57 Easy Pasta Recipes for When You Need Dinner Now
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Mindy Fox
Recipe Roundup

57 Quick and Easy Pasta Recipes

On an all-pasta diet lately? Sounds good.

These easy pasta recipes are the secret to a comforting, restaurant-worthy dinner without any fuss. Sure, there are days when you want a project, when you want to follow an elaborate recipe, adding an array of spices and deglazing the pan over and over. It can becalming, even meditative, to cook that way. But sometimes you need something simple, something fast. Something really,reallygood. These 57 pasta recipes will be your guide.

  • Image may contain Spaghetti Food Pasta Cutlery and Fork
    Photo by Ted Cavanaugh
    1/57

    Bucatini With Lemony Carbonara

    Is there anything more impressive than a well-executed carbonara? Well, yes! This easy pasta recipe, which is balanced with lemon zest and lemon juice for a brightness you didn't know the classic pasta needed.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    2/57

    Pasta Carbonara With Cabbage and Mushrooms

    In this dish, you’ll sauté mushrooms and bacon until they become crispy. You’ll use bacon fat to sear the cabbage before tossing in an egg, Parmesan, and pasta.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Grace Parisi
    3/57

    Cacio e Pepe

    This classic pasta only has a few ingredients, but they merge into a surprisingly silky, flavor-packed sauce. Follow this easy pasta recipe and you'll get the kind of dish you'd expect at a white tablecloth restaurant.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, Prop Styling by Emily Eisen, Food Styling by Molly Baz
    4/57

    Orecchiette With Buttermilk, Peas, and Pistachios

    Brightened with fragrant mint and fresh lemon juice, this easy weeknight pasta recipe is just the thing to pull out on a warm evening.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Laura Rege
    5/57

    Creamy One-Pot Pasta With Sausage and Squash

    In this one-pot meal, pasta simmers in a luxurious sauce of Italian sausage, butternut squash, sage, and cream until glossy.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Sue Li
    12/57

    Herby Pasta With Garlic and Green Olives

    The recipe calls for parsley and basil, but consider this dish a canvas for whatever tender herbs you have kicking around: cilantro, dill, tarragon, sage, chives, fennel fronds. Mix and match at will.

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  • Chelsie Craig
    13/57

    Spaghetti al Limone

    A combination of lemon zest and juice gives this dish tons of citrus flavor. The strips of thinly sliced zest add a welcome bright contrast to the rich sauce.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    14/57

    "Antipasto" Pasta with Sausage, Artichoke Hearts, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

    This quick and easy pasta is made entirely from ingredients kept in the pantry, so you can make it whenever a carb craving strikes. Inspired by elements often seen on Italian antipasto platters, the pasta is tossed with dry-cured sausage, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes along with a simple tomato paste and olive oil sauce, and topped with toasted pine nuts and crisp peperoncini.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    15/57

    Lemony Pasta With Cauliflower, Chickpeas, and Arugula

    A vegetarian pasta dinner that's full of so much fresh arugula, it almost feels like eating a salad. In a good way.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    16/57

    Pantry Pasta Puttanesca

    Keep these ingredients stocked in your pantry, and a briny, flavor-packed, super-easy pasta will always be a dinner option. Looking for other ways to turn pantry items into pasta dinners?Here's our complete guide.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou
    17/57

    Kale Pesto With Whole Wheat Pasta

    When your mind is stuck on pasta, but your soul is calling out for vegetables, turn to a rich, luxurious sauce that’s made of leafy greens. This recipe calls for pistachios, but you can use any nuts you have on hand.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig
    18/57

    Rigatoni With Easy Vodka Sauce

    Lucky for you, you probably have most of the ingredients for this luscious tomato-packed sauce in your kitchen right now.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    19/57

    Pasta With Sausage and Arugula

    Arugula adds a fresh, peppery bite to this simple sausage and roasted vegetable pasta.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    20/57

    Perfect Pesto Pasta

    Use anolive oilthat’s good enough for sipping—there’s a lot of it in this easy pasta recipe. Make the pesto a day in advance if you want to make your weeknight cooking a breeze.

