Cheesecake Factory Four Cheese Pasta: Price & Calories (2026)
Cheesecake Factory Four Cheese Pasta is the cheese-first pasta on the menu, penne in marinara with mozzarella, ricotta, romano and parmesan, and it runs $23.95 to $25.95 for a 1,280-calorie plate. The price comes from 20 official location menus, and the calories come from the brand's published guide.
Mozzarella, ricotta, romano, parmesan: the four cheeses on the plate
The official menu says it in one line: "Penne Pasta, Mozzarella, Ricotta, Romano and Parmesan Cheese with Marinara Sauce and Fresh Basil". Each cheese has a job. Mozzarella melts and stretches, ricotta keeps it soft and creamy, romano brings the sharp bite, and parmesan finishes it salty. The marinara keeps the whole thing bright instead of heavy, and the basil is there fresh, not dried into the sauce. No meat shows up anywhere in the description, which is why the pasta page lists this among the meat-free options. It is the simplest pasta on the menu in a good way: four cheeses, one sauce, one shape of pasta, nothing hiding.
How much does Four Cheese Pasta cost?
$23.95 to $25.95 is the plain plate's range, and the median is the low end itself, $23.95, across 20 official location menus. Twelve stores charge the $23.95 low end, six charge $24.50, and two charge $25.95, so most of the country pays the bottom price. With chicken the plate costs $29.95 to $32.95, with a median of $29.95.
| Plate | Price |
|---|---|
| Plain plate, 20 menus (range) | $23.95–$25.95 |
| Plain plate, 20-menu median | $23.95 |
| With chicken, 20 menus (range) | $29.95–$32.95 |
| With chicken, 20-menu median | $29.95 |
1,280 calories at dinner, 1,480 with chicken
A dinner plate has 1,280 calories, and the quiet surprise is the fat split: 62g of total fat with only 26g of saturated fat, the lowest saturated fat of any pasta this site has covered. The cholesterol is 115mg, second lowest after Evelyn's Favorite Pasta at 75mg, and the protein is 49g. The number that is not quiet is the sodium, covered below. The whole row, fat to protein, sits on the nutrition page under the full Four Cheese Pasta nutrition numbers.
| Measure | Per plate |
|---|---|
| Calories | 1,280 |
| Calories from fat | 560 |
| Total fat | 62g |
| Saturated fat | 26g |
| Trans fat | 1g |
| Cholesterol | 115mg |
| Sodium | 4,110mg |
| Carbohydrates | 132g |
| Fiber | 11g |
| Sugar | 23g |
| Protein | 49g |
What the chicken adds, and what it costs
Adding chicken costs $6.00 at most stores, $6.45 at six of them and $7.00 at two, so the plate runs $29.95 to $32.95 with chicken on it. The calories rise by 200 to 1,480, and the protein nearly doubles, from 49g to 90g, which is the real reason to add it. The trade is the salt: sodium jumps from 4,110mg to 4,890mg, and the cholesterol nearly doubles from 115mg to 220mg. If you order this pasta for the cheese and want it to stay that way, skip the chicken. If you want the plate to work as a full meal with real protein in it, the chicken earns its $6.00.
The lunch plate is 330 calories lighter
Yes, there is a lunch version, and it is a real saving: the lunch plate has 950 calories against 1,280 at dinner, 330 fewer, and the lunch plate with chicken has 1,060 calories against 1,480 at dinner. The catch is the price. No per-item lunch price is published in the official menus, because the lunch menu lists pasta by category rather than by dish, so this page does not invent one. The lunch plate is the move when you want the same four cheeses with a smaller plate and a smaller number.
