Penne with Pork Meatballs
in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce
- Wheat
- Milk
If you’re mad for mushrooms, a fan of fungi, or bonkers for buttons, this pasta will treat you right because it’s loaded with ’shrooms! They’re the backbone of this recipe, bringing all those deep, earthy flavors that you know and love. We’ve added penne, Italian-spiced pork meatballs, a creamy sauce, and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese (mushrooms, pasta, and dairy are pretty much best friends, after all). Get ready for this umami bomb to hit your dinner table.
Ingredients
4 ounce
Button Mushrooms
2 unit
Scallions
1 clove
Garlic
6 ounce
Penne Pasta
(Contains: Wheat)
10 ounce
Ground Pork
¼ cup
Panko Breadcrumbs
(Contains: Wheat)
1 tablespoon
Italian Seasoning
4 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
2 tablespoon
Cream Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Mushroom Stock Concentrate
¼ cup
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
1 teaspoon
Chili Flakes
Not included in your delivery
1 tablespoon
Cooking Oil
2 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Salt
Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry all produce. • Trim and thinly slice mushrooms. Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. Peel and mince or grate garlic.
• Once water is boiling, add penne to pot. Cook until al dente, 9-11 minutes. • Reserve ½ cup pasta cooking water, then drain.
• While pasta cooks, in a medium bowl, combine pork*, panko, 1 tsp Italian Seasoning (2 tsp for 4 servings), 1 TBSP plain water (2 TBSP for 4), salt (we used ½ tsp), and pepper. (We used 1 tsp salt for 4.) (Be sure to measure the Italian Seasoning; we sent more.) • Form into 1-inch meatballs.
• Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, until browned all over and cooked through, 12-14 minutes. TIP: Lower heat if meatballs begin to brown too quickly. • Turn off heat; remove from pan and set aside. Wipe out pan.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms, scallion whites, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened, 2-4 minutes. • Stir in sour cream, cream cheese, stock concentrate, ¼ cup reserved pasta cooking water (1⁄3 cup for 4 servings), and 2 TBSP butter (3 TBSP for 4). Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add drained penne and meatballs to pan with sauce; toss to coat. (For 4 servings, if your pan isn’t large enough, carefully pour everything back into empty pasta pot.) If needed, stir in more reserved pasta cooking water a splash at a time until penne is coated in a creamy sauce. • Divide pasta between bowls; top with Parmesan and scallion greens. Sprinkle with chili flakes to taste and serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Feb 2026- Flavor: Many loved the creamy mushroom sauce, calling it "fantastic" and "delicious." Some found the meatballs a bit bland.
- Ease of prep: Several noted it was easy to make, though a few mentioned the meatballs took extra time.
- Suggestions: Consider baking meatballs instead of pan-frying. Some added extra herbs or garlic for more flavor.
- Portions: Generous servings; many had leftovers for lunch the next day 🍲.
- Sauce: Some wished for more sauce, finding the pasta a bit dry. Adding pasta water helped create a creamier consistency.
Reviews from our home cooks
Creamy and very flavorful. Depending on how big you want them, this will make 12 golf ball sized meatballs. Our mushrooms came pre-sliced but I sliced several of them to be a little thinner to get more in each bite. I also added a bit more liquid to coat the pasta and meatballs a bit more before adding the toppings. This meal for two made enough for two generous servings plus some left for a single lunch the next day! Definitely a repeat worthy meal.
This is one of my favorite dishes. The mushroom sauce was rich and delicious over the flavorful meatballs. These meals are the perfect size filling but great portion control.
Very easy and with my small cookie scoop, made quick work of the meatballs. Would like a smaller noodle than the penne, angel hair would have been perfect.
Wow. The flavor was delicious. I cooked the mushroom down so that it would be more like a cream of mushroom pasta and added a lot of garlic and onion powder. Added some garlic and scallion and chili flakes into the meatballs. Absolutely delicious!
What a surprise hit!! Savory mushroom sauce was amazing and the pork meatballs were so delicious. In our top ten favorite dishes so far!
Great, creamy mushroom sauce! All the textures were spot on and taste was perfect.
Satisfying and delicious! Mushroom umami with pasta and pork meatballs "hits the spot."
The penne cream portion was very tasty but the meatballs had no flavor at all, definitely need more spices to give them flavor.
Took extra time to fix and cook meatballs. Penne pasta needed more cooking time, and I would recommend a smaller pasta such as rotini.
Replace pork with beef and add one teaspoon of cornstarch to the mushroom sauce for a thicker and richer sauce.
