I. Love. Pasta.
I love twirling it, spearing it, and scooping it.
I love it with creamy sauces, tossed in herby sauces, loaded with tomato sauce, and delicately mixed with oily sauces.
Pasta is one of those ingredients that I almost have too much of at all times – it’s always there for me at the end of a long day. A comforting carb friend, if you will.
And the fact I can get it from the pantry to the kitchen table (or, in all quarantine seriousness, to the couch) in under 30 minutes makes me love it that much more.
While I think we can all agree that pasta is incredible, what’s not incredible is eating the same red sauce from a jar 4x a week.
These are some of the easiest pasta recipes I have here on the blog so you could, if you wanted, eat pasta every day of the week…for two weeks.
Not saying that you should. But if you wanted to, you’ll be ready.
Let’s roll:
1. Vegan Cacio e Pepe
Ingredients needed: cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, black pepper
This is one of the many recipes on my blog that I’m especially proud of. Traditional Cacio e Pepe is very simple – cheese, butter, pepper, noodles – so it took a little time to figure out a way to make this creamy adult-style mac & cheese vegan.
But we’ve done it, folks. This recipe is creamy, dreamy, and tastes like you’re sitting in a Roman piazza on a warm summer day.
2. Magical Color-Changing Pasta
Ingredients needed: purple cabbage, shallot, olive oil, garlic, lemon
You’ve got some extra time on your hands these days, right? And maybe a kid or two at home needing entertainment and sustenance?
Enter: Magical Color-Changing Pasta.
It’s a really simple recipe, and it literally changes color BEFORE YOUR EYES. It’s honestly just so much fun for anyone at any age, but I can imagine it would be a total hit with some kiddos!
3. Lemon Garlic Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients needed: lemon, garlic, mushrooms, olive oil, shallot, basil, parsley
Can’t get much more classic than this flavor combo right here! Lemon and garlic take the lowly mushroom to new heights.
This dish is tangy, earthy, bitey, and honestly one of my favorites on this list because it’s just so. darn. simple.
P.S. It’s not complete without a big sprinkle of Vegan Parmesan. Trust me.
4. No-Cook Tomato Garlic Pasta Sauce
Ingredients needed: olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, basil
What about a pasta sauce that you don’t even cook? If you need a simpler recipe than this…I…just don’t know what to tell you tbh.
You literally don’t cook a thing in this recipe (besides the noodles, obv. And I mean, I guess you don’t need to cook them, but that would be a bit ridiculous, and I’d definitely judge you a lil bit), and it’s so gosh-darn good.
The sauce is thick and lush and rich and just one of my favorite recipes when it’s hot outside and I don’t want to cook dinner.
5. Spring Brussels Sprout Pasta
Ingredients needed: brussels sprouts, olive oil, garlic, lemon
It’s springtime, my friends! And I pretty much start craving anything and everything green as soon as the first day of spring rolls around.
One of my favorite in season “greens” this time of year is (are?) brussels sprouts.
If you cook them until caramelized with a bit of lemon juice and garlic, springtime gets a little happier. A flower starts to bloom. A tree’s buds open up.
You have that power, my friend.
6. Antipasto Couscous Salad
Ingredients needed: kalamata olives, green olives, artichoke hearts, baby kale, sun-dried tomatoes, white beans, red wine vinegar, olive oil
One of my favorite pastas even though I never think to buy it is couscous. It cooks in about .5 seconds, and it’s great with pretty much anything you’d serve with things like rice or quinoa.
This is another one of my favorite recipes on the blog. I’ve made it a few times, and I just devour it because it’s loaded with flavor – olives, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, beans. I love.
7. Creamy Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients needed: cauliflower, cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon, plant milk, olive oil
So, while I’m not vegan 100% of the time (I eat cheese when I’m out and about every once in a while), I love vegan substitutes of my favorite dairy-filled meals.
That’s why I was so jazzed about this Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce. It’s pretty simple to throw together, and it hugs and coats each noodle perfectly.
When I served it to Mark the first time, he said, “Had you not told me this was vegan, I would have just thought you made normal alfredo for dinner.”
I think about it often. It’s still, to this day, one of my greatest accomplishments in life.
8. Vegan Fall Pasta Salad
Ingredients needed: pecans, brussels sprouts, dried cranberries, shallot, parsley, dijon, garlic, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup
Okay. Even though this is technically a “fall” recipe (it’s so delicious as part of a Thanksgiving meal!), I think you could get away with making it any time of the year.
We’ve already established brussels sprouts are in-season, and dried cranberries and pecans don’t ever really go out-of-style.
I will say that I love this recipe cold, at room temp, or hot, so it’s great to just keep in the fridge for whenever you need a carb fix.
9. Easy Ginger Garlic Noodles
Ingredients needed: ginger, garlic, broccoli, green onion, sesame seeds, soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup
Although my mind instantly goes to Italian whenever I think of pasta (I blame it on my heritage), noodles are a big part of other cultures’ cuisines too!
This recipe so simple, really tasty, and 100% customizable.
I highly recommend serving it with a big serving of Easy Crispy Marinated Tofu.
10. Thai Zucchini Noodle Bowls
Ingredients needed: zucchini, mushrooms, bell pepper, peanut butter, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sriracha, maple syrup
Noodles + Zoodles = an adventure in Texture Land.
This recipe is served with my peanut sauce, aka. the sauce that we pretty much always have in our fridge because it’s good on everything, and a bunch of vegetables.
It’s health covered in peanut butter and I’m here for it.
11. Vegan One Pot Pumpkin Pasta
Ingredients needed: olive oil, garlic, onion, canned pumpkin, canned coconut milk, veggie stock, sage
I feel like all rules went out the window when we all went into quarantine. Right? Right.
Let’s have pumpkin in April. Why not? I won’t tell anyone.
12. Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pasta
Ingredients needed: hummus, frozen spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic, Italian seasoning
A widely-loved dip turned pasta sauce. I’m so into it.
The “creamy” part of this recipes comes from hummus, and if you’ve been around the blog for any period of time, you probably know I use hummus in every way, shape, and form. So it was only a matter of time before I threw it on some pasta.
13. Creamy Lemon Hummus Pasta with Vegetables
Ingredients needed: hummus, lemon, garlic, broccoli, jarred red bell pepper, mushrooms, parsley
AND I DID IT AGAIN. This time, with lemon and veggies! I can’t be stopped!
14. Pasta with Vegan Meat Sauce
Ingredients needed: green lentils, pecans, your favorite red sauce, olive oil
Lol. The first pasta recipe I ever posted on Fooduzzi. How it took me over a year from starting my blog to post a pasta recipe, I’ll never know.
But alas, this is a good one. It’s one of those protein-packed recipes thanks to lentils and pecans, and it just has a really meaty texture that I actually kinda love.
Who knew. A vegan meat sauce. Weirder things have happened.
And that’s a wrap! What pasta recipes are you making these days? I wanna know the deets.
I could really go for a pesto right now. Maybe with some lemon and extra garlic? Yum.
And what do you think? Pasta = the perfect food?
Vegan cacio e pepe is on tap for dinner tonight :) That picture just about did me in <3<3<3