Love pasta? I know a lot of people have gone low carb, and I am simply not one of them. I love my pasta, please never, ever take it away. So here are 31 pasta recipes worth cooking on a weeknight, sorted the way you actually choose dinner: one pot pastas that dirty a single pan, 15 and 20 minute sauces built from butter, garlic and whatever cheese is in the door of the fridge, big baked casseroles for a crowd, and cold pasta salads for the days nobody wants a hot plate. White sauces, pink sauces, red, green and one that is bright orange from a can of pumpkin. Some are three ingredients. A couple are worth a slow Sunday. Every one links to the full recipe, so you can read the ingredient list before you commit!
1. Light Lemon Garlic Pasta with Salmon
Here is the whole trick: the salmon bakes at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes while the rigatoni boils, and the two meet in the bowl. No sauce to make, no pan to babysit. Lemon zest, lemon juice, capers and a handful of torn basil do all the seasoning, with shaved parmesan over the top. It is on the table in 30 minutes and feeds four to six, which makes it one of the rare weeknight dinners that also looks like you tried. Flake the salmon into big pieces, not small ones, so it stays juicy.
Get the full tutorial at The Cooking Jar.
2. Brussels Sprouts Pasta with Bacon
Thinly sliced brussels sprouts sautéed in bacon fat for three to five minutes stop tasting like brussels sprouts and start tasting like the best part of dinner. Chopped artichoke hearts and sliced sun-dried tomatoes go in after, then whole wheat spaghetti and a good handful of grated parmesan, with a splash of the reserved pasta water to pull it together. Twenty five minutes, four servings, one skillet plus the pasta pot. If you have a sprouts skeptic at the table, this is the recipe that converts them, and the bacon is not even the reason.
Get the full tutorial at Running to the Kitchen.
3. One-Pot French Onion Pasta
This is French onion soup that gave up on the bread and became dinner. Three yellow onions cook down slowly until they are properly caramelized, which is the only step that takes real time, then sliced mushrooms, fresh thyme, a splash of dry white wine and a spoon of flour to thicken. Broth, water and 12 ounces of orecchiette go in together and cook right in the pan, so the pasta drinks up all that onion flavor instead of a pot of plain water. A tablespoon of vinegar at the end wakes the whole thing up. One pot, and very little washing up.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
4. One Pot Cajun Sausage Pasta
Everything cooks in one pot here, including the penne, which is why it works on a Tuesday. A pound of smoked pork sausage browns for five minutes, mushrooms follow for three, then garlic, Dijon, sun-dried tomatoes and red pepper. Two cups of chicken broth and two cups of half-and-half go in with three cups of dry penne and a tablespoon of Cajun seasoning, and it simmers until the pasta is done and the sauce has thickened around it. Forty minutes, four servings, one pot to wash. Fresh basil and grated parmesan at the end are not optional in my opinion.
Get the full tutorial at Salt & Lavender.
5. Linguine Squarcierella
Think of this as carbonara’s quieter cousin. Four ounces of prosciutto crisp in a dry skillet, two to three minutes a side, then get chopped. Onion and garlic soften in the same pan, the linguine cooks, and here is the part that matters: the heat goes to its lowest setting before two beaten eggs are tossed through the hot pasta, so they turn silky instead of scrambling. Prosciutto, black pepper and parmesan finish it. Twenty minutes, four servings, seven ingredients. Keep the pan moving and you cannot go wrong.
Get the full tutorial at The Wanderlust Kitchen.
6. Pepperoni Pizza Pasta Casserole
Eight ounces of rotini, a pound of Italian sausage, four cups of marinara and a cup of parmesan go into a nine by thirteen, get covered in eight ounces of mozzarella and a layer of pepperoni, and bake at 350 for about twenty minutes. It comes out as pizza in casserole form, and it stretches to fifteen servings, which is the actual selling point. Half the pepperoni goes into the mixture and half on top, so it is not just a garnish. This is the pan you take to a potluck, a team dinner or anywhere hungry teenagers are expected.
Get the full tutorial at Amanda's Cookin'.
7. 3-Ingredient Creamy Tomato Angel Hair Pasta
Refrigerated angel hair cooks in one to two minutes, which means this is genuinely faster than ordering something. While it boils, a cup and a half of pasta sauce warms in a small pot and three ounces of softened light cream cheese get stirred in until the whole thing turns smooth and pink. That is the recipe. Parmesan, torn basil and a lemon wedge are the optional flourishes, and the lemon is the one I would not skip. Perfect for the nights when cooking is the last thing you want to do and takeout is the wrong answer.
