30+ Best Pasta Recipes

If you're ready for a deep dive into great pasta recipes, this is the place. You'll find a mix of homemade pasta recipes, pasta salads, baked pasta classics, and pasta soups here. All tested and photographed here, immediately prior to eating. Enjoy!

1. Homemade Cavatelli

   Simple, homemade cavatelli pasta is a super fun shape to make, the texture is amazing! Pictured here spiked with turmeric and black pepper, and topped with roasted winter vegetables and Parmesan.
   

2. Homemade Pasta

   Everything I know about making homemade pasta. Four ingredients! If you have flour, two eggs, a splash of olive oil, and a bit of salt, you can do it right now. We make this all the time and this dough is simple to work with  and made from basic pantry ingredients.
   

3. Penne alla Vodka

   This penne alla vodka uses both whole tomatoes and tomato paste along with a splash of cream to make a vodka sauce with plenty of depth. The defining detail in this recipe is adding the zest of a lemon to the vodka. It lends a fragrant brightness to the whole preparation, making this family favorite extra special.
   

4. Mushroom Lasagna

   This freezer-friendly mushroom lasagna is all about homemade mushroom ragù, big dollops of ricotta cheese, and silky tender sheets of pasta finished with a bit of basil and some grated Parmesan cheese.
   

5. Pici

   Pici is a Tuscan form of spaghetti-style pasta typically made from flour and water. Arguably one of the most charming shapes in the pasta kingdom, it is shaped by hand and is quirky, irregular and purposefully imperfect. Such a fun pasta shape to make.
   

6. Baked Ziti

   This baked ziti use ricotta, mozzarella, and creme fraîche to make a bubbly, rich pasta with a hearty spinach-flecked red sauce loaded with flavor. The creme fraîche keeps things silky, adds dimension, and is a game changer. A family favorite that freezes well and happily feeds a crowd.

7. Spaghetti with No-Cook Sauce

   A tangle of spaghetti, olives, nuts, vegetables, and torn fresh mozzarella in a no-cook, lemon-zested tomato sauce. A recipe for a hot night when tomato season is at its peak.
   

8. Curried Tomato Tortellini Soup

   A crowd-pleasing tomato-based tortellini soup, dotted with plump, tender dumplings, spiked with a range of spices, and boosted with plenty of spinach.
   

9. Mediterranean Pasta Salad

   Colorful and bright, this Mediterranean pasta salad is punctuated with bursts of flavor from briny olives, cherry tomatoes, and fresh herbs. The creamy dressing is tzatziki inspired with grated cucumber, garlic and salted yogurt. The perfect lunch!

10. Stuffed Shells

    A stuffed shells recipe made with lemon zest and bright tomato sauce. Classic taste, with a hint of a twist. Everyone loves them.
    

11. Hazelnut & Chard Ravioli Salad

    Ravioli salads are the best! Plump raviolis tossed with toasted hazelnuts, lemony chard, and caramelized onions are at the heart of this ravioli salad recipe. I typically use pumpkin ravioli here. The colorful platter is finished off with a dusting of cheese, snipped chives, and lemon zest.

12. Green Chile Macaroni and Cheese

    If you (or your kids) find yourself craving classic box mac & cheese, this is how to make an amazing homemade version. The recipe starts by showing you how to create four cups of a green chile-spiked mac & cheese powder. Enough to use for four nights of mac & cheese (each serving 4). Use one cup of the homemade powder for each pot of mac & cheese. It tastes just like the commercial version, but better. This recipe is part of a collection of make-ahead, meal prep recipes we take out on road trips and camping.
    

13. Pasta with Smashed Zucchini Cream

    If you have an endless supply of zucchini right now, this is your recipe. A simple, garlic-boosted pasta, it uses two pounds of zucchini, and is endlessly adaptable. I also love this topped with pan-fried capers.
    

14. Pasta with Creamy Crushed Walnut Sauce

    Toasted walnuts pounded with garlic into a creamy sauce make this pasta easy and exceptional. If you have dried pasta, a few cloves of garlic, walnuts, and black pepper you can make this. The other ingredients - lemon zest, a bit of grated cheese, a finishing cascade of breadcrumbs and herbs are encouraged, but not essential. One of my very favorite pasta recipes!

15. Pasta with Etruscan Sauce

    From the Pasta Grannies series, this is a simple pasta with a special sauce made from a quick puree of sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, parsley, and garlic. It's fast, strong, adaptable, and doesn't disappoint.
    

16. Last Minute Red Lasagna

    Everyone needs a go-to lasagna recipe. A great one. This is a true weeknight lasagna. No pre-cooking pasta sauce, no pre-cooking noodles. You, literally, stir the first five ingredients together into a vibrant crushed tomato sauce, and start layering.

