71 Pasta Recipes to Cook If Spaghetti Is Your Love Language
If there’s one category of food I can fully get behind, it’s pasta—and these pasta recipes don’t disappoint. Although my dinner party default dish has long been lasagna and I get weak in the knees for a classic basil pesto, the truth is I’ll take any kind of pasta any day (and any meal) of the week. Between our easy stuffed shells, homemade gluten-free fresh pasta, creamy vegan ziti, and chorizo-sauced spaghetti, I’m convinced that the following collection of flavorful and easy recipes holds unifying, world peace pastability. (Trying to figure out the right noodle for the job? Check out our advice on how to buy pasta before you start cooking.)
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne1/71Baked Rigatoni With Red Peppers and Green Olives
We’re kicking off this list of our best pasta recipes with a favorite that answers the challenge: pizza, but make it pasta. Packed with briny olives and zingy peppers, it’s a cheesy crowd-pleaser.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson2/71Simple One-Skillet Chicken Alfredo Pasta
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kate Buckens5/71Caramelized Onion Pasta
Funny what a shapeshifter the onion can be. Even to an onion skeptic like myself, this warm caramelized iteration is fully satisfying. And it requires only a handful of ingredients.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Sean Dooley6/71My Mother's Butter, Tomato, and Onion Sauce
There’s a reason this tomato sauce recipe leads with butter. It’s also the reason I cannot get enough of this recipe’s simple, comforting pleasures. You can make it with fresh tomatoes in the summer, but when the weather's cold, it's just as delicious if you start with canned whole tomatoes.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Judy Haubert7/71Sheet-Pan Mac and Cheese
If mac and cheese that lacks a crunchy top coat makes you sad, this new recipe will give you all the crispiness you require.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton8/71Creamy Vegan Red Pepper Pasta With Garlic Bread Breadcrumbs
When red peppers, garlic, breadcrumbs, pasta and beans come together, you get a recipe that sits at the flavorful-meets-filling intersection of the vegan Venn Diagram.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano and Stevie Stewart9/71Spaghetti with Chorizo and Almonds
Texture fans rejoice! If you appreciate a nutty, smoky, crackly, creamy, fragrant, meaty mix, you’re in for a real treat.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton10/71Gluten-Free Fresh Pasta
Friends who can’t touch gluten but crave fresh pasta can finally have a plateful with this simple formula. A blend of chickpea and store-bought GF flour makes for an easy homemade dough with surprising chew; you can dress the cooked pasta any way you like.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Nathaniel James, Food Styling by Anna Hampton11/71Turkey Tetrazzini
Infinitely interchangeable, this one’s a stellar solve for leftovers. (Thanksgiving is coming, and with it, so much turkey). Hate turkey or just don’t have any on hand? Replace with chicken. Out of peas? Use broccoli. We say, go forth and unleash your casserole creativity.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson12/71One-Pot Pasta Primavera With Shrimp
My daughter lives for pasta but my husband is a meat and vegetables kind of guy. Me? I love it all. For our dinnertime conflicts, this colorful one-pot wonder provides. The vegetable-and-shrimp pasta recipe calls for just the right amount of water—it magically cooks down to create a silky sauce, no draining necessary. (And no extra pasta pot to wash.) Looking for a vegetarian version? Try our classic pasta primavera.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson13/71"Antipasto" Pasta with Sausage, Artichoke Hearts, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
This easy pasta recipe reminds us that hearty, delicious meals are possible with nothing more than a quick trip to the pantry.