Get the full tutorial at The Comfort of Cooking.
8. One Pot Penne Pasta
Fifteen minutes, eight servings, one pot. Smoked sausage, onion, garlic and sliced mushrooms go in together, then three cups of dry penne, two cups of chicken stock and a whole jar of roasted red peppers, undrained, which is the detail that makes the sauce. Two cups of monterey jack and half a cup of parmesan melt in at the end with two cups of fresh spinach, and the spinach wilts in the residual heat. Do not drain that pepper jar. The liquid is half the flavor and you will need it to cook the pasta.
Get the full tutorial at Add a Pinch.
9. Orecchiette Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli
The clever part is that six and a half cups of broccoli florets cook in the same pot as the orecchiette, added when the water comes back to a boil, so there is no second pan and no separate timer. Italian chicken sausage browns while that happens, garlic goes golden in olive oil, and half a cup of reserved pasta water turns the lot into something that coats. Smash a few of the broccoli pieces with the back of the spoon as you toss it. Twenty minutes, seven servings, and pecorino on the table.
Get the full tutorial at Skinnytaste.
10. Garlic Shrimp Pasta with Lemon
This is shrimp scampi with the guilt taken out and the vegetables put in. A pound of shrimp cooks fast in olive oil with a diced shallot, five cloves of garlic and crushed red pepper, comes out of the pan, and twenty four ounces of mixed vegetables go in after. A quarter cup of dry white wine, or chicken broth if you would rather, deglazes it, then the zest and juice of a large lemon and eight ounces of whole wheat linguine. Thirty minutes, four servings. Keep a little pasta water back; the sauce is light and it needs it.
Get the full tutorial at Well Plated.
11. Chicken Kale Pasta
The sauce here is six ounces of garlic-herb goat cheese and a third of a cup of parmesan melted with a splash of pasta water, which takes about ninety seconds and tastes like it took much longer. Chicken marinates in the dressing from a bagged kale salad kit, which is a genuinely good shortcut, then the kale, grape tomatoes and twelve ounces of pasta go in. The dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds from the kit get scattered on at the very end so they stay crunchy and sweet. Under thirty minutes, and the sweet-savory thing is what makes it.
Get the full tutorial at A Gouda Life.
12. Tomato Basil Pasta
The dressing is the surprise. Two tablespoons of balsamic, two of Dijon, a tablespoon of maple syrup and six tablespoons of olive oil get whisked into something closer to a vinaigrette than a pasta sauce, and it goes onto hot bucatini with two cups of halved cherry tomatoes and torn basil. The pasta cooks in the sauce for two minutes at the end, which softens the tomatoes just enough. Twenty minutes, three to four servings, grated parmesan on top. It tastes like August even in February, which is the entire point of keeping cherry tomatoes on hand.
Get the full tutorial at A Couple Cooks.
13. Fast and Easy Pasta With Blistered Cherry Tomato Sauce
Two things here are worth stealing forever. One, the pasta cooks in a wide skillet in just enough water to cover, which means the starch concentrates and you get a better sauce for free. Two, a pound and a half of cherry tomatoes blistered in olive oil with four cloves of thinly sliced garlic collapse into a fresh sauce in about ten minutes, no simmering all afternoon. Keep a cup of that starchy water back and finish the pasta in the pan over medium high, tossing hard. Twenty five minutes, six servings, and a handful of chopped basil at the end.
Get the full tutorial at Serious Eats.
14. Caprese Pasta Salad
Everything good about a caprese with the addition of eight ounces of pasta, so it actually feeds people. Cherry tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, baby arugula and chopped basil get tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette you shake up in a jar, and here is the useful part: that dressing keeps for five days, so it can be made well ahead. Rinse the cooked pasta under cold water until it is completely cool or the mozzarella turns to rubber. Eight servings, twenty five minutes, and it is the dish people ask about at every summer potluck.
Get the full tutorial at Iowa Girl Eats.
15. Creamy Pumpkin Pasta
A can of pumpkin puree and a can of coconut milk, and that is the sauce. Shallot, four to six cloves of garlic and ten chopped sage leaves soften in oil for about five minutes first, then everything gets whisked smooth with salt, pepper, a pinch of cayenne, nutmeg and cinnamon. It is vegan without announcing it, and it is done in twenty five minutes. Two warnings from the recipe that are worth repeating: use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, and if it tastes flat it needs salt, not more spice.
