Pasta is the one dinner almost nobody turns down, and the difference between a good pasta night and a mediocre one usually comes down to picking the right recipe for the time you actually have. A 15-minute lo mein and a 60-minute tray of stuffed shells are both pasta, but they belong to completely different evenings.

So these twenty-five are grouped that way. The first five are done in twenty minutes or less. After that come creamy sauces, chicken dinners, beef and sausage skillets, shrimp and tuna, baked pasta, and one cold pasta salad for the potluck table. Every entry lists the real total time, the number of servings, and how many ingredients the recipe calls for, so you can scan and decide instead of clicking through five pages.

On the Table in 20 Minutes

These five finish faster than most delivery orders, and four of the five are built around pantry staples rather than fresh meat.

Vegetable Lo Mein Noodles

Lo mein noodles tossed in a soy, oyster sauce and sesame oil glaze with bell peppers, shredded carrots, mushrooms and green onions. The fastest recipe on this page and entirely meat-free. View the full recipe — 15 minutes · 3 servings · 11 ingredients

Garlic Parmesan Buttered Noodles

Six ingredients: linguine, half a cup of butter, four cloves of garlic, a full cup of grated parmesan, frozen peas and salt. The kind of thing you make when the fridge is empty and everyone is hungry. View the full recipe — 20 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Garlic Chili Oil Noodles

Wide rice noodles coated in three tablespoons of chili oil with garlic, shallots, soy sauce and rice vinegar, finished with bok choy or broccoli. Sized for two. View the full recipe — 20 minutes · 2 servings · 8 ingredients

Canned Tuna Pasta with Lemon, Capers and Garlic

Ten ounces of oil-packed canned tuna broken into spaghetti with garlic, anchovy, capers, lemon zest and juice. Sharp and briny rather than creamy, and nothing in it needs to be fresh. View the full recipe — 20 minutes · 4 servings · 13 ingredients

Pesto Cream Pasta (20 Minutes)

Plate of creamy pesto pasta garnished with basil and pine nuts

Half a cup of basil pesto loosened with three quarters of a cup of heavy cream, then finished with parmesan, lemon zest and halved cherry tomatoes. Store-bought pesto is fine here. View the full recipe — 20 minutes · 4 servings · 12 ingredients

Creamy Pasta Without the Fuss

Cream sauces have a reputation for being delicate. These five are not. Two of them cook the pasta right in the sauce, and one skips cream entirely in favor of ricotta.

One Pot Creamy Tomato Pasta

Penne simmers directly in canned whole tomatoes and water, so the starch thickens the sauce as it cooks. Only a quarter cup of heavy cream goes in at the end, plus parmesan. One pot, ten ingredients. View the full recipe — 30 minutes · 4 servings · 10 ingredients

Roasted Garlic Ricotta Pasta

A whole head of garlic and two cups of cherry tomatoes roast at 400 degrees F, then get mashed into a cup of whole milk ricotta. The roasting time is why this one runs longer, but the hands-on work is almost nothing. View the full recipe — 55 minutes · 4 servings · 8 ingredients

Creamy Tuscan Mushroom Pasta Skillet

Eight ounces of mushrooms and two cups of spinach in a cup of heavy cream with parmesan. Eight ingredients total and it stays in one skillet. View the full recipe — 30 minutes · 4 servings · 8 ingredients

Creamy Pasta Primavera with Linguine

The longest ingredient list here at nineteen, because it loads in broccolini, asparagus, snow peas, zucchini, mushrooms, green peas and cherry tomatoes. Finished with cream, parmesan, basil and toasted pine nuts. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 19 ingredients

Penne with Vodka Sauce

Half a cup of tomato paste cooked down with a third of a cup of vodka and a cup and a quarter of heavy cream, with a full cup of parmesan stirred through. Serves six. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 6 servings · 14 ingredients

Chicken Pasta Dinners

Four chicken dinners that take four different routes: a from-scratch alfredo, a spicy cream sauce, a vegetable-heavy skillet, and a shortcut chicken parm.

Homemade Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

A pound of chicken breast seasoned simply, then fettuccine in a sauce of butter, garlic, a cup of heavy cream and a cup of freshly grated parmesan with a pinch of nutmeg. No jarred sauce. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 4 servings · 10 ingredients

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Fire roasted diced tomatoes and four ounces of cream cheese build the sauce, with smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and half a teaspoon of cayenne doing the seasoning. Chicken broth means the penne picks up flavor as it cooks. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 14 ingredients

Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta

Sun dried tomatoes with diced butternut squash, mushrooms and chopped kale in a cream sauce over penne. More vegetables than most creamy chicken pastas carry. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 4 servings · 14 ingredients

Chicken Parmesan Pasta

Built on four frozen breaded chicken cutlets instead of breading your own, with rotini, two cups of marinara, mozzarella and parmesan. All the chicken parm flavor without the dredging station. View the full recipe — 55 minutes · 4 servings · 10 ingredients

