45 Easy & Classic Italian Pasta Recipes (That Aren't Just Spaghetti & Meatballs)

If making homemade pasta seems like too much of a process, then gnocchi is the easy pasta to try making yourself. This rustic, dumpling-like pasta is much easier to make and shape by hand than ravioli, and once made, you can use it with countless recipes and sauces.

Get the Homemade Gnocchi recipe.

This pasta dish with Roman origins is a sure win, calling for just 5 ingredients and done in 20 minutes. It’s basically a pantry dive—spaghetti, bacon, garlic, eggs, and Parmesan are all ingredients that are easy to have on hand and make this the ultimate comfort food.

Get the Spaghetti Carbonara recipe.

If you’ve ever wanted to make dreamy burrata-topped pasta, then you’re in for a treat. Lucky for you, it’s a low-lift weeknight dinner encompassing everything you need from the proteins to the vegetables and carbs.

Get the Sausage & Broccoli Burrata Pasta recipe.

With a creamy, cheesy sauce and tender chicken breasts, this is the pasta dish we turn to time and time again when we're craving the ultimate comfort meal. If you've never made pasta sauce from scratch before—this Alfredo recipe is where you should start.

Get the Chicken Alfredo recipe.

Would you rather enjoy a bowl of pasta with a homemade beefy, rich tomato sauce laced with Parmesan and basil, or mystery meat in a glass jar? We bet we know the answer. Put down the jar—all you need are an hour and a handful of staple ingredients to make this classic, rich pasta sauce right at home.

Get the Homemade Spaghetti Sauce recipe.

If you're obsessed with chicken Florentine, then let me introduce you to your new favorite pasta dinner. This pasta—filled with chicken breasts, chopped tomatoes, and baby spinach—is completed with a bright and rich white wine and cream-based sauce.

Get the Chicken Florentine Pasta recipe.

Cacio e pepe literally translates to “cheese and pepper." These two ingredients are usually thought of as small components to a dish, but in this pasta recipe, they take center stage. The fruity bite of freshly ground pepper adds complexity and is earthy, sweet, and spicy all at once.

Get the Cacio e Pepe recipe.

Spaghetti all’assassina is like the OG one-pot pasta. The spaghetti is cooked in a spicy tomato broth in a style similar to risotto and charred in the pan as the broth gets absorbed. And believe it or not, we ask you to burn the spaghetti in the initial stages and then again toward the end as the final liquid evaporates. It’s a key part to the dish! As long as you have a rich and saucy burned spaghetti situation, you’ve done it right.

Get the Spaghetti All'Assassina recipe.

Nicknamed "mini hot dog buns", this easy-to-shape fresh pasta will impress any dinner guest. It's perfect for beginner pasta makers because your hands, not fancy equipment, do all the shaping. Pair with our easy homemade marinara and dinner is ready.

Get the Homemade Cavatelli recipe.

The trifecta of sausage, onion & peppers is an Italian classic, often eaten on its own or tucked into a bun or hoagie. No matter how you serve it, it’s meant to be an easy meal, so we knew we had to keep it that way when developing this pasta version too.

Get the Creamy Sausage & Peppers Shells recipe.

Few dishes mean “spring” like pasta primavera. Primavera in the name alone brings to mind fresh veggies, like zucchini, English peas, leeks, and peppers, all of the things beginning to bloom for a vibrant season of produce ahead. Feel free to swap in whatever you can find at the farmer's market.

Get the Pasta Primavera recipe.

In this sauce, the meatballs are so tender, little bits break off into the sauce as they simmer away, pork ribs fall off the bone indicating peak sauce richness, and delightful oily puddles pool at the top of the pot only to be folded in at the end for maximum umami.

Get the Sunday Sauce recipe.

When our weeknight dinners start to feel a little snoozy, we activate our go-to formula for supper success: Start with a dish you love, then add something new. Here, the dish we love is chicken piccata, the Italian-American classic, and the new ingredient is one of our favorite pantry items, boxed gnocchi.

Get the Creamy Chicken Piccata With Gnocchi recipe.

This recipe doesn't take hours to simmer, but still comes out to be one of the best pasta sauces we've ever had. Be sure to top with lots of Pecorino and fresh basil!

Get the Bucatini all'Amatriciana recipe.

If a bowl of creamy, earthy, umami-rich pasta sounds good to you, give this flexible recipe a go. It tastes great with any variety of mushrooms, and is easily adapted with alternate alliums, herbs, nuts, pasta shapes, and hard cheeses.

Get the Creamy Mushroom Pasta recipe.

If you love creamy risotto, but not the time it takes to make it, this Italian-inspired orzo recipe is for you. The prep here is minimal and cleanup is easy, but the payoff makes this dish totally dinner party-worthy, all year round.

Get the Creamy Tuscan Orzo recipe.

Imagine lasagna being turned inside out to form cute pockets stuffed with creamy, garlicky ricotta and cream cheese, which are then slathered in tomato sauce for an impressive dinner with friends or family. That’s the beauty of stuffed shells.

Get the Stuffed Shells recipe.

Sure, everyone loves pasta. But pasta + bacon + mushrooms? That's just out of control. Creamy and comforting, we’re (over)confident this tagliatelle will become your fast friend.

Get the Tagliatelle With Bacon & Mushrooms recipe.

Not sure what to do with that spaghetti? Make this pasta. This is a rich, creamy dish that’s sure to satisfy everyone, given its perfect balance of acidity and cream—and it can be whipped up as quickly as it takes to boil your pasta.

Get the Pasta Al Limone recipe.

After 5 rounds of testing, we finally found the ideal combination of flavors and effort for our best-ever baked ziti—it’s got rich ricotta and a meaty, tomato-based sauce, thrown together in a dish and baked with your pasta.

Get the Baked Ziti recipe.