16 Vegetarian Pasta Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (2024)

These fresh and healthy vegetarian pasta recipes are perfect for year-round noshing. Whether you love a cheesy, creamy sauce or a veggie-loaded dish, you'll find something delicious for dinner. Recipes like our Spaghetti with Baked Brie, Mushrooms & Spinach and One-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta are perfect for a satisfying meal any day of the week.

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One-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta

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16 Vegetarian Pasta Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (1)

This one-pot pasta with tangy tomato-basil sauce is a simple, fast and easy weeknight dinner. All of your ingredients go into one pot, and with a bit of stirring and about 25 minutes of cook time, you'll have a healthy dinner the whole family will enjoy.

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Spinach & Artichoke Dip Pasta

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16 Vegetarian Pasta Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (2)

If you've ever wanted to make a meal out of warm spinach and artichoke dip, this creamy pasta is for you. And here's what's almost as good as the flavor of this comforting dish: the fact that this healthy dinner takes just 20 minutes to prepare.

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Roasted Red Pepper, Spinach & Feta Penne Pasta

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16 Vegetarian Pasta Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (3)

In this quick 20-minute dinner recipe, tender penne pasta is combined with garlic, roasted red peppers and spinach and topped with crumbled feta cheese for a fast and easy Mediterranean-inspired meal. This recipe was graciously shared by EatingWell reader Dottie Carpenter, who states, "Recipes are no good if they're not shared!"

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Pesto Ravioli with Spinach & Tomatoes

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Looking for a new way to turn a bag of frozen cheese ravioli into a satisfying and healthy dinner? This easy pasta recipe calls for just five ingredients but is loaded with fresh flavors. By using grape tomatoes, prewashed spinach and prepared pesto, we eliminate all prep work, making this 15-minute Caprese-inspired ravioli the ideal weeknight meal.

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Spaghetti with Baked Brie, Mushrooms & Spinach

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Melted Brie cheese coats pasta and roasted veggies in this rich vegetarian pasta dish. White balsamic vinegar adds tang and a hint of sweetness in this easy weeknight dinner.

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20-Minute Balsamic Mushroom & Spinach Pasta

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This 20-minute veggie pasta dish is super savory, thanks to meaty mushrooms, while the natural sweetness from the balsamic vinegar, basil and pistachios brighten up this quick, healthy vegetarian dinner.

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Fideuà de Verduras (Grilled Pasta with Vegetables)

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Fideos are small strips of pasta that look like 1/2-inch pieces of thin spaghetti, although sometimes they're shaped like mini macaroni. (Broken angel hair pasta is an easy swap.) In Valencia, Spain, dishes that incorporate fideos are called fideuà—pronounced fee-dey-wha—and are cooked like paella.

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Baked Spinach & Feta Pasta

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Feta softens in the oven before it's combined with spinach and pasta, with the pasta cooking right in the baking dish. Enjoy this one-pan dish on its own as a vegetarian main or serve with sautéed chicken breast for a boost of protein.

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Easy Pea & Spinach Carbonara

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Fresh pasta cooks up faster than dried, making it a must-have for fast weeknight dinners like this luscious yet healthy meal. Eggs are the base of the creamy sauce. They don't get fully cooked, so use pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs if you prefer.

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Baked Penne Florentine

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This comforting and flavorful vegetarian dish is packed with protein.

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Linguine with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

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This easy pasta recipe is an excuse to buy wild mushrooms, available at many grocery stores these days. Or if you prefer white buttons, those will work well too. The creamy linguine is ready in 40 minutes, so it's quick enough for an easy weeknight recipe but it feels fancy enough for entertaining.

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Creamy Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms

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Sliced Brussels sprouts and mushrooms cook quickly and cling to the pasta in our fall version of pasta primavera. Look for presliced mushrooms to cut prep time. Serve with a tossed salad.

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Tofu & Vegetable Curry with Zucchini Noodles

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For this quick Thai-inspired curry recipe, we've combined tofu and plenty of veggies with a flavorful sauce made with red curry paste, lime juice and coconut milk. Serve the curry over lightly warmed zucchini noodles to get even more veggies in your weeknight dinner. Bonus: Everything is cooked in one skillet, so there's only one pan to wash after dinner.

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Tortellini Primavera

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This creamy tortellini and vegetable pasta is a real crowd pleaser. To make it even quicker, use frozen chopped vegetables instead of fresh. Serve with: A green salad and whole-grain baguette.

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Grilled Eggplant & Tomato Pasta

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The combination of slightly smoky grilled eggplant and sweet tomatoes is delightful. The eggplant-tomato mixture served over whole-wheat pasta with fresh basil and a bit of salty cheese makes an easy, healthy weeknight dinner.

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Pressure-Cooker Mac & Cheese

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Make a healthier version of classic macaroni and cheese with this recipe that adds broccoli for a nutritional boost and an easy way to eat more vegetables. Using an electric pressure cooker, such as the InstantPot, gets dinner on the table in just 30 minutes.

16 Vegetarian Pasta Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to good pasta? ›

Wait until the water comes to a rapid, aggressive boil before adding your pasta. Throwing in the pasta too early when the water isn't hot enough can result in some sticky, gummy noodles. Patience, friend. Stir right away — and every couple minutes.