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  • Photo by Stephen Kent Johnson, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    21/57

    Pantry Pasta with Garlic, Anchovies, and Parmesan

    Combine a few pantry staples to make this simple but luxurious anytime pasta.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Sue Li
    22/57

    Corn Cacio e Pepe

    Turn the iconic cacio e pepe pasta into something a little more kid-friendly by tossing in fresh corn to add a pop of sweetness to every cheesy, peppery bite.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Aneta Florczyk, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou
    23/57

    Spaghetti with No-Cook Puttanesca

    This recipe packs in all the punches puttanesca is known for—salty! briny! olive-y!—without the need to cook a sauce. Two types of tomatoes are involved: beefsteaks get blended until smooth, and then tossed with cherry tomato halves.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Erika Joyce
    24/57

    Raw Tomato Sauce

    Once tomatoes are good, you just mess them up if you cook them. Here's an easy pasta sauce that does the right thing.

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  • Photo by Dylan James Ho and Jeni Afuso
    25/57

    Speedy Skillet Ravioli Lasagna

    Thanks to a little help from a package of frozen ravioli, you can pull a skillet of toasty, bubbly lasagna from the oven in a little more than half an hour.

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  • Chelsie Craig
    26/57

    Brothy Pasta With Chickpeas

    We're guessing you have some chickpeas in your pantry right now. Here's how to use them well.

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  • Chelsie Craig
    27/57

    White Pesto Pasta

    This pesto variation is built on a combination of toasted nuts, creamy ricotta, salty Parm, and a little kick of raw garlic. You don’t need a food processor or a blender to make it; everything comes together in a single bowl.

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  • Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott, Prop Styling by Amy Wilson, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    28/57

    Rice Noodles al Pomodoro with Chili Oil

    Bursting with jammy cherry tomatoes that make their own sauce, this rice noodle–and–chili oil riff on the classic Italian pasta takes just 20 minutes to throw together.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    29/57

    Salad Pasta

    Not pasta salad—it’s salad pasta. A whole salad’s worth of greens, folded into pasta to make a complete dinner in one bowl.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Sean Dooley
    30/57

    My Mother's Butter, Tomato, and Onion Sauce

    The classic, beloved Marcella Hazan pasta sauce is made with just four ingredients and couldn't be easier.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
    31/57

    Pasta With 10-Minute Pesto

    Blanching fresh basil leaves before blending is the key to this vibrant, ultra-herby pesto. You'll want to have it around for easy pasta dinners, but you can also use it onhomemade pizzaor stir it into soup.

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  • Photo by Laura Murray, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    32/57

    Pasta With Brown Butter, Whole Lemon, and Parmesan

    Using a sliced whole lemon gives you unbeatable fresh aroma from the skin, bitter complexity from the pith, and tart, puckery juice from the flesh. Thin slices soften evenly and ensure that the lemon plays nicely with the pasta, butter, and Parmesan.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Laura Rege
    33/57

    Grilled Ratatouille Pasta Salad

    If you grill the vegetables a day or two ahead, this satisfying pasta dinner comes together in a snap. Mini mozzarella balls add creaminess; basil leaves keep things fresh.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau
    34/57

    Spaghetti Aglio e Olio With Lots of Kale

    You will think this pasta recipe calls for an absurd amount of kale, but it will shrink a ton when cooked.

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  • Marcus Nilsson
    35/57

    Pasta alla Gricia

    If you can't find guanciale to make this classic simple pasta recipe, you can substitute pancetta. You may want to undersalt the water a bit since you'll be adding plenty of salty pork and Pecorino.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
    39/57

    Macaroni & Cheese for a Crowd

    Using evaporated milk makes this baked mac and cheese exceptionally rich and creamy—it may be for a crowd, but it's bound to go quickly. A dusting of paprika on top takes the ingredients up to six, but you can easily leave it off.

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  • Photo by Alexandra Shytsman
    40/57

    Spaghetti Pie

    Bake well-sauced pasta, plus plenty of cheese and a few eggs to hold things together, in a cake pan and the edges turn crunchy, crusty, chewy, and downright irresistible.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano and Stevie Stewart
    41/57

    Kale, Tomato, and Lemon Magic One-Pot Spaghetti

    The sauce for this killer dish is magically made from the pasta water and tomatoes as the spaghetti cooks—all in one pan.

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