25 Fast Pasta Recipes to Make ASAP

By

Food & Wine Editors

Updated on July 26, 2023

Pasta Aglio e Olio — Photo:
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Amelia Rampe

What's better than a steaming bowl of pasta at the end of a demanding day? One that makes it to the table in less time than delivery! These are our fastest pasta dishes that come together in a half hour or less. If patience is in short supply and your kitchen is stocked with key ingredients, these are the pastas to rely on. From classic comforts like Stovetop Mac and Cheese to more elegant meals like Pappardelle with Red Wine and Meat Ragù, we've got just the weeknight pasta recipe to please.

01 of 25

Linguine with Red Clam Sauce

Linguine with Red Clam Sauce — Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Rishon Hanners

Pasta tossed with plenty of chopped clams, garlic, and tomato sauce is an iconic Italian-American dish. Here, a few simple touches enhance that homestyle taste: A dose of anchovies boost the savory taste of the clams; herby vermouth stands in for dry white wine (although you could use either); and a touch of butter tossed in at the end unites the pasta and sauce in a truly magical way.

02 of 25

Spaghettoni with Butter and Brewer's Yeast

Spaghettoni with Butter and Brewer's Yeast — Photo by Eva Kolenko / Food Styling by Carrie Purcell / Prop Styling by Jillian Knox

Italian chef Ricardo Camanini built an award-winning reputation on this incredibly delicious spaghettoni topped with butter and a surprising ingredient: brewer's yeast. It has such simple, luscious, and funky umami appeal that legendary French chef Alain Ducasse declared it the best dish ever.

03 of 25

Mafaldine with Pea Shoot—Meyer Lemon Pesto

Mafaldine with Pea Shoot and Meyer Lemon Pesto — Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

Fresh pea shoots, parsley, and dill make a verdant pesto balanced with salty ricotta salata cheese and nutty roasted sunflower seed kernels. The bright sauce clings beautifully to ruffled mafaldine pasta, and any textured pasta shape will work well.

04 of 25

One-Pot White Wine Pasta with Mushrooms and Leeks

One Pot White Wine Pasta Recipe — Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Rishon Hanners / Prop Styling by Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland

Robin Bashinsky's creamy, savory, one-pot pasta dish comes together without the need to boil the pasta separately. Savory sautéed mushrooms and gently sweet leeks combine with cream, lemon, and white wine to create a rich sauce.

05 of 25

Linguine with Frenched Green Beans and Parsley Pesto

Linguine with Frenched Green Beans and Parsley Pesto Recipe — Photo by Tara Donne / Food Styling by Chris Lanier / Prop Styling by Raina Kattelson

In this classic recipe, 1988 F&W Best New Chef Johanne Killen employs starchy pasta water to thicken her fresh pesto into a sauce that clings to and flavors each strand of linguine, instead of pooling in the bowl. Thinly sliced green beans intertwine with the pasta, offering a refreshing crunch.

06 of 25

Spicy Sausage Pasta with Tomatoes and Squash

Spicy Sausage Pasta with Tomatoes and Squash — Photo by David Malosh / Prop Styling by Amy Wilson / Food Styling by Maggie Ruggiero

Added just minutes before serving, thinly sliced squash melts into this orecchiette or small-shell pasta without losing its shape and texture. Use a mandoline to achieve wafer-thin slices.

07 of 25

Spaghetti with Ramps, Chiles & Two Cheeses

Spaghetti with Ramps and Cheese — Photo by Huge Galdones / Food Styling by Christina Zerkis

Ramps, the ephemeral wild onions that chefs love and which appear only in the spring, give this pasta a lovely garlic flavor. When ramps aren't in season, Justin Smillie uses elephant garlic or scallion.

08 of 25

Pasta Aglio e Olio

Pasta Aglio e Olio — Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Amelia Rampe

This simple, garlicky pasta uses pantry ingredients — the beauty comes from building out the flavor profile in the olive oil. Better yet, the whole thing comes together in the time it takes for the water to boil, making it the perfect back-pocket pasta to add to your weeknight rotation.

09 of 25

Cold Crab Spaghetti

Cold Crab Spaghetti Recipe — Eric Wolfinger

In peak summer heat, this refreshing dish from Chef Isaac Toups comes to the rescue with sweet-tart segments of juicy tangerine and just a teaspoon of Dijon to create a creamy, balanced sauce. Thai chile brings a kick, while a flurry of mint, basil, and parsley highlights the natural sweetness of fresh crab.

10 of 25

Pulling-from-the-Pantry Puttanesca

Pulling from the Pantry Puttanesca — Victor Protasio

Chef Zoi Antonitsas is passionate about preserved fish. The salty, briny fillets are her favorite powerhouse pantry ingredient. They can make almost anything into a meal — and a delicious one at that. Use high-quality tins, like Matiz España brand, for the best results.