Beef, Sausage and Ground Meat

Four heavier skillets. Three of them cook the pasta in the pan with everything else, which means one pot to wash.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Fourteen ounces of ground beef with onion, garlic, canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste and oregano, simmered down and served over spaghetti with parmesan. The version to make when you want the sauce to taste cooked, not assembled. View the full recipe — 50 minutes · 4 servings · 12 ingredients

One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni

A pound of ground beef, three cups of beef broth and two cups of elbow macaroni cooked together, finished with cheddar, ketchup, yellow mustard and diced dill pickles. It tastes like the boxed version and is made from real ingredients. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 12 ingredients

Creamy Sausage Rigatoni

Twelve ounces of smoked sausage with twenty-eight ounces of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and a cup of heavy cream. The rigatoni cooks in thirty ounces of beef broth, so the pan does all the work. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 4 servings · 11 ingredients

Hamburger Stroganoff with Bowtie Pasta

Two pounds of ground beef with brown gravy mix, condensed cream of mushroom soup and a cup of sour cream over bowtie pasta. Unapologetically old-fashioned and it feeds six. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 6 servings · 10 ingredients

Shrimp and Tuna

Two shrimp dinners that cook in under forty minutes, plus the casserole almost everyone grew up on.

Shrimp Scampi Linguine

A pound of large shrimp in four tablespoons of butter, olive oil, four cloves of garlic and half a cup of dry white wine, finished with a whole lemon and fresh parsley. Twenty-five minutes start to finish. View the full recipe — 25 minutes · 4 servings · 10 ingredients

Marry Me Shrimp Pasta

A pound of extra large shrimp in a sauce of sun dried tomatoes, three quarters of a cup of heavy cream, parmesan and chicken broth over bow tie pasta. Ten ingredients and it serves six. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 6 servings · 10 ingredients

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Egg noodles with two cans of tuna, condensed cream of mushroom soup, frozen peas and shredded cheddar under a breadcrumb top. Nine ingredients, all of them shelf-stable or frozen. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 4 servings · 9 ingredients

Baked Pasta and Mac and Cheese

The three to make when you want leftovers or you are feeding people. All three go in the oven, and the ziti serves eight.

Baked Ziti with Ground Beef and Ricotta

A pound of ziti and a pound of ground beef layered with twenty-four ounces of marinara, a cup of ricotta, two cups of mozzarella and parmesan. Eight servings, which makes it the most economical dish on the page. View the full recipe — 55 minutes · 8 servings · 12 ingredients

Ricotta Stuffed Pasta Shells

Twelve jumbo shells filled with fifteen ounces of whole milk ricotta bound with an egg, mozzarella and parmesan, then baked under marinara. Vegetarian as written. View the full recipe — 60 minutes · 4 servings · 12 ingredients

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

A real roux: three tablespoons of butter and three of flour with three cups of whole milk, then four cups of shredded cheddar melted in. Breadcrumbs on top. No powdered packet anywhere. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 6 servings · 10 ingredients

One Cold Pasta for the Potluck Table

Pasta salad is its own category, and this is the one to start with.

Classic Italian Pasta Salad with Salami and Mozzarella

Tri color rotini with hard Italian salami, mini mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes, peperoncini, olives, red onion and fresh basil in a cup of Italian dressing. Nine ingredients, serves eight, and the long total time is chilling rather than cooking. View the full recipe — 1 hour 40 minutes · 8 servings · 9 ingredients

Pasta Questions, Answered

How much dry pasta should I cook per person?

Two ounces of dry pasta per person is the standard serving, which means a one-pound box feeds eight as a side or four to six as a main. That tracks with the recipes above: the ones calling for 8 ounces of pasta serve four, and the ones calling for a full pound serve six to eight.

Why do so many of these save pasta water?

Starchy pasta water is what makes a cream or cheese sauce cling instead of sliding off. The pesto cream pasta, the creamy primavera, the vodka sauce penne and the chicken parmesan pasta all reserve some for exactly that reason. Save about half a cup before you drain, every time, even in recipes that do not ask for it.

Which of these are genuinely one-pot?

One Pot Creamy Tomato Pasta and One Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni both cook the pasta in the sauce from the start. Creamy Sausage Rigatoni cooks the rigatoni in thirty ounces of beef broth in the same pan. For the rest, you are boiling pasta separately.

What is the fastest one here?

Vegetable Lo Mein Noodles at fifteen minutes. Four more finish in twenty: garlic parmesan buttered noodles, garlic chili oil noodles, canned tuna pasta and pesto cream pasta.

Which ones feed a crowd?

Baked Ziti with Ground Beef and the Classic Italian Pasta Salad both serve eight. Hamburger Stroganoff, Penne with Vodka Sauce, Marry Me Shrimp Pasta and Homemade Macaroni and Cheese each serve six.

Can I make these ahead?

The baked dishes reheat best, since the sauce and cheese are already set. Cream sauces tighten in the fridge, so loosen them with a splash of milk or water in the pan rather than the microwave alone. The Italian pasta salad is the only one here that is actually better the next day.

Do I really need to salt the pasta water?

Yes, and more than feels right. Several of these recipes call for a tablespoon of salt in the pot, which looks like a lot but mostly goes down the drain. Pasta boiled in unsalted water tastes flat no matter how good the sauce is.