46 Easy Pasta Recipes

If you love pasta you will love this recipe round-up! Take a browse through 46 easy pasta recipes and find some new favorites to try. There’s a little bit of everything – plenty of cheesy options, ones with chicken and some with shrimp and all kinds of recipes that use different pasta shapes.

Easy Pasta Recipes

It’s no secret I’m a pasta-lovin’ girl and if I could have it my way I would eat it every night for dinner. It is my carb of choice. Maybe it’s yours, too?

In that case, scroll through to see lots of easy pasta recipes that won’t stress you out with lots of work. Baked pasta, 5-ingredient pasta, one-pot pasta recipes, and pasta with creative sauces, and dressed up classics like Aglio e Olio and carbonara – there’s a little bit of everything. Be sure to click the photos or recipe links to get all the recipe details and save your favorites.

Enjoy!

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Creamy Garlic Pasta – Girl Gone Gourmet | This is a quick 20ish-minute dinner that’s rich, creamy, and decadent. In the time it takes to boil the fettuccine the mascarpone cream sauce with garlic is ready to go.

15-Minute Tomato Pasta – Girl Gone Gourmet | This tomato pasta is a quick 15-minute dinner! The no-cook tomato sauce is made with cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs, and almonds, which give the sauce a creamy texture. You just pop it all in the blender, puree it, and then toss it with hot pasta for a quick and easy dinner full of fresh flavors. I also have a red pepper sauce made the same way!

Creamy, Cheesy Mushroom Spinach Pasta – Foodtasia | Buttery pasta tossed with earthy mushrooms, fresh spinach, and a garlic parmesan cream sauce. Serve it as is or add in some chicken to switch things up – either way, it’s a cozy 30-minute dinner idea.

One-Pan Baked Tortellini – Girl Gone Gourmet | It looks like it was slow-cooked, but this baked tortellini takes just 30 minutes start to finish. Store-bought cheese tortellini cooks in the meaty sauce made with ground beef and your favorite jarred tomato sauce. It’s a hearty dinner idea for cold weather weeknights.

Winter Spinach and Ricotta Pesto – Our Salty Kitchen | I love creative pesto recipes, especially ones that can be made year-round when basil isn’t available. This spinach and ricotta pesto dish is simple to make plus the recipe includes some tips on making it a meal with delicious add-ins like avocado oil and cauliflower. Rotini is a great pasta shape to use in this recipe because the pesto clings to it well and, well, it just looks pretty!

Baked Chicken Parmesan Casserole – Girl Gone Gourmet | This baked chicken parmesan casserole for two is a low-prep dinner that takes all of ten minutes to get in the oven. All of it – including the pasta and chicken – cook together in one baking dish so there’s no need to use different pots and pans to boil the pasta and bread and fry the chicken.

Fresh Grape Tomato Pasta – An Italian In My Kitchen | In Italy, simple is always better. Fresh ingredients like tomatoes, garlic, and herbs don’t need much time over the heat so in the time it takes to boil the pasta dinner is ready to go. The recipe calls for orecchiette pasta (also known as “little ears”), but any short pasta shape you have on hand will work.

Spicy Chicken Ragu (Instant Pot) – Girl Gone Gourmet | This easy ragu sauce takes less than 30 minutes but tastes like it simmered all day thanks to an Instant Pot. Tender chicken thighs cook with simple pantry ingredients and fresh herbs for a hearty weeknight dinner.

Zucchini Orzo with Chickpeas – Girl Gone Gourmet | This zucchini orzo is a quick 20-minute pasta recipe! It’s loaded with fresh herbs, zucchini, and a short-cut sauce. It’s perfect for those nights when you want something fast and easy.

Short-Cut Meatball Soup – Girl Gone Gourmet | This Italian meatball soup is cozy, comforting and ridiculously easy to make. You only need six ingredients and 15 minutes to make it.

One-Pot Kale, Mushroom, and Garlic Spaghetti – Lauren Caris Cooks |  One pot and 6 ingredients (plus salt and pepper) are all you need for this easy pasta recipe. I love those caramelized mushrooms with the garlicky spaghetti. I’d love to get my fork tangled up in that plate of pasta.

Cajun Shrimp Pasta – Girl Gone Gourmet | Cajun-seasoned shrimp tossed with pasta and a super light butter-lemon sauce. This is a quick and easy 20-minute recipe that you only need six ingredients to make. It’s a little spicy, smoky and so, so delicious.

Dump-and-Bake 3-Cheese Baked Ziti – The Seasoned Mom | The title doesn’t lie – this is a seriously easy dinner. If you’ve ever labored over a baked ziti give this one a try. All of the ingredients are mixed together in a baking dish – including uncooked ziti! – and baked until hot and bubbling.

