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75 Classic & Creative Italian Dinners That Are 100% Nonna-Approved

Eat, pray, love (but emphasis on the eating part 😉).

By and Mo Goldstein
spaghetti all'assassina
PHOTO: RACHEL VANNI; FOOD STYLING BARRETT WASHBURNE

While we love Italian pizza and pasta, there's tons more Italian-inspired dinner ideas that'll have you feeling like you have your own Italian nonna on-call to teach you how to make all the classics. These 75 Italian dinner recipes will help you venture outside the Olive Garden and highlight some of the many diverse flavors in Italian cuisine. Our traditional recipes for Sunday sauce, chicken Parm, the best homemade lasagna ever, and more will have you feeling like you're running your own Roman trattoria in no time.

Think outside the pasta box with our favorite homemade Italian classics that will make any weeknight feel like a special occasion. Our dream Italian feast? We love pairing a hearty main like osso buco or chicken scallopini with a decadent pasta side, like our orzo al limone, our spaghetti all'assassina, or our creamy risotto. Add a Caprese salad, our sheet-pan panzanella, or our antipasto salad on the side, and you'll be sure to get more than few chef's kisses. Okay, maybe add a glass of vino or a negroni for good measure too.

There's no coincidence that the "eat" portion of Eat, Pray, Love took place in Rome, and we've got plenty of Italian pasta recipes to prove it. And we're not just talking about spaghetti & meatballs either. There are actually four classic Roman pasta dishes: pasta alla gricia, bucatini all'amatriciana, spaghetti carbonara, and cacio e pepe. No surprise: They're all wildly good. But don't stop there! Try our recipe for homemade pasta dough, homemade cavatelli, and ricotta gnudi for the most authentic pasta night ever.

Cooking Italian food for dinner is one of the better decisions to be made all week long. The absolute best idea? Pair a fun Italian dessert to go with this feast—but hey, it's your party! Mangia!

1

Chicken Parmesan

chicken parmesan covered with melty cheese and fresh herbs

Though we’ve done it many different ways here, this classic recipe is the chosen one, the holy grail. It has everything you want in chicken Parm, full stop—fried cutlets shrieking with crispiness, a perfect blend of mozzarella and Parm, and a sauce that is full of life with basil and just enough sweetness.

Get the Chicken Parmesan recipe.

2

Chopped Sandwich

black forest ham, genoa salami, hot soppressata, and provolone cheese, chopped with classic italian sandwich veggies and pesto mayo on a toasted ciabatta roll
PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

Imagine not having to unhinge your jaw like a snake to enjoy your favorite Italian deli hero. This chopped sandwich is here to turn that dream into a reality. Turns out, running a knife through your sandwich ingredients before piling them into a roll makes the whole ordeal of crushing a big hoagie a lot easier to manage!

Get the Chopped Sandwich recipe.

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3

Grilled Plum & Pancetta Panzanella Salad

grilled plums tossed with crispy pancetta, tangy goat cheese, fresh cherry tomatoes, and grilled sourdough bread, then drizzled with a maple dijon dressing
PHOTO: RACHEL VANNI; FOOD STYLING: TAYLOR ANN SPENCER

Here, transformed grilled plums get tossed with crispy pancetta, tangy goat cheese, fresh cherry tomatoes, and grilled sourdough bread, then drizzled with a maple-Dijon dressing, turning this humble salad into a work of art.

Get the Grilled Plum & Pancetta Panzanella Salad recipe.

4

Sunday Sauce

sunday sauce with meatballs pork sausage and pork ribs
PHOTO: LUCY SCHAEFFER, FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

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.

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5

Spaghetti All'Assassina

spaghetti all'assassina
PHOTO: RACHEL VANNI; FOOD STYLING BARRETT WASHBURNE

This 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 when we say charred, we mean burnt. Trust us, the rich tomato, burned starch, and spicy mess of it all is absolutely delicious.

Get the Spaghetti All'Assassina recipe.

6

Caprese Chicken Saltimbocca

caprese chicken saltimbocca
erik bernstein

For this summery dish, you'll start by crisping up chicken cutlets that are wrapped in prosciutto. Next, you'll finish them off in a tangy vinegar sauce, then top the whole thing with mozzarella and tomatoes for a fresh and fast crowd-pleaser.

Get the Caprese Chicken Saltimbocca recipe.

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7

Homemade Gnocchi

gnocchi
PHOTO: ANDREW BUI; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

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.

8

Grandma Pizza

grandma pizza with basil sauce on top
PHOTO: ROCKY LUTEN; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

Grandma pizza has a thin, crispy crust topped first with cheese, then dolloped with a garlicky tomato sauce. It's not the usual way of assembling pizza, but the cheese melting right into the crust really makes some magic happen.