Get the full tutorial at Feasting at Home.
16. Pasta Pomodoro
The onion cooks for ten full minutes before anything else happens, and the sauce then thickens for twenty more. That is the whole recipe, and it is why a can of San Marzano tomatoes turns into something that tastes like a restaurant made it. Puree the tomatoes first, keep half a cup of pasta water, and finish off the heat with two tablespoons of butter and a quarter cup of grated parmesan stirred through. Forty minutes, six servings, twelve ounces of spaghetti. Do not rush the onion. It is doing more work than the tomatoes are.
Get the full tutorial at Two Peas & Their Pod.
17. Pumpkin Seed Pesto Pasta With Caramelized Delicata Squash
The pesto has no basil in it. Two thirds of a cup of toasted pepitas, three cups of arugula, a third of a cup of parmesan, three garlic cloves and olive oil blend into something peppery and green, thinned with a couple of tablespoons of cold water. Delicata squash gets sliced and caramelized in butter with chili powder, smoked paprika and half a tablespoon of brown sugar, which is the part that makes it a fall dinner. Toss with half a pound of bucatini while everything is still hot. Thirty minutes, two to four servings.
Get the full tutorial at How Sweet Eats.
18. Squash Carbonara With Broccoli Rabe and Sage
Four cups of cubed butternut roast at 425 with olive oil and a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg while a pound of bucatini boils and four ounces of pancetta crisps. Then comes the carbonara part, which is where people panic: beat three eggs with a cup of grated parmesan, pull the pasta off the heat completely, and pour it in while tossing fast. Half a cup of pasta water saves it if it tightens up. Fifty minutes, six servings, and the leftovers genuinely are the best part. Broccoli rabe adds the bitter edge that keeps it from being too rich.
Get the full tutorial at Half Baked Harvest.
19. Spicy Sausage Rigatoni
Sixteen ounces of Italian sausage, hot or mild, browns with chopped onion for eight to ten minutes, then garlic for one more. A can of diced tomatoes and a can of crushed tomatoes go in and simmer for ten minutes, and half a cup of heavy cream turns it from red to that restaurant orange. Eight ounces of rigatoni, torn basil, parmesan, done in thirty minutes. Spoon out most of the fat after browning but do not chase every drop, because a little of it is what makes the sauce taste like it cooked all day.
Get the full tutorial at Salt & Lavender.
20. 5-Ingredient Spinach Parmesan Pasta
Three tablespoons of butter, two cloves of garlic cooked two to three minutes, six cups of packed baby spinach, half a cup of parmesan and eight ounces of spaghetti. That is the list, and it takes fifteen minutes. The spinach looks like an absurd amount going in and collapses to almost nothing, which is the thing nobody warns you about the first time. Save half a cup of pasta water and use the same pot for everything so you are washing one thing. Good for a meatless Monday or a night the fridge is nearly empty.
Get the full tutorial at Two Peas & Their Pod.
21. One Pot Italian Sausage Shells and Cheese
Twelve ounces of small shells cook right in two and a half cups of chicken broth and an eight ounce can of tomato sauce, covered, on low, for fifteen to twenty minutes. Then three cheeses go in: two ounces of cream cheese cubed, a quarter cup of parmesan and half a cup of mozzarella, stirred until it all melts. A pound of loose Italian sausage went in before that, cooked through for seven to nine minutes. Forty minutes, four people, one pot. It is macaroni and cheese that grew up and moved to Italy.
Get the full tutorial at Whitney Bond.
22. Pasta With Butternut Squash and Sage Brown Butter
A pound of butternut cut into half inch cubes hits a very hot skillet, almost smoking, and sears rather than steams, which is the difference between this and every mushy squash pasta you have had. Two tablespoons of butter then brown with a minced shallot and a handful of finely chopped sage, and a tablespoon of lemon juice cuts the richness right at the end. Use a shape that catches sauce, orecchiette or penne or farfalle. Twenty five minutes, six servings, and an ounce of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano to finish.
Get the full tutorial at Serious Eats.
23. Chicken Bacon Spinach Pasta
Four strips of bacon crisp first, come out, and one or two tablespoons of the fat stay in the pan. Bite size chicken gets a dusting of garlic powder and a coat of flour, which is what thickens the sauce later, and cooks until it is no longer pink outside. Dijon, lemon juice and three quarters of a cup of chicken broth deglaze everything, then half a cup of cream and two packed cups of spinach. Thirty five minutes, four servings. Do not fully cook the chicken at the flouring stage; it finishes in the sauce and stays tender.