Pasta with Steak and Spinach – Girl Gone Gourmet | This is a long-time favorite recipe and is an easy 30-minute dish. Tender steak is tossed with spinach, pasta, and a tangy Dijon mustard and balsamic dressing. Serve it warm, at room temperature, or cold for an easy dinner.

Spinach-Sausage Pasta – Girl Gone Gourmet | Two short-cut sauces combine to make a super flavorful sausage pasta dish!

One Pot Kielbasa Pasta – Sugar Apron | Judging from the comments about this recipe kielbasa, pasta, and cheese is a dinnertime winner. Plus, it’s ready to go in 30 minutes which means it’s destined to be a go-to weeknight dinner idea. It’s budget-friendly and you can easily customize it to switch things up!

Shrimp Vodka Penne – Girl Gone Gourmet | This Shrimp Penne with Vodka Sauce is an easy dinner for two. My version uses a simple short-cut – no chopping required! – so it’s ready to serve in less than 30 minutes.

Balsamic Mushroom Pasta – Girl Gone Gourmet | Mushrooms and balsamic vinegar are a match made in heaven and when combined with a little cream and fettuccine you might think you’ve died and gone to heaven. This has been a go-to recipe in my house for the last few years and I never get tired of it. I love the ribbony fettuccine, but spaghetti or bucatini work great, too. Use what you got!

Instant Microwave Macaroni and Cheese in a Mug – The View From Great Island | In my experience, macaroni and cheese cravings strike at the most inopportune times when turning on the oven is just too much to bear. Like, at ten o’clock at night while knee-deep in a Netflix binge session. It is at these critical times you can have your pasta and Netflix, too, thanks to a microwave and a mug. Seriously, creamy macaroni and cheese for one is just five minutes away.

Truffle Mushroom Pasta – Girl Gone Gourmet | Truffle mushroom pasta is an easy pasta dish that you can make with a few simple ingredients. The sauce is made with truffle cheese which is an affordable way to enjoy the flavor of truffle without breaking the bank. The pasta is creamy, rich and earthy and very easy to make in about 30 minutes, but you’d never guess. It tastes like a restaurant dish and is a cozy dinner for two.

Cilantro Butter Shrimp Pasta – Girl Gone Gourmet | Pasta tossed with chili-spiced shrimp and corn in a cilantro-butter sauce flavored with garlic. This cilantro-butter shrimp pasta is a southwest-twist on a shrimp scampi and goes from pan to table in about ten minutes.

Garlic Parmesan Cheese Tortellini – Butter Your Biscuit | Bacon, asparagus, peas, and cheese. Just with those ingredients, you’re already winning at dinner, but add some tortellini and you’ve got a creamy, cheesy pasta dinner that’s ready in under 30 minutes. Plus, with so many tortellini options to choose from (have you checked at your store lately?) you can switch up the pasta every time you make it.

Creamy Gruyere Spaghetti for Two – Girl Gone Gourmet | This simple 20-minute pasta for two is a creamy and comforting dinner. Serve it alongside a crisp and cool salad or do what I like to do: enjoy it straight from the pan with a side of Netflix.

Pesto Tortellini with Sausage and Zucchini – Girl Gone Gourmet | Pesto tortellini with sausage is an easy 30-minute dinner! Cheese-filled pasta is tossed with pesto, zucchini, yellow squash, and Italian sausage for a simple dish that’s full of flavor.

Pasta with Olive Oil and Garlic – Girl Gone Gourmet | This easy pasta recipe is my go-to dinner when there’s no time to cook. In Italy, it’s known as pasta aglio e olio, which means pasta with olive oil and garlic. A few simple ingredients like spaghetti, olive oil, garlic, and Parmesan are all you need!

Fettuccine Alfredo – Girl Gone Gourmet | I like to joke that fettuccine Alfredo is my diet food because I make it on those nights when dialing-up some take-out is tempting. A plate of cheesy pasta has way fewer calories than an order of crab rangoons, sesame chicken, and chicken lo mein. For that reason, I always have the ingredients on hand. Plus, it takes all of 15 minutes to make.

Easy Lemon Tuna Pasta –The Cook’s Pyjamas | I have to admit when I think of canned tuna two things come to mind: boring tuna sandwiches and gloppy tuna noodle casserole. Turns out there’s a delicious way to use up those cans hiding in the back of the pantry and it takes less than 30 minutes. Lemon, capers and sour cream make a simple sauce that coats the rotini. It’s one of those not-sad pantry dinner recipes for those nights when you want something fast and satisfying.

Bucatini all’ Amatriciana – Girl Gone Gourmet | This is an easy pasta recipe with pancetta and a spicy tomato sauce that takes less than 30 minutes to make. Add some bucatini and you get a quick and easy weeknight dinner.

Mushroom Spaghetti Aglio e Olio – My Food Story |This takes a classic Aglio e Olio and dresses it up with earthy mushrooms. Easy and delicious!

