The 47 Best Pasta Recipes Ever
From simple buttered noodles to crusty, bubbling baked ziti, pasta just makes people happy. Here are the recipes you need when pasta cravings strike.
Easy Baked Ziti; photo by Olga Ivanova
When I married my Italian-American husband, I knew pasta would become even more of a staple in my diet than it already was. He likes to joke that his baby bottle was filled with his great-grandmother’s tomato sauce, rather than milk. I’d be shocked if I discovered we’ve ever gone a full seven days without pasta in the 21 years we’ve been together.
My little family is pretty typical, it turns out. According to a National Pasta Association survey, the average American enjoys 20 pounds of the stuff each year. And why not, with so much to love? Pasta is easy, cheap, filling, endlessly flexible, and let’s not forget, freaking delicious.
With that in mind, I rounded up this collection of all-time-favorite pasta recipes. Which will star in your family’s weekly meals?
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Quick pasta recipes (20 minutes or less !) >>
Pasta Q&A
Little details make the difference when you want to enjoy the best pasta.
How to make pasta
It seems like such a straightforward thing, cooking pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the package directions. But there are far more variables than you might think.
How much water? Most packages call for 4 to 6 quarts per pound of pasta, and that’s what I do when I’m serving it with a separate sauce. But anyone who’s tried the one-pot recipe made famous by Martha Stewart (more on that below) knows you can create a perfectly delicious pasta dish with just a few cups of liquid. Bear in mind that those one-pot recipes don’t get drained — in those cases, the starch released by the pasta is crucial to creating a saucy texture. You don’t want that much starchiness if you’re adding sauce after cooking. Stick with the big pot of boiling water for most recipes.
How much salt? If you’re like me, you pour salt straight from the container into the pot and eyeball the amount. Which, I’ll be honest, has led to some salty dinners. In her cookbook Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, the late Marcella Hazan recommended no less than 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt for 4 quarts of water. Add the salt when the water comes to a boil and wait until it returns to a boil before you add the pasta.
How often should you stir? As soon as it goes into the pot, give the pasta a good stir with a long wooden spoon. Stir frequently until it comes to a boil, which helps prevent sticking. Once it boils, stir occasionally until it's done.
When is pasta done? I’m sure you’ve heard the term al dente, which literally translates as “to the tooth.” It means you want your pasta to have a little bite in the center, a noticeable firmness. Taste a piece at the lower end of the recommended cooking time, and as soon as it no longer feels too firm, drain it. Overcooked pasta gets soft and mushy, fast. Another tip: I like to keep a glass measuring cup in my colander while the pasta cooks, to remind me to capture some of the starchy pasta water before I drain it — homemade sauces often benefit from a splash or two.
If you really want to make pasta, as in fresh pasta from scratch, this recipe will get you started. I highly recommend giving it a shot. Pasta you’ve made yourself not only tastes great, it also gives you a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
How to store cooked pasta
Let’s not kid ourselves: Pasta tastes best right after it’s made. But in the real world, it’s convenient to cook more than you need and use the rest for a later meal. Always refrigerate your leftovers in an airtight container within two hours, for food safety reasons. (Bacteria grows quickly at room temperature.) If the noodles are unsauced, toss them with a teaspoon or so of olive oil to avoid winding up with a cold, hard, stuck-together clump. Cooked pasta will stay fresh for three to five days in the fridge. Or for longer storage you can freeze it for up to two months. After that it will still be safe to eat, but you may find the texture gets wonky.
How long is pasta good for in the fridge?
You can store pasta in the fridge for three to five days.
How to reheat pasta
There’s no one right way to do this — a lot depends on the circumstances.
Unsauced pasta comes right back to life if you add it to a pot of boiling water for 30 to 40 seconds.
Sauced pasta can be heated in a variety of ways:
Add it to a hot skillet slicked with a little olive oil, and stir or toss frequently until it’s heated through. This works best for leftovers that aren’t cheesy.
Put it in a baking dish (with a little extra sauce if you have any), cover with foil, and place in a 350°F oven or toaster oven. If it’s something loose, like spaghetti in marinara sauce, give it 10 to 15 minutes. A portion of baked pasta is denser, so it will take longer — give it 20 to 25.
