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There’s no pasta shape more popular and globally recognized than spaghetti. Created in Sicily in the 12th century and named for the Italian word for string, or spago, spaghetti’s long, cylindrical strands are especially versatile, making an excellent vehicle for simple oil-based sauces like aglio e olio and rich tomato-based sauces alike. Here, we’ve rounded up a selection of our favorite spaghetti dishes to take you through the seasons, from summer’s best Creamy Tomato Pasta to Pantry Puttanesca, a cold-weather staple that comes together with tinned fish and canned tomatoes. Whether you’re making your own pasta or working with dried, these are the spaghetti recipes you’ll return to time and again.
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Espagueti Verde (Green Spaghetti)
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
If salsa verde is your jam, you’ll love this creamy green spaghetti. Simply char poblano peppers and garlic in the broiler, then puree with scallions, jalapeño, cilantro, and Mexican crema for a silky, smoky sauce.
Spaghetti with Fresh Soppressata
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Take spaghetti with meat sauce up a notch by marinating store-bought Italian sausage in a combination of white wine, garlic, ground fennel, and pepper before browning it for the base of a flavorful tomato sauce.
Spaghetti with Mussels
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
In this lemony 30-minute pasta dish from Andrea and Daniele Zazzeri, fresh mint and white wine help lift the briny flavors of mussels. It’s at once easy and elegant.
Spaghetti Carbonara
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
This is the best carbonara you’ll ever make, and it comes together in just 30 minutes with a silky egg-based sauce, guanciale, and a combination of Parmigiano-Reggiano and pecorino cheese.
Spaghetti alla Nerano (Creamy Spaghetti with Zucchini)
Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Phoebe Hausser
A quick stint under the broiler gives zucchini coins a golden brown exterior for this classic summer pasta dish from Nerano, a small village about an hour south of Naples on the Amalfi Coast. A portion of the zucchini is cooked down with cheese and butter for a creamy sauce, and the rest becomes a crispy garnish.
Creamy Tomato Pasta
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
This stunning spaghetti from F&W recipe developer Marianne Williams puts tomatoes front and center with a barely cooked Sun Gold sauce. Creamy burrata and fresh basil round out the dish.
Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes Melted in Garlic Butter
Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Cherry tomatoes are a great shortcut to a delicious sauce for pasta, especially in the summer when they’re abundant. Naturally sweet, they don’t take long to blister and burst, and their juices create a luscious sauce when mixed with a little bit of garlicky butter and pasta water.
Panko Pesto Pasta
Food & Wine / Photo by Greg Dupree / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey
This smart, nut-free basil pesto from legendary chef Massimo Botturra calls for buttery toasted breadcrumbs instead of the usual pine nuts.
Creamy Camembert and Mushroom Pasta
Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling by Sue Mitchell
This silky pasta gets its rich, luxurious sauce not from heavy cream but cheese: Camembert. Cheese expert Laura Werlin recommends cutting the rind off this ooey-gooey ingredient when the round of cheese is cold.
Spaghetti all’Assassina
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Jillian Knox
This traditional spicy Italian pasta from food writer Katie Quinn calls for pouring boiling water over raw spaghetti in a skillet with garlic, peperoncini, and tomato puree, a technique that creates irresistible crispy bits.
Pasta Aglio e Olio
Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Annie Probst / Prop Styling by Breanna Ghazali
This simple, garlicky pasta uses pantry ingredients — its beauty comes from building out their flavor profile in the olive oil. Best yet, the whole thing comes together in the time it takes for the water to boil, making it the perfect back-pocket pasta to add to your weeknight rotation.
Chicken Spaghetti Lo Mein
Writer Lan Samantha Chang soaks dried shiitake mushrooms and bakes the spaghetti noodles with the soaking liquid, soy sauce, and sesame oil to infuse them with rich umami flavor. Stir-fried chicken, eggs, and celery round out the dish.
Chorizo Carbonara
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styliing Claire Spollen
Mexican chorizo stands in for the traditional guanciale in this spicy riff on Italian carbonara from F&W recipe developer Melissa Gray-Streett. Like the original, it’s made with a rich sauce of egg yolks, cheese, and pasta water.
Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Tomato Paste
Food & Wine / Photo by Jake Sternquist / Food Styling by Sammy Mila / Prop Styling by Breanna Ghazali
When time is tight and the fridge is sparse, turn to this easy, elegant spaghetti dish for a tasty meal that comes together quicker than takeout. The concentrated flavor of tomato paste does the heavy lifting, caramelizing slightly in olive oil alongside minced garlic to create a sauce that clings to each strand of pasta.
Pantry Puttanesca Pasta
2015 F&W Best New Chef Zoi Antonitsas points to the salty, briny power of preserved fish as her favorite pantry ingredient. The higher the quality of the tinned fish, the better the results. Antonitsas likes the Matiz España brand.
Spaghetti with Shiitakes, Parmesan, and Pepper
Food & Wine / Photo by Hannah Hufham / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
This low-lift pasta dish packs in the umami with earthy shiitake mushrooms and sharp Parmesan cheese for a super-satiating meal that comes together in just half an hour. Try adding a handful of fresh herbs for a fun variation.
Cold Crab Spaghetti
“The dish is essentially an extra-refreshing take on pasta salad: Chilled cooked spaghetti tossed with a lemony Dijon-spiked vinaigrette, plus plenty of fresh mint, basil, and parsley and a touch of minced Thai chile,” says food writer Adina Steiman. Half a pound of crab, sweet fresh tangerine segments, and spoonfuls of trout roe provide a luxurious touch.
Spaghetti with Clams and NOLA Hot Sausage
Fred Hardy II / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Spaghetti and clams are a natural pairing; add spicy sausage to the mix and you’ve got a real showstopper pasta dish. The crunchy lemon panko on top adds a delightful textural contrast.
Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs
© Fredrika Stjärne
Use a combination of beef, veal, and pork plus fresh basil and oregano to make juicy, extra-flavorful meatballs for this time-honored spaghetti dish from Melissa Rubel Jacobson.
Spaghetti with Clams and Braised Greens
In 2018, Food & Wine named this recipe one of our 40 best. To give even more flavor to this fresh clam spaghetti, Ashley Christensen takes the broth from steaming the shellfish and purees it with sweet roasted bell peppers for a spicy, briny sauce. Adding a generous handful of Swiss chard makes it incredibly satisfying.
Garlicky Spaghetti with Mixed Greens
Made with a full two pounds of greens plus 18 cloves of garlic, Kay Chun’s spaghetti dish for six packs equal parts of pasta and veggies in every garlicky bite.
Spaghetti Pie with Wild Mushrooms and Spinach
Gail Simmons has prepared multiple flavor variations of spaghetti pie, and it always makes her guests extremely happy. This version incorporates plenty of wild mushrooms, spinach, and herbs. Add a spoonful of chopped oil-packed black truffles, if desired, as Simmons sometimes does.