How to get protein in pasta without meat? ›

Or add cooked red lentils or kidney beans to the sauce to make it both chunky and even higher protein. This delicious vegan pasta recipe is free of any meat products or animal products whatsoever. It's super flavorful, delicious, and just an incredibly easy meal to make.

What veggies go well in pasta? ›

Vegetables: I add over 1 ½ pounds of veggies to this pasta recipe and love a combination of zucchini, yellow squash, jarred roasted red peppers, and spinach. Other veggies work, like peas, corn, cauliflower, and cabbage. Onion, garlic, and tomato paste: These provide our base flavor for the vegetable pasta sauce.

What to put on pasta when you have no sauce? ›

Cheese is an excellent way to add flavor to your pasta without having to rely on sauce. Try mixing your angel hair pasta with goat cheese, and toss in sun-dried tomatoes to make an amazing meal with just a few ingredients. Garlic butter is a terrific way to season all types of noodles.

What is the golden rule for pasta? ›

To be sure that your pasta is cooked correctly, it is enough to follow a few, simple rules. To begin with, you should keep in mind the right quantities. In Italy, the golden rule for cooking pasta is 1, 10, 100 or 1 liter of water, 10 grams of salt for every 100 grams of pasta.

What makes pasta taste better? ›

The water you cook pasta in should be as salty as the Mediterranean sea – add about 2 teaspoons of fine grain sea salt per litre (33 ounces) of water. That way your pasta has some flavour before you add the sauce – so you need to work less hard to make everything taste amazing.

What is a good substitute for meat in spaghetti? ›

17 Vegetarian Versions of Your Favorite Meaty Pasta Dishes
  • Lentil Bolognese With Spaghetti. ...
  • Ricotta Zucchini “Meatballs” ...
  • Easy Vegetable Lasagna. ...
  • Creamy Spicy Vegan Sausage Pasta With Spinach. ...
  • Pappardelle Pasta With Portobello Mushroom Ragu. ...
  • Vegetarian Asparagus Carbonara With White Wine and Manchego. ...
  • Vegan Meat Sauce.
Jan 25, 2019

What vegetable is high in protein? ›

Among the highest protein vegetables are chickpeas, corn, spinach, artichoke hearts, and edamame. To get all of the amino acids your body needs, aim to eat a variety of foods, such as legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and vegetables throughout the day.

What can I add to pasta to make it more interesting? ›

Here's a variety of tasty vegetables you can load into your pasta for their flavor, fiber, and nutrients.
  1. Broccoli. Broccoli is a nutritious and versatile vegetable that makes a great addition to any pasta dish. ...
  2. Mushrooms. ...
  3. Peas. ...
  4. Spinach. ...
  5. Tomatoes. ...
  6. Asparagus.
Apr 11, 2022

What to sprinkle on pasta? ›

ingredients
  1. 2 tablespoons dried basil.
  2. 1 tablespoon dried oregano.
  3. 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves.
  4. 1 teaspoon garlic powder.

What is the best combination with pasta? ›

A big green salad is a classic pasta side dish. Something as simple as arugula tossed with lemon juice and olive oil is a great choice, as is a traditional Caesar. Or forgo the greens altogether and opt for a crisp cucumber or juicy tomato salad.

What can I use instead of tomato sauce for pasta? ›

What can I substitute for tomato sauce?
  • Tomato paste. “I think of tomato paste as the garlic powder equivalent to fresh garlic,” Xie said, noting that it's highly concentrated and very dehydrated. ...
  • Canned tomatoes. ...
  • Tomato soup. ...
  • Ketchup. ...
  • Fresh tomato. ...
  • Sun-dried tomatoes.
Mar 24, 2022

What is a broken pasta sauce? ›

What does it mean when a sauce breaks? A broken sauce is generally caused by the separation of sauces into two components: a watery liquid and an oily film on top. This happens when there's too much fat or liquid in the mixture.

What are the golden rules of pasta? ›

The pasta should be “al dente”, which means it should be “firm to the bite”, yet cooked through. It's better to taste the pasta before draining it. When it's ready drain the pasta but don't rinse it with cold water. The pasta should be hot when mixed with the sauce.

How to make the best tasting pasta? ›

The Easy Secrets to Way Better Pasta
  1. Make sure your cooking water is salty like the sea, and almost as plentiful. ...
  2. Check the package's cooking time, but don't put too much faith in it. ...
  3. Reserve a little pasta water. ...
  4. Never, ever rinse. ...
  5. Finish your pasta in its sauce.
Apr 16, 2017

What makes the best quality pasta? ›

The process of extrusion and drying, along with the quality the wheat, determines the quality (and price) of the pasta. The best pasta is always slow dried. It does not have to be bronze cut, but ALWAYS slow-dried.

What can I add to pasta to make it better? ›

18–22. Herbs and spices
  1. Basil. Basil is a flavorful herb and a mainstay in many Italian dishes, including pasta. ...
  2. Oregano. Oregano is a culinary herb known for its peppery and pungent taste. ...
  3. Rosemary. ...
  4. Red pepper flakes. ...
  5. Garlic powder.
Apr 11, 2022

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