Microwaving cooked pasta is perfectly fine. You won’t get the same results as in a skillet or oven, but it’ll still be delicious. Transfer your leftovers to a microwave-safe dish and add a few drops of water or a little more sauce, since pasta can dry out and harden mighty fast in there. Cover loosely and zap for a minute, then stir and heat it in 15-second increments until it’s hot.
Top-rated pasta recipes
Talk about crowd-pleasers. Each of the recipes in this first group has been endorsed by at least 100,000 Yummly home cooks.
Instant Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
A whopping 200,000 people have added this recipe to their collections, and with good reason. The Instant Pot is shockingly good at cooking pasta, with no need to pre-cook anything. For this easy meal, you’re adding pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning, chicken, and broth to the IP. Five minutes after it comes up to pressure, cooking is done. Stir in spinach, cream cheese, and Parmesan, and let it sit for a few minutes before serving. That’s it.
Easy Baked Spaghetti
Jarred marinara sauce and browned ground beef make an excellent sauce for this pasta bake with a heart of cheese — there’s a surprise layer of creamy seasoned ricotta in the center. If you love crispy edges as much as I do, definitely try the Bundt pan trick.
Easy 4-Ingredient Tortellini Bake
Go a package of tortellini on hand? You only need four ingredients and 30 minutes to make a hearty meal filled with cheesy, tomatoey goodness. Add a salad if you like, but I won’t tell if you don’t.
Chicken Fajita Pasta
Nicely spicy thanks to canned tomatoes and green chilies and bursting with taco seasoned chicken, bell peppers, and onions, this fun recipe creates a pasta dinner by way of Mexico. It all cooks in one pot, so cleanup is minimal. Maybe that’s why almost 175,000 of you love it so much.
BLT Pasta Salad
Ready in just 20 minutes — and beloved by 160,000 of your fellow home cooks — this recipe captures everything you love in a BLT, but with a creamy pasta twist. Crispy romaine lettuce, juicy tomatoes, and smoky crumbled bacon mingle with bow tie pasta, and it all gets tossed in ranch dressing and a smidge of BBQ sauce. I know, right?
Easy pasta recipes
When I need effortless weeknight dinners, a box of dried pasta is the first thing I reach for. This next group includes some smart shortcuts as well as classic pasta recipes that take minimal effort.
Extra Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs
Most versions of the Italian-American favorite aren’t exactly hard, but this one’s the easiest I’ve ever seen. The idea to cook the meatballs and sauce on a sheet pan is so clever I can hardly stand it. Definitely double the meatball portion to freeze and have an extra-extra easy dinner another time.
Easy Fettuccine Alfredo
Creamy, cheesy, and ready lickety-split, this recipe starts with fresh fettuccine, which shortens the cooking time. The trick to creating that luscious texture? Before you drain the noodles, set aside some of the starchy pasta water — add splashes to the sauce, and it becomes positively silky.
Quick & Easy Spaghetti Bolognese
Traditional Bolognese sauce simmers for hours to create a hearty, yet somehow delicate sauce, but nobody’s got time for that on a busy weeknight. Thanks to a few smart shortcuts, you only need 30 minutes to make this meaty, speedy version.
Cacio e Pepe
Italian cuisine has a flair for the quick and easy, and cacio e pepe is a prime example. It’s nothing but pasta, olive oil and butter, and plenty of coarsely ground black pepper and grated Pecorino Romano cheese (plus Parmesan, in this version). A few splashes of the pasta cooking water help to emulsify everything into a tongue-tingling sauce in just a few minutes.
Spaghetti Carbonara
Pasta carbonara is another classic Italian dish that’s ready in a flash. Crisped-up bacon (or, more traditionally, pancetta) and softened garlic mingle in a skillet while the spaghetti cooks and you combine eggs, Parmesan cheese, and parsley in a bowl. Transfer the cooked pasta to that skillet and pour in the egg mixture. The heat of the pasta cooks the egg and melts the cheese, leaving each strand coated in a luxurious sauce.
Quick pasta recipes (20 minutes or less!)
What’s that? You need an easy recipe that’s also lightning-fast?
Macaroni and Cheese
This, right here, is all-American comfort food, and with just five ingredients, it couldn’t be simpler. Made completely on the stovetop, it comes out creamy and approximately one bajillion times tastier than the kind that comes in a box.
Three Cheese Broken Lasagna
Never in a million years would I expect to find a lasagna recipe that takes less than an hour. So it’s pretty miraculous that this one is ready in just 15 minutes, even with a from-scratch tomato sauce. It turns out, breaking up the noodles helps them cook faster — and browning the top under the broiler instead of baking the whole casserole saves tons of time.
