Seven Healthy Pasta Recipes to Add to Your Dinner Rotation
Spruce up all that pasta you've stockpiled in your pantry—featuring spring and summer ingredients like asparagus and basil.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing better than a home-cooked meal. But after two months of cooking constantly, I’ve wanted to spend progressively less time in the kitchen. Easy dishes with only a few ingredients have become my go-to these days, and pasta is always one of the ingredients I have stocked in my pantry.
These healthy pasta recipes will help you spend less time cooking and more time enjoying your latest quarantine project. They feature only a couple of ingredients, easy sauces, and can be modified for those with food sensitivities.
Photo via Recipe Runner
1. Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Pasta
This fresh, summer pasta includes grilled asparagus, lemon, chicken, and pesto. To keep the chicken juicy, let it sit for five minutes before cutting it into strips.
Photo via Feel Good Foodie
2. Healthy Shrimp Scampi Zoodles
Lighten up your next pasta dish, and add some vegetables, by using zucchini noodles or “zoodles”. Zoodles absorb a lot of liquid, so if you want to eat the dish over a couple of days, it’s best to store the noodles and the sauce separately.
Photo via Bianca Zapatka
Instead of cream and cheese, this stroganoff is made with non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast, and cornstarch to thicken it. The recipe calls for cremini mushrooms, but you can use any mushroom, or combination of mushrooms, you choose.
Photo via The Kitchn
4. Lemony Brussels Sprouts and Breadcrumb Spaghetti
This simple pasta recipe can be made with many things you probably already have in your pantry—breadcrumbs, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and white wine. Roasting the Brussels sprouts instead of steaming or sautéing them will bring a nice crispiness to the dish.
Photo via Eat Well 101
5. Parmesan Spinach Mushroom Skillet
Spinach, mushrooms, parmesan, and some Italian seasoning give this pasta dish some big flavor. You can add more vegetables to the dish, such as kale or sautéed peppers, or add a protein like grilled chicken or ground turkey.
Photo via A Couple Cooks
Fresh summer ingredients, such as zucchini, basil, and tomatoes, are used in this dish. The vegetables are finely sliced and don’t require any sautéing, making it an easy weeknight meal.
Photo via Counts of the Netherworld
Lentils are packed with protein and make an excellent substitute for ground beef. The sauce in the recipe is a spicy sauce, but if you prefer less spice, opt out of using the red pepper flakes.