17. Beer-Roasted Cauliflower with Pasta

    Poach a whole head of cauliflower in an olive-oil dappled, chile-spiked, beer-based broth, then wedge it & roast it until golden-crusted and butter tender.
    

18. Weeknight Ponzu Pasta

    All things green in a quick, weeknight pasta option. It's feel-good food that won't weigh you down - ponzu dressing, green vegetables, and the pasta of your choice.
    

19. Instant Pot Mushroom Stroganoff with Vodka

    Make this stroganoff your dinner tonight, seriously! Made with caraway-spiked vodka, and a hearty mushroom base, you get all of what you love about mushroom stroganoff, without the all the butter and cream.
    

20. Vegetable Noodle Soup

    This vegetable noodle soup is as simple, direct, and delicious as it gets. If you're vegetarian or vegan looking for an alternative to chicken noodle soup, try this!
    

21. Pasta with Baby Kale, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, and Pesto

    Literally, just six ingredients in this awesome pasta bowl. And yes, feel free to substitute fresh spinach or other salad greens.
    

22. Spicy Tahini Noodles with Roasted Vegetables

    This is my favorite kind of weeknight meal. Noodles tossed with a quick sauce, topped with an abundance of vegetables, and kissed with chile feistiness courtesy of the condiment shelf.

23. Quick Blistered Cherry Tomato Spaghetti

    So good! If you're looking for one of these pasta recipes to try, this is it. An updated take on weeknight spaghetti. It's basically spaghetti combined with skillet blistered cherry tomatoes and broccoli. Tossed with mint, cashews, chiles, and Parmesan. I recently made this using penne pasta and it was equally tasty.

24. Weeknight Pasta Ideas with Less Than Ten Ingredients

    A solid handful of weeknight pasta ideas to keep things quick-ish and creative.

25. Easy Tomato & Pasta Salad

    Pasta salad extraordinaire - tomatoes & pasta in an A+ one-bowl meal. Whole-grain pasta, baby kale, basil, and the best tomatoes you can get your hands on, with a generous drizzle of strong harissa dressing.
    

26. Homemade Pappardelle

    Simple, homemade pappardelle pasta is a deliciously versatile shape to make! Featured in the recipe topped with crispy mushrooms, clouds of Parmesan cheese, and lemon.
    

27. Fregola Sarda, the Perfect Lunchy Brunch Dish

    Fregola is a beautiful, tasty Sardinian pasta made from hard durum wheat flour - rolled, sun-dried, and toasted to a mix of shades of yellow, gold, and brown. It's so good.
    

28. Simple Beet Fettuccine

    Fresh pasta, you can do it! A beautiful, fun, and simple way to make homemade fettuccine noodles.

29. Last Minute Everything Bagel Noodle Bowl

    A perfect one-pot meal. Noodles, tofu, and broccoli boiled in one pot, drained, tossed with splashes of olive oil and ponzu, plus a generous showering of everything bagel seasoning to finish it all off.
    

30. Roasted Vegetable Orzo

    Roasted delicata squash and kale tossed w/ orzo pasta & salted yogurt dressing.

31. Creamy Four Ingredient Chili Mac (Instant Pot / Conventional)

    Chili, beer, and elbow pasta. I know of no other dinner that takes less effort than the Instant Pot version of this. It's literally for nights when take-out takes too long, and is too much effort. Seriously.
    

32. Spicy Tahini Noodles with Roasted Vegetables

    This is my favorite kind of weeknight meal. Noodles tossed with a quick sauce, topped with an abundance of vegetables, and kissed with chile feistiness courtesy of the condiment shelf.
    

33. Tortelli with Brown Butter

    A simple pasta dish made from ricotta-stuffed tortelli tossed with brown butter balsamic sauce, arugula, pecorino cheese, and lemon zest.
    

34. An Excellent, One-pan, Protein-packed Power Pasta

    One-pot meals are the savior of weeknight cooking, and this pasta is a go-to. It's pasta and lentils simmered in crushed tomatoes, finished with lots of chopped kale, saffron, swirls of tahini and chopped almonds.

35. Harissa Spaghetti

    A unique and flavor-packed pasta recipe. Whole wheat pasta noodles, olives, kale, and toasted nuts tossed in a pan for a tangle with a garlic-charged harissa and olive oil sauce. Such a good weeknight meal.
    

36. Spinach Noodles with Citrus-Nori Oil

    A twist on a favorite pasta recipe from Super Natural Simple. Light and bright with assertive jolts of lemon zest and cayenne, plus a bit of crunch from sesame seeds, this version was made with Spinach pasta, but can be made with a whole range of noodles. Grab the recipe on this page, just below!
    

I hope at least a few of these pasta recipes strike a chord with you! And if you're looking for pasta sauce inspiration, this is my forever favorite pesto recipe, this is a great mushroom ragu to try, and this is my favorite tomato sauce recipe.

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