Parmesan Garlic Butter Noodles
To be perfectly honest, the name of this recipe alone had me sold. I’ve always loved simple butter pasta, and Parmesan, garlic, butter, and noodles sounds like a perfectly soothing mantra. Cooking the spaghetti in vegetable stock adds tons of flavor with no extra time. The sauce just calls for softening garlic in butter, then simmering with milk and stirring in plenty of grated Parmesan cheese. I could eat this every night of the week.
Easy Canned Tuna Pasta
That can of tuna in your pantry is going to become a savory, satisfying last-minute supper, and nobody would guess that something this sophisticated took so little time. Olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, tuna, and parsley meet up in a pan while the spaghetti cooks. Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce, and dinner’s ready. Pro tip: Add a little lemon zest to play up the flavor.
Greek Pasta Salad
Who says pasta always has to be Italian? This simple but flavorful side dish comes together quickly, since it’s just rotini pasta, black olives, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and crumbled feta. The Greek-accented dressing, punchy with red wine vinegar, garlic, and oregano, is the perfect touch.
One-pot pasta recipes
A decade or so back, Martha Stewart Living published a recipe that swept foodies off their feet. It called for cooking dry pasta and sauce ingredients together, all at once, so you save time cooking and cleaning. Since then, cooks have run with the technique to create loads of variations.
One-Pan Pasta Primavera
In Italian, primavera means spring. This light, veggie-packed recipe calls for seasonal spring vegetables like asparagus and peas, but you can swap in almost anything as long as it’s cut into pieces small enough to cook quickly. Just before serving, swirl in a soft garlic-and-herb cheese, which will blend with the starchy pasta water for an irresistibly creamy sauce.
One-Pan Orzo Chicken and Vegetables
Think of this as an Italian version of chicken and rice. You’ve got zucchini and marinated artichoke hearts, tender chunks of chicken, canned tomatoes, and garlic, all cooked together with orzo. The addition of fresh basil and baby spinach at the end, just long enough for the leaves to wilt, adds a punch of color and flavor.
One-Pot Pasta with Clam Sauce
Linguine with clams is one of those all-star dishes that seems like something you’d eat in a restaurant, not cook at home. This version, which cooks the pasta in the juice from canned chopped clams, white wine, and water, is almost shockingly easy — but it comes out fancy enough for a dinner party.
One-Pot Pasta
A mildly tweaked version of Martha Stewart’s original, this recipe puts super-sweet Sungold cherry tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil, garlic and onion, tiny balls of fresh mozzarella, and red pepper flakes into a pot with fusilli and salted water. Ten minutes later, you’ve got cheesy tomato-basil pasta.
5 Ingredient One Pot Pasta with Chicken Sausage
How about a shortcut to a shortcut recipe? Instead of fresh tomatoes, basil, and garlic, you’re using a jar of marinara sauce. That plus olive oil, browned Italian sausage, chopped bell peppers, and dry penne go into a big ol’ pot with some water. Other than stirring a few times, your work is pretty much done — though do go ahead and slip the mozzarella topping under the broiler until it’s melty.
Baked pasta recipes
Browned and gooey cheese, crispy edges, and bubbling sauce: Baked pasta has to be one of the coziest dinners you can make.
Amazing Four-Cheese Mac and Cheese
The name almost says it all. I mean, who doesn’t love mac and cheese? This classic baked version turns out extra-amazing because it’s made with cheddar cheese, gruyere, gouda, and cream cheese. You’re going to need a big bowl.
Caprese Chicken Pesto Pasta Bake
I’m a huge pesto lover, so this is one of my favorite chicken pasta recipes. Cooking the cherry tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, and a pinch of sugar studs each serving with pockets of lovely, deep sweetness, which plays well with the pesto’s herbal notes. Plus, y’know, melted mozz — come on.
Easy Beef Lasagna
Lasagna is a notoriously fussy proposition — cooking the noodles, making the sauce, combining the cheesy filling, and layering it all together. No-boil lasagna noodles streamline the process, as does jarred marinara sauce. I’d put this recipe up against ones that take much more time and effort.
Easy Baked Ziti
When I was a kid, my family had this one restaurant we went to for special occasions. I always ordered the same thing: baked ziti. What with the stretchy mozzarella, the creamy ricotta, and the way the tubes of pasta fill with tomato sauce, I was in heaven. This easy version has everything you’re looking for and then some.
