40 Easy and Budget-Friendly Pasta Recipes to Make for Dinner Tonight

Give leftover ham (or cold cuts!) a new life with this decadent dish featuring fresh pops of sweet peas and luxurious burrata.

Get the Spring Pea Pasta with Burrata and Ham recipe.

Feeding a crowd while sticking to a strict budget? Yes, it's doable! Here's proof.

Get the Unstuffed Shells with Lemony Ricotta recipe.

Pestos provide a tasty way to work your way through heaps of herbs like basil, but pine nuts (a key ingredient) can be costly. Enter: This nut-free version that features arugula, scallions and creamy, protein-packed cottage cheese.

Get the Linguine with Arugula Pesto recipe.

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Shopping locally and in-season will help you spend less on produce, so sync up the timing and make this dish in the spring — when asparagus and carrots are at their most affordable.

Get the Pasta Primavera recipe.

Never throw away a Parmesan rind! It's the secret to imparting savory depth into pasta dishes and soups. Simply toss the rind into the pot of boiling water with your noodles.

Get the Pasta e Piselli recipe.

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Takeout is less tempting when you can whip up a tasty pasta in just 20 minutes with one single skillet.

Get the One-Pot Spaghetti recipe.

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A box of pasta provides a delicious way to stretch out a meal, so something that'd typically serve a couple of people can now satisfy four or more. Exhibit A: This penne twist on the classic Italian main.

Get the Chicken Francese Pasta recipe.

Crumbled sweet or spicy Italian sausage introduces tons of flavors without requiring a lot of extra ingredients.

Get the Rigatoni with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe recipe.

When tomatoes are in peak season (read: late summer), there's no need to cook them for maximum flavor — you can easily grate them into a super-tasty sauce that can be tossed with your favorite noodle. No jar of marinara required!

Get the Pasta with No-Cook Tomato Sauce recipe.

Who knew broken lasagna noodles could make for such a stunning pasta? Think of this as the most delicious way to use up those random pieces left behind in a box.

Get the Kale Pesto Pasta recipe.

This pantry pleaser comes in handy on those nights when you don't want to cook, but need to put something on the table.

Get the Fennel Pasta Pomodoro recipe.

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For a healthier alternative, we opted for whole-grain spaghetti and added spiralized zucchini and baby spinach to the equation for a generous portion of "greens."

Get the Creamy Spaghetti and Zoodles recipe.

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This soup-pasta hybrid packs in plenty of nourishing, budget-friendly ingredients like canned beans.

Get the Pasta e Fagioli recipe.

With minimal ingredients, the Roman classic is tasty and thrifty. Our version uses two types of cheese — Pecorino Romano and Parmesan — for a more complex flavor, without overcomplicating things. We also toast the cracked black pepper in oil to bring out it's floral, spicy notes.

Get the Cacio e Pepe recipe.

Make this meatless main any night of the week — it's ready in just 20 minutes and dirties only a single pan.

Get the Orecchiette with White Beans and Spinach recipe.

Freeze up individual slices of this meat lasagna, so you can always have a dinner ready to reheat and eat. Now it's even easier to say no to take-out and save yourself the money.

Get the Lasagna with Meat Sauce recipe.

Boiled corn on the cob is the secret to this silky-smooth creamy sauce. When scraping the corn off the cob, it'll add starchiness to your sauce — similar to what happens when you make creamed corn. Blend it with Romano cheese and some starchy pasta water, and voilà.

Get the Creamy Corn Pasta recipe.

If you have a bottle of vodka in your liquor cabinet, heavy cream in the fridge, and tomato paste in your pantry, you can skip buying a jar of vodka sauce.

Get the Rigatoni alla Vodka recipe.

Budget-friendly breakfast for dinner, but in pasta form.

Get the Scrambled Carbonara recipe.

When sautéed, zucchini and summer squash cook down and almost melts into a sauce. It's delicious.

Get the Summer Squash, Mint and Pecorino Pasta recipe.