There are few weeknight problems a bowl of pasta can’t solve. It’s fast, adaptable, and can turn a handful of ingredients into a dinner I’d happily eat on repeat. Serious Eats readers agree. These are the 10 weeknight pasta recipes they’ve saved the most using MyRecipes, our tool for organizing recipes from Serious Eats and beyond. And, to throw in a little controversy, we’ve even included mac and cheese. Not a classic pasta dish, perhaps, but on a Wednesday night, I’m not arguing with three ingredients and a pot of melted cheese.
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01 of 10
This is the pasta to make when the fridge looks bare but the pantry can still pull its weight. Garlic, anchovies, capers, olives, and canned tomatoes come together in a deeply savory, briny sauce that’s ready in about the time it takes to cook the spaghetti.
02 of 10
Penne alla vodka has earned its weeknight-dinner staying power. This version uses both tomato paste and canned tomatoes for a sauce with plenty of tomato flavor, plus cream for richness and just enough vodka to give it a little bite.
03 of 10
Credit: Serious Eats / Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley
Million dollar spaghetti lives up to its over-the-top name with layers of spaghetti, meaty tomato sauce, and plenty of cheese. Our version uses a silky, mozzarella- and Parmesan-packed béchamel, and you can assemble the whole casserole up to three days ahead, making it an especially handy weeknight dinner.
04 of 10
Credit: Serious Eats / Julia Estrada
Cacio e pepe calls for little more than pasta, Pecorino Romano, and black pepper, but getting those ingredients to play nicely together can be surprisingly tricky. Kenji’s two-pan method takes the guesswork out of it, producing a creamy, peppery sauce without the dreaded clumps of cheese.
05 of 10
Canned tuna, dried porcini, and tomatoes may not be the most obvious pasta partners, but they make a surprisingly savory, satisfying sauce. Better yet, nearly everything comes straight from the pantry, making this Roman-style spaghetti a smart dinner to keep in your back pocket.
06 of 10
Credit: Photographs: Vicky Wasik. Video: J. Kenji López-Alt
Is mac and cheese technically a pasta dish? We’re including it because a creamy, cheesy dinner made with just three ingredients in about 10 minutes deserves a spot. Evaporated milk is the trick to a smooth sauce, and you can use cheddar or whatever good melting cheese you have on hand.
07 of 10
Carbonara is fast and simple, but there’s always that risk of turning your silky sauce into scrambled eggs. Daniel’s clever double-boiler method gives you more control, so the eggs, cheese, and rendered pork fat come together into a rich, glossy sauce instead.
08 of 10
Credit: Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Turns out the flavors that make Caesar salad so good are also very good with spaghetti. Anchovies, garlic, Parmesan, black pepper, and plenty of olive oil form the backbone of this pasta, and this recipe gives you two ways to make it: a rich, carbonara-style version or a simpler, brinier one finished with crisp, lemony breadcrumbs.
09 of 10
Pasta al limone hits that sweet spot between rich and bright. Butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano make the sauce silky without any cream to dull the lemon, while plenty of lemon zest and a final squeeze of juice keep it fresh and punchy.
10 of 10
Shrimp scampi is already a strong weeknight contender; adding pasta just makes it a hearty dinner. The shrimp stay plump and tender while plenty of garlic, butter, olive oil, and lemon form a silky sauce that coats every noodle.
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