The gluten-free swap barely moves the numbers
The menu marks this dish with a double asterisk, which means it can be made gluten-free on request with gluten-free penne. The guide lists the gluten-free plate at 1,270 calories, only 10 fewer than the standard 1,280, so do not order it for the calorie saving because there barely is one. The swap does move two numbers worth knowing: sodium drops from 4,110mg to 3,800mg, and total fat rises from 62g to 69g. The gluten-free lunch plate is 930 calories, and with chicken it is 950. If gluten is what you are avoiding, the swap works and the plate stays the same dish. If calories are what you are watching, the lunch plate saves far more.
The salt is the number to watch
A plain plate carries 4,110mg of sodium, which is 171% of the 2,400mg daily reference value in a single plate. Among the pastas this site has covered, only Louisiana Chicken Pasta runs higher at 4,660mg, and the rest sit lower: Cajun Jambalaya Pasta at 3,000mg, Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta at 3,230mg, Fettuccini Alfredo at 2,570mg, Evelyn's Favorite Pasta at 2,520mg and Pasta Da Vinci at 2,380mg. With chicken the number passes Louisiana entirely, reaching 4,890mg, or 204% of the daily reference value. The cheese is doing this, not the sauce alone, since four cheeses plus marinara is a salty combination by nature. If salt is what you watch, this is the number to know before you order, and the lunch plate at 3,040mg is the lighter way to get the same dish.
Four Cheese Pasta against the other pastas
Here is where this plate sits against every other pasta this site has covered, dinner plate to dinner plate, with prices from the same 20-menu research and calories from the same guide. Four Cheese Pasta is the third-lightest plate. The price is not the story: Evelyn's Favorite Pasta starts lower at $21.95, and Alfredo's range starts lower too. The story is the middle of the table, a plate that costs about the same as Alfredo and Evelyn's, runs far lighter than both Louisiana and Chipotle, and still carries the second-highest sodium of the lot.
| Pasta | Dinner price | Dinner calories |
|---|---|---|
| Evelyn's Favorite Pasta | $21.95–$26.50 | 1,270 |
| Cajun Jambalaya Pasta | $25.95–$30.95 | 1,270 |
| Four Cheese Pasta | $23.95–$25.95 | 1,280 |
| Pasta Da Vinci | $25.50–$28.95 | 1,540 |
| Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta | $25.50–$27.95 | 1,770 |
| Fettuccini Alfredo | $22.95–$25.95 | 1,930 |
| Louisiana Chicken Pasta | $25.50–$29.95 | 2,270 |
Four Cheese Pasta: quick answers to the usual questions
Without chicken the plain plate is $23.95 to $25.95, $23.95 in the middle across 20 official location menus. With chicken it is $29.95 to $32.95, $29.95 in the middle.
The dinner plate is 1,280 calories, and with chicken it climbs to 1,480, a 200-calorie jump for the added protein.
The official description lists no meat: penne pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, romano and parmesan cheese with marinara sauce and fresh basil. The site's pasta page lists it among the meat-free options.
It can be made gluten-free on request. The menu marks it with a double asterisk, and the guide lists a gluten-free preparation at 1,270 calories, 10 fewer than the standard plate.
Yes. The lunch plate has 950 calories, 330 fewer than dinner, and 1,060 calories with chicken. No per-item lunch price is published in the official menus.
No. Four Cheese Pasta is not one of the Happy Hour items, so you pay the dinner price whenever you order it.
Four Cheese Pasta is penne in marinara with four cheeses at 1,280 calories, while Fettuccini Alfredo is fettuccini in a cream sauce at 1,930 calories. Alfredo costs $22.95 to $25.95, about the same range, but carries far more fat at 128g against 62g.
Four Cheese Pasta, ordered the right way
The only question that matters is the $6.00 one: plain, it is cheese as the point at $23.95 to $25.95 and 1,280 calories, and the chicken adds 90 grams of protein for $6.00, which is what the money buys. The gluten-free swap saves 10 calories, so do not order it for the calories. And the salt is the catch, 4,110mg, the second-highest sodium of any pasta on this site, behind only Louisiana, which is the saltiest pasta at 4,660mg.