Chicken Alfredo Baked Ziti
Creamy Alfredo sauce plus tender chicken plus macaroni plus two types of cheese equals a sure-fire hit. Personally, I like that the sauce feels indulgent even though it’s on the lighter side — and I love the suggestion to add some broccoli. Pro tip: This is a perfect recipe for rotisserie chicken.
Vegetarian pasta recipes
Italian cuisine has molto options for vegetarian eaters, and these next recipes (which include a couple of vegan pasta recipes as well) are some of the best.
Vegetarian Pasta e Fagioli
Soups made with pasta are classic comfort food, and pasta e fagioli (also simply called pasta fagioli) is exactly what I want on a cold winter day. A bowl of this stunner includes tomatoey broth studded with soft cannellini beans, cubes of butternut squash, tender Swiss chard, and plenty of macaroni. Serve it with grated Parm to sprinkle on each bowl, and definitely have some crusty bread on hand.
Hail Mary Pasta
As long as you have pasta, fresh tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, dinner tonight is taken care of. I created this recipe for Yummly, and it’s one of my go-tos because it’s so flexible. It calls for bow ties, but you can swap in rigatoni, penne, or any other cut pasta. As for the veggies, the recipe includes zucchini, but I’ve also made it with eggplant, corn kernels, cauliflower, green beans… like I said, it’s super-flexible.
5-Ingredient Butternut Squash, Arugula and Goat Cheese Pasta
The simplicity of this recipe sold me — that, and the clever way it produces a light, creamy sauce by mixing cooked pasta with goat cheese and some of the starchy water. Roasted butternut squash, baby arugula, and toasted pine nuts add sweet, herbal, and crunchy contrast, respectively. Each forkful is a party!
Orecchiette Pasta with Shiitake Mushrooms & Peas
Orecchiette, or little ears, are fun to eat because each one acts as a little scoop. Here, they’re ferrying sliced shiitake mushrooms and bright green peas, in a simple sauce made with mascarpone cheese, pasta water, and chives.
Vegan Lemon, Garlic, and Tomato Pasta
That pasta cooking water trick I’ve been mentioning comes in handy when you’re making a vegan dish. In this case, the starches from whole-wheat pasta meet up with nutritional yeast to make a creamy, rich-tasting sauce featuring garlic, cherry tomatoes, lemon zest and juice, and red pepper flakes.
Vegan Spinach Lasagna
A blend of tofu, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and olive oil replaces the traditional ricotta in this vegan lasagna. The finished dish comes out remarkably close to old-school versions, with layers of al dente pasta, sauce, “cheese,” and spinach.
Healthy pasta recipes
When everyone was going crazy over low-carb diets, pasta became something to avoid. Great news: That craze is over. Pasta can absolutely be part of a healthy diet, as you’ll see in these recipes.
Easy Skillet Tortellini and Vegetables
Healthy pasta dishes feature tons of veggies, and this recipe fits that bill. Broccoli, bell pepper, grape tomatoes, and spinach simmer in a skillet with tortellini (no need to boil them separately), vegetable broth, and lemon juice. You’ll stir in a little half-and-half at the end to make the dish feel lush, though it’s only got 270 calories per serving.
Italian Wedding Soup
Orzo, greens, and chicken broth form the basis of this iconic soup, but it wouldn’t be Italian wedding soup without meatballs. Here, they’re made from lean ground turkey, cracker crumbs, and savory Parmesan cheese — and they cook right in the broth, so you only dirty one pot. Pro tip: If you grate your own Parm (which I highly recommend), add the rind to the simmering soup for an even richer flavor.
Garden Vegetable Pasta Salad
The Italian salsa verde dressing alone makes me want to make this recipe every chance I get. I keep coming back for that, plus the way the hot pasta ever-so-slightly cooks the zucchini ribbons and corn. The recipe makes 16 servings, which means this is fantastic for meal prep.
Peanut Ginger Noodles
That box of linguine in your pantry works with Asian-inspired recipes, too. In this case, whole wheat noodles meet up with fresh veggies like broccoli, carrots, and bell pepper. It all gets tossed in a creamy-tangy-zingy sauce made with peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, and plenty of fresh ginger.