Spicy Shrimp Spaghetti – Happy Foods Tube | More spaghetti! This time with shrimp and a spicy choose-your-own-chili sauce. Buy shrimp already peeled and deveined and this easy pasta dinner will be on the table in about 30 minutes.

Basil Pesto Cream with Tortellini – Saving Room for Dessert | During the summer there’s nothing better than garden-fresh basil and here’s a recipe to put it to great use. Use your favorite pesto or check out Tricia’s favorite recipe that’s linked in the recipe card.

15-Minute Carbonara – Girl Gone Gourmet | This carbonara is another go-to I-don’t-have-time-to-cook dinner idea. It starts with bacon and finishes with an egg that cooks as it’s tossed with hot pasta. The result is a creamy rich plate of pasta that you’ll want to make again and again. Any long pasta works great – spaghetti, fettuccine, bucatini, or linguine – the choice is yours.

15-Minute Mediterranean Pasta – Girl Gone Gourmet | This is another pantry dinner wonder. While the pasta boils chop the olives, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes. The sauce is a simple lemon and olive oil affair and some crumbled feta cheese finishes it off.

Roasted Tomato and Chicken Sausage Pasta – Salt and Lavender | Delicious looking, yes, but there’s something about that plate of pasta that just makes me happy. Maybe it’s the vibrant burst tomatoes, or the bites of savory chicken sausage, or the ribbons of pappardelle weaving in and out of all of it.  It just looks like a happy dinner, doesn’t it?

Pasta with Pancetta and Peas – Girl Gone Gourmet | This 20-minute dinner is a light and easy recipe. In the time it takes to boil the pasta you can make the citrusy white wine sauce flavored with fresh herbs.

Ricotta & Spinach Pasta Bake – Saving Room for Dessert | If you’ve ever made a stuffed pasta shells recipe you know it can be a big pain in the you-know-what. This pasta bake takes the best from stuffed shells but deconstructs them for an easy, cheesy, pasta dinner that’s just as delicious without all the work.

One Pot Broccoli and 3 Cheese Pasta – My Kitchen Love | When I was a kid broccoli on its own was evil, but broccoli drowning in cheese was a treat. Not much has changed now that I’m an adult and – unless my broccoli is roasted, which turns it into vegetable candy – I still like some cheese with my greens. This one pot broccoli pasta with plenty of creamy cheese makes eating your vegetables a whole lot more fun.

30 Minute One Pan Beef Penne – Girl Gone Gourmet | Dinner in one pan! This hearty beef penne doesn’t require a lot of prep time and is on the table in thirty minutes.

Mushroom Prosciutto Fettuccine – Garden in the Kitchen | The prosciutto and mushrooms sound delicious, but it’s the shallot oil wine sauce that caught my attention when I read through this recipe. Clocking in at 28 minutes start to finish (I love the specificity) I can see making this easy pasta recipe on a Monday night.

Shrimp Fettuccine with Tomatoes and Feta – Girl Gone Gourmet | This is a quick 20-minute dinner full of fresh flavors. In the time it takes to boil the pasta, the simple tomato sauce with shrimp and fresh basil is ready to go.

Cauliflower Scampi in Lemon Garlic White Wine Sauce – Veggie Inspired | Roasted cauliflower takes the place of shrimp in this twist on traditional scampi. I love the light and lemony garlic wine sauce and, with some easy multitasking, everything is ready to go to the table in about 30 minutes.

5-Ingredient Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo – Girl Gone Gourmet | Oh, the places you’ll go with some sun-dried tomatoes. First stop, creamy fettuccine Alfredo. You only need five ingredients and about 20 minutes for a first class ticket to pasta heaven.

Simple Artichoke Angel Hair Carbonara – Dishes Delish | And speaking of heaven, doesn’t a plate of wispy delicate angel hair pasta with pancetta and peas sound good? This recipe calls for artichoke pasta, but you can use regular pasta if you can’t find it. Either way, this simple dinner is full of flavor.

Creamy Goat Cheese Spaghetti – Girl Gone Gourmet | Some days just need a bowl of cheesy pasta and this goat cheese spaghetti is a quick and easy dinner for those nights when you’re craving some comfort.

Green Bean Pasta with Bacon – Girl Gone Gourmet | Bacon and green beans are a match made in heaven and make a simple 30-minute pasta dinner. Add some juicy cherry tomatoes, a touch of butter and a glug of tangy balsamic and you get a simple and lightly sauce bacon green bean pasta that’s full of flavor.

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina – Girl Gone Gourmet | Technically, this isn’t a pasta dish since gnocchi is more like a dumpling, but I’m including it because it’s delicious and super easy to make! You can also easily sub pasta for the gnocchi if you want!

I hope you’ve found some new delicious recipes to try!

Happy Cooking,

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Post updated from the archives. First published in September 2017.