip. Place them in a casserole dish, then add in a container of cherry tomatoes. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

While the cheese and tomatoes are roasting, boil a pot of salted water and cook your pasta; we used penne here, but other short pasta, like fusilli or bowties, will work. Cook until al dente, then drain.

Mix up the cooked artichoke dip and tomatoes in the casserole dish with a wooden spoon, then mix in the pasta until everything is coated and even. Serve warm!

This pasta is, in fact, way better than the feta pasta. I said what I said, and I’m not ashamed of it.

First, this recipe is even more convenient than the original. The artichoke dip has enough ingredients and flavor in it, making it so you don’t have to add in more ingredients for this dish to work. Along with the spinach, artichokes, and onion, the dip is flavored with garlic, white pepper, pepper sauce, and lemon juice. The mixture of cream and cheeses (Swiss, sour cream, half-and-half, Parmesan) make an effortless cheesy sauce for the pasta.

Given that this dip is already divine — it’s one of my favorite frozen foods to buy — it’s not a surprise that it made for a tasty pasta dish. Mixed together with the bright cherry tomatoes and the hearty pasta, it was a filling meal. I loved it so much, I made it for my friends the next day!

• Add in protein: If you’re cooking for a lot of people and want to make this meal a little heartier, add in some chicken to give it that boost of protein! I also cooked this meal with chickpea pasta to make it even more filling, and it worked as seamlessly as the original.
• Save some pasta water: I found adding a small drizzle of the pasta water helped to loosen up this cheesy dip and gave it a thicker sauce-like quality for the pasta. If you feel like you don’t have enough dip to make a sauce for your pasta, just add some pasta water!
• Burst some of the cherry tomatoes: When I make the baked feta pasta dish, I do find bursting some of those cherry tomatoes with the back of my spoon helps with creating that sauce, and adds more flavor to the dish.

Get the recipe: Trader Joe’s “Way Better than Feta” Pasta