Easy Pasta Recipes for Every Season
on Apr 29, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Pasta has a permanent spot in my pantry because no matter the season, it’s the starting point for countless easy dinner recipes. It can be a quick weeknight pasta with cherry tomatoes, cozy baked gnocchi with mushrooms or a pantry pasta with chickpeas, there is something here for every season. This collection of easy pasta recipes includes vegetarian-friendly options with fresh herbs, seasonal vegetables and pantry staples, all perfect for spring, summer, fall, and winter.
Table of Contents
- Summer Pasta Recipes with Tomatoes & Herbs
- Fall Pasta Recipes with Roasted Vegetables
- Hearty Winter Pasta Recipes
- Fresh Spring Pasta Recipes with Peas & Asparagus
- Pantry Pasta Recipes for Easy Weeknight Dinners
- What To Serve with Pasta
- Pantry Staples for Pasta Recipes
- Seasonal Pasta FAQs
- Looking for More Pasta Recipes?
Summer Pasta Recipes with Tomatoes & Herbs
Tomatoes are my number one summer ingredient because they are at their peak. It’s the time to savor their incredible flavor. Cherry tomatoes are great because they don’t require peeling.
Burst Tomato Pasta
Fresh Tomato Sauce
Tomato Basil Pasta
5-Ingredient Cherry Tomato Sauce
Fall Pasta Recipes with Roasted Vegetables
These autumn pasta recipes have roasted seasonal vegetables including butternut squash and brussels sprouts. I also love a good baked pasta recipe with veggies and sauce because they’re good for dinner on chilly nights.
Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta
Baked Gnocchi with Mushrooms & Spinach
Tortellini Pasta Bake
Roasted Brussels Sprout Pasta
Hearty Winter Pasta Recipes
Even though it’s winter, there are still veggies in season that are fantastic for pasta. These recipes have rapini, mushrooms, broccoli and kale.
Lemon Rapini Pasta
Mushroom Spinach Pasta
Roasted Broccoli Pesto Pasta
Lemon Kale Orzo
Fresh Spring Pasta Recipes with Peas & Asparagus
Moving from winter to spring, pasta recipes have something in common: green. You will see it in ingredients like peas, asparagus, broccolini, fresh peas and more. These recipes are much lighter than the comfort food we enjoyed in the cold months.
Pea Pesto Pasta
Roasted Broccolini Zucchini Pasta Salad
Sheet Pan Asparagus Mushroom Gnocchi
Fresh Herb Pappardelle
Pantry Pasta Recipes for Easy Weeknight Dinners
Pasta is a pantry ingredient, so it only makes sense to pair it with other pantry ingredients. Canned tomatoes are obvious, but then there are chickpeas, sun dried tomatoes, olives and nuts too.
Chickpea Spinach Pasta
Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
Rigatoni Pasta & Tomato Sauce
Penne Arrabbiata with Chickpeas
What To Serve with Pasta
Even though these vegetarian pasta recipes have vegetables and sometimes greens, a salad is my go-to side dish. It should have Mediterranean flavors and ingredients. Try this arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette, a classic house salad or an Italian chopped salad. You can also enjoy it with a piece of crusty bread with a good crust that you can dip into the sauce.
Pantry Staples for Pasta Recipes
As mentioned, I like to keep my kitchen stocked with a variety of pastas and ingredients to go with them. Then I am ready to make for dinner even if I haven’t made a trip to the grocery.
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Pitted olives: kalamata, greek olive mix
- Chickpeas
- White bean: cannellini, great northern, navy
- Nuts: walnuts, pine nuts, almonds
- Canned tomatoes: diced, crushed
Seasonal Pasta FAQs
Short shapes like penne, fusilli, rigatoni and orecchiette are the most versatile. They work with tomato sauce, pesto and garlic and oil. They are good with roasted or sautéed vegetables. That’s why they are in pasta salad recipes, too.
Spaghetti, angel hair and other thin long noodles work with light tomato sauce or garlic and oil.
Long and flat fettuccine and linguine can handle something heavier like cream sauce.
These are recommendations not rules, so use what you have in your pantry even if it’s a departure from a traditional pairing.
You can substitute with gluten free pasta such as chickpea pasta. I find that it isn’t as al dente as traditional pasta, so it’s even more important not to overcook it.
Don’t add olive oil to the cooking water. That doesn’t work. While the noodles are simmering, I stir them around periodically. Then once they are ready, it comes down to timing. Have your sauce, garlicky oil or pesto ready, so then you can immediately toss in the pasta. Then the noodles won’t stick together. For pasta salad, drain the pasta in a colander and immediately rinse with cold water.
Pasta cooks quickly, and freshly cooked noodles have the best taste and texture. Think about making tomato sauce and pesto in advance instead of the noodles.
When you have leftover pasta, you don’t have to reheat it because you can turn it into pasta salad. Take the leftovers out of the fridge 15 minutes before you plan to eat them so they aren’t as cold. Then add fresh greens such as baby spinach or arugula and add a splash of lemon, red wine or balsamic vinaigrette.
Check out my collection of easy chickpea recipes with salads, main dishes and more, and I have a can’t miss collection of salad recipes with pasta and greens.
Looking for More Pasta Recipes?
You can browse all my seasonal pasta & noodle recipes here.