Get the Grandma Pizza recipe.

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9

Cacio E Pepe Chicken

cacio e pepe chicken thighs with lemon wedges
PHOTO: JULIA GARTLAND; FOOD STYLIST: BROOKE CAISON

Cacio e pepe is as fun to say as it is to eat. A popular pasta dish from Rome, the name literally translates to cheese and pepper. We thought that pasta shouldn’t have all the fun, so why not chicken-fy it?

Get the Cacio E Pepe Chicken recipe.

10

Burrata Pizza Sandwiches

burrata pizza sandwich
PHOTO: JULIA GARTLAND; FOOD STYLING: ADRIENNE ANDERSON

Here you've got a super crusty sandwich (made of pizza dough!) stuffed with creamy burrata, salty prosciutto, sweet fig jam, and peppery arugula. Drizzle with olive oil and allow for drips through the crevices as you devour.

Get the Burrata Pizza Sandwiches recipe.

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11

Caprese Salad

sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil on a plate drizzled with olive oil
PHOTO: JOSEPH DE LEO; FOOD STYLING: TAYLOR ANN SPENCER

Hailing from the island of Capri and mirroring the colors of the Italian flag, the simple Caprese salad is one of our favorite ways to show off those juicy, in-season farmers' market tomatoes by complementing them with fresh basil and creamy mozzarella.

Get the Caprese Salad recipe.

12

Chicken Florentine Pasta

pasta in a pot topped with chicken slices and herbs
PHOTO: RACHEL VANNI; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

If you're obsessed with chicken Florentine, then let us 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.

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13

Best Homemade Lasagna

classic lasagna in a white pan topped with fresh herbs
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

Based on the traditional lasagna alla Bolognese from the Emilia-Romagna province in Italy, we grabbed what we loved most about the timeless, classic recipe and simplified it to make it weeknight-friendly. This lasagna can be eaten for any occasion from family Sunday dinner to lunch with friends over a pitcher of sangria.

Get the Best Homemade Lasagna recipe.

14

Chicken Piccata

chicken piccata in a skillet with lemon butter caper sauce
PHOTO: ROCKY LUTEN; FOOD STYLING: SPENCER RICHARDS

A classic recipe, chicken piccata combines thin and delicate chicken breasts with a tart white wine, lemon juice, and buttery cream sauce topped with briny capers. Its ability to be ready and on the table in 30 minutes makes it an easy sell, whether you’re serving up a dinner party or a simple weekly dinner.

Get the Chicken Piccata recipe.

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15

Italian Sausage & Pepper Frittata Affogato

italian sausage  pepper frittata affogato
Lucy schaeffer

Breakfast meets dinner in this marinara- and mozzarella-topped dish. Fittingly, the Italian word "affogato" means drowned, which explains the marinara topping. It lends this dish a vibe somewhere between a breakfast frittata and pizza, meaning it’s enjoyable for pretty much any meal of the day.

Get the Italian Sausage & Pepper Frittata Affogato recipe.

16

Copycat Carbone Spicy Rigatoni

copycat carbone spicy rigatoni
ERIK BERNSTEIN

Every dish at Carbone, the nouveau red sauce joint in lower Manhattan, is a mind-bendingly delicious, updated take on Italian American classics, though none may be more famous than the Spicy Rigatoni, which features their version of a booze-spiked vodka sauce. Here's our version.

Get the Copycat Carbone Spicy Rigatoni recipe.

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17

Stromboli

stromboli
PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

Move over calzones—homemade strombolis are our new dream handheld weeknight dinner. We packed ours full of pepperoni, salami, and two types of cheese, but the options are truly endless when it comes to customizing this Italian-American dish.

Get the Stromboli recipe.

18

Best-Ever Italian Meatballs

italian meatballs
Parker Feierbach

There’s an art to a great meatball. It should be nicely round, packed with flavor, and tender throughout. Making them from scratch is really easy and definitely beats anything you’d buy at the store. If you want a more hands-off approach, try baked meatballs!

Get the Best-Ever Italian Meatballs recipe.

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19

Pasta Alla Gricia

pasta alla gricia with pecorino and guanciale
PHOTO: ROCKY LUTEN; FOOD STYLING: ADRIENNE ANDERSON

Along with carbonara, cacio e pepe, and amatriciana, pasta alla gricia completes the four classic pasta dishes of Rome. It's a classic for good reason: With only four ingredients, it's simple to make and easy to indulge.

Get the Pasta Alla Gricia recipe.

20

Skillet Chicken Cacciatore

skillet chicken cacciatore
Andrew bui

We love this dish served on its own with crusty bread for dipping (or garlic bread?), but if you want a fuller meal, try it alongside rustic mashed potatoes or polenta.

Get the Skillet Chicken Cacciatore recipe.

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