11 of 25

White Truffle Tagliolini

White Truffle Tagliolini — Greg DuPree

You'll have to order Alba truffle, but you should have the rest of the ingredients on hand — tagliolini or spaghetti, butter, Parmesan, and salt.

12 of 25

Pasta with Pumpkin Brown Butter Sauce

Pasta with Pumpkin Brown Butter Sauce — Abby Hocking

A classic browned butter and sage sauce gets a boost of fall flavor from pumpkin butter. Be generous with the Parmigiano-Reggiano, its salty, savory bite adds the perfect hit of umami flavor to this decadent pasta dish.

13 of 25

Rigatoni with Lemony Kale-and-Pecorino Pesto

Rigatoni with Lemony Kale-and-Pecorino Pesto — © Fredrika Stjärne

Making pesto with kale instead of basil is unexpectedly delicious and San Francisco chef Chris Cosentino says it's a simple way to get kids to eat kale.

14 of 25

Three-Pepper Cacio e Pepe

Three Pepper Cacio e Pepe — Victor Protasio

A trio of peppercorns gives this pasta a subtle, floral heat. If you like, spice it up by swapping the Szechuan pepper with a pinch of red pepper flakes. Light-bodied, lemony Italian Frascati pairs wonderfully here.

15 of 25

Pasta with Guanciale, Radicchio, and Ricotta

Pasta with Guanciale, Radicchio and Ricotta — © John Kernick

To make this rich pasta, chef Nancy Silverton sautés guanciale (cured pork jowl) and then cooks the radicchio and red onions in the rendered fat. She likes to use a little-known pasta called calamarata — which looks like thick squid rings — to catch the sauce, but any wide, tubular pasta is great.

16 of 25

All'Amatriciana with Extra Umami

All'Amatriciana with Extra Umami — © Christina Holmes

Anchovies please! Top Chef finalist Sarah Grueneberg makes her amatriciana sauce with anchovies, so it's extra savory.

17 of 25

Pasta with Sausage, Basil, and Mustard

Pasta with Sausage, Basil and Mustard. — © Greg DuPree

In 2018, Food & Wine named this recipe one of our 40 best. In matching spicy sausage with a creamy mustard sauce and fragrant basil, British cookbook author Nigel Slater created a quick pasta supper with warm, mildly spicy flavors. It's perfect for a cool fall or winter evening.

18 of 25

Orecchiette with Sausage and Chicory

Orecchiette with Sausage and Chicory — © Lucy Schaeffer

Chef Michael White uses dandelion greens to give his slightly spicy sausage pasta a bitter edge, but chicory or escarole make a great stand-in.

19 of 25

Spaghetti with Shrimp, Lemon, Mint, and Pecorino

Spaghetti with Shrimp, Lemon, Mint and Pecorino — © Con Poulos

Roman chef Angelo Troiani riffs on the classic spaghetti ajo, ojo, e peperoncino (garlic, oil, and chile), embellishing it with shrimp, lemon, pecorino, almond, and mint. It's simple, delicious, and crowd-pleasing.

20 of 25

Pappardelle with Red Wine and Meat Ragù

Pappardelle with Red Wine and Meat Ragù — © David Loftus

This spectacular pasta dish combines pappardelle with a meaty ragù made from red wine, ground beef and turkey, and dried porcini mushrooms. It's table-ready in just 30 minutes.

21 of 25

Pasta Shells with Peas and Ham

Pasta Shells with Peas and Ham — © Ngoc Minh Ngo

Country ham — rubbed with salt and sugar, smoked for weeks, then hung to cure for at least six months — is quintessentially Southern. Because it's so salty, it's ideal as an accent in dishes like this homey pasta.

22 of 25

Stovetop Mac and Cheese

Stovetop Mac and Cheese — © Fredrika Stjärne

We could wax poetic about mac and cheese forever. This version is especially easy, since it doesn’t require a roux or long stint in the oven. Oh, and it involves *four* cheeses: Gruyère, cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Fontina. Yes, please.

23 of 25

Spaghetti with Anchovy Carbonara

Spaghetti with Anchovy Carbonara — © Tina Rupp

Chef Chris Cosentino adds briny flavor to his pasta with cured tuna heart, which he shaves on right before serving. This recipe calls for anchovies rather than the tuna heart Cosentino uses. Egg yolks form a silky sauce.

24 of 25

Summery Fettuccine Alfredo

Summery Fettuccine Alfredo — © Squire Fox

This extra-light Alfredo sauce for pasta gets its silkiness from fresh ricotta and grated pecorino cheese.

25 of 25

Farfalle with Yogurt and Zucchini

Farfalle with Yogurt and Zucchini — © Tina Rupp

Johanne Killeen and George Germon of Al Forno restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island, cook shredded zucchini with farfalle in this tangy pasta.

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