Spicy Shrimp and Asparagus over Zucchini Noodle Pasta
OK, so technically zoodles aren’t pasta, but swapping zucchini for the real thing is a great way to both bump up the fiber and cut the carbohydrates in a meal. Plus, they make a fantastic base for this 20-minute, one-skillet saute of asparagus and shrimp with plenty of red pepper flakes, garlic, and lemon.
Stuffed pasta recipes
When you want something really hearty, look no further than pasta stuffed with cheese, meat, or vegetables.
Cheesy Italian Stuffed Shells with Beef
A rich filling made with ground beef, pesto, and three kinds of cheese is the star of the show here. It’s the perfect thing to stuff inside large pasta shells, then drape with marinara sauce and more cheese before baking. It comes out of the oven bubbly and cheesy. I dare you to not fall in love with it.
Creamy Crockpot Tortellini
Slow cooker pasta is a smart way to make a satisfying meal with minimal fuss. Brown some Italian sausage and put it in the Crock Pot with frozen spinach and little pasta dumplings, plus chicken broth, canned tomatoes, and the secret ingredient, cream cheese. Set it, forget it, and come back to find dinner’s waiting for you.
Easier Spinach Manicotti with Meat Sauce
I’m all for a stuffed and baked pasta recipe that shaves off steps (and time). With this one, instead of cooking the manicotti tubes before filling and baking, you use them straight from the box. Adding broth to jarred marinara sauce gives you plenty of liquid, so the pasta cooks as the casserole bakes. Ingenious!
Italian Ravioli with Spinach, Artichokes, Capers, Sun-Dried Tomatoes
No matter what kind of ravioli you have in the freezer, pair it with this savory sauce. Sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, garlic, capers, and spinach? It’s an umami-rich feast that comes together in less than half an hour. Grate a little Parmesan on top and watch your family devour it.
Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Browned Butter Parmesan and Pecans
You may think homemade ravioli is too much hassle for a weeknight. Surprise! Wonton skins make a perfect stand-in for fresh pasta sheets. And canned pumpkin puree mixed with grated Parmesan is a lovely, delicate filling. Assembly takes minutes, and while your ravioli simmers in a pot of water, you can make a quick sauce of browned butter with fresh sage. This is a restaurant-quality dinner, ready in just 40 minutes.
Pasta sauce recipes
If you’ve got a box of dried pasta and just need some sauce to go with it, you can’t go wrong with these options.
Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Herbs
Yes, there are several excellent jarred sauces on grocery store shelves, but even the best of them doesn’t match the marinara you simmer on your own stovetop. It takes a little time, but it’s so, so worth it. Pro tip: Double the recipe and freeze in meal-sized portions. You may never buy a jar again.
Quick and Easy Vodka Pasta Sauce
Like marinara sauce, a vodka pasta sauce is based on tomatoes, but it’s enhanced with whipping cream for richness and vodka to help the ingredients hold together.
Stovetop Beef Ragu
I’m not going to lie, this one is a commitment. It takes five hours from beginning to end! But most of that time is completely hands-off — and at the end, mamma mia, have you got something special. It’s meaty, tomatoey, and deeply, deeply flavorful.
Homemade Alfredo Sauce
With 6 ounces of Parmesan cheese, 12 tablespoons of butter, and 2 cups of whipping cream, this sauce is definitely not for the faint-hearted. In fact, it may be the most decadent pasta sauce you’ll ever make — but you definitely want to make it. You’ll wind up with an exquisitely creamy, perfectly savory bowl of fettuccine, the kind of meal you remember weeks later with a contented sigh.
Speedy Fresh Pesto
Once I learned how easy it is to make pesto from scratch, I never bought the prepared stuff again. There’s almost always a container of this lemony homemade version in my fridge. I love how a little bit of zest adds a refreshing, citrusy note to the herbal paste. I use pesto for pasta, of course, but also in salad dressings and sandwiches, with roasted vegetables, on pizza, as a simple way to season fish or chicken, even on baked potatoes.
Cauliflower Bolognese
Usually Bolognese means meat sauce, but vegetarians can enjoy the same savory flavors and textures thanks to this recipe. Riced cauliflower and finely chopped mushrooms provide the meaty body, while sun-dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and mustard provide the umami.
Never too much pasta
The world of pasta is a big one. If you’re a fan of spicy pasta, don’t miss Shrimp Rasta Pasta and Cajun Pasta. Keep exploring more options in these next collections.