Get the full tutorial at Salt & Lavender.
24. Creamy Spinach Pasta
The sauce is a proper roux, and it is worth the extra two minutes. Three tablespoons of butter, garlic and Italian seasoning, then two tablespoons of flour cooked until the white specks disappear, then a twelve ounce can of evaporated milk whisked in slowly. That is what makes it creamy without any cream. A third of a cup of parmesan, two cups of spinach, a third of a cup of diced sun-dried tomatoes and a tablespoon of lemon juice finish it. Twenty minutes, four servings, eight ounces of whole wheat penne.
Get the full tutorial at Well Plated.
25. Basil Pesto Pasta
Eight ounces of bucatini, half a cup of pesto and half a cup of pasta water, and dinner is finished in the time it takes to boil the noodles. The pasta water is not optional; pesto straight from the jar sits in clumps, and the starchy water is what turns it into a sauce that coats. Halved cherry tomatoes are a good addition if you have them. Twenty five minutes, three to four servings. The recipe links four different homemade pestos, cashew and walnut included, if you want to make your own for once.
Get the full tutorial at A Couple Cooks.
26. Creamy Pasta Salad
Broccoli cut small, diced cucumber, red pepper, black olives and green onion get bound in a dressing of mayonnaise, a little vinegar, half a teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper. Salad macaroni or ditalini is the right shape, small enough that every forkful gets a bit of everything. Twenty minutes, six servings, and it wants an hour in the fridge before it is at its best. Give it a good stir before serving, because the dressing settles and the top layer always looks drier than it is.
Get the full tutorial at Barefeet in the Kitchen.
27. Penne Pasta with Meat Sauce
Two cups of chopped onion cook with Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes while a pound of sixteen percent ground beef browns separately in a screaming hot cast iron pan that has been salted on the bottom. That is the step that gives you real crust instead of grey crumbles, and it is worth dirtying a second pan for. The two meet with two and a half cups of chunky tomato sauce and a teaspoon of sugar to take the edge off the acid, and simmer fifteen minutes. Fifty five minutes total, four servings, half a pound of penne.
Get the full tutorial at Simply Recipes.
28. One Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta
Chicken parmesan without the breading, the frying or the second dish. Diced chicken breast browns with Italian seasoning and garlic powder, onion and garlic follow, then a twenty four ounce jar of marinara plus a jarful of water and sixteen ounces of short cut pasta all go in together and cook covered for ten to fifteen minutes. Parmesan and a quarter cup of the mozzarella get stirred through, the rest goes on top, and it sits another two or three minutes until the cheese is properly gooey. Thirty minutes, six servings.
Get the full tutorial at The Chunky Chef.
29. Cheesy Chili Pasta Bake in 30 Minutes
Chili mac that skips the long simmer entirely. Brown a pound of ground beef or turkey with a tablespoon of taco seasoning, then stir it together with cooked pasta, a drained can of chili beans, a drained can of diced tomatoes and one of the two cups of cheese. The second cup goes on top and it bakes at 375 for fifteen minutes. Thirty minutes total, four servings. If you cook the pasta in a Dutch oven you can bake it in the same pot, which is the sort of shortcut I will always take.
Get the full tutorial at The Weary Chef.
30. Simple Lemon Pasta With Parmesan and Pea Shoots
The sauce is made in a bowl, not a pan. Whisk the zest of one large lemon, a quarter cup of lemon juice, a third of a cup of good olive oil, a cup of grated parmesan and plenty of black pepper together, then tip the drained hot spaghetti straight in with half a cup of pasta water. The heat of the pasta melts the cheese into a smooth sauce, no stove required. Two heaping cups of pea shoots go in last and wilt just slightly. Twenty five minutes, four servings.
Get the full tutorial at Life as a Strawberry.
31. Italian Seafood Pasta with Mussels & Calamari
If you have never cooked mussels or calamari, this is the recipe that shows you how little there is to it. Garlic, shallots, a teaspoon and a half of anchovy paste and a tablespoon of capers go into hot oil for about two minutes, then drained canned tomatoes and two tablespoons of dry white wine for three or four more. The mussels go in under a lid for around five minutes, the calamari rings for three or four after that, and half a pound of linguine gets tossed through with lemon juice. Forty minutes, four servings. Light on sauce, exactly as the Italians do it.
Get the full tutorial at Cook Smarts.
