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When I first discovered you can make one pan pasta without boiling pasta first, I was elated (to say the least)! And since then I’ve made variations of one pan pasta with different sauces and different ingredients. I’ve even adopted this method when making mac n’ cheese for the kids!
What is one pan pasta?
I believe this recipe originated from Martha Stewart back in 2013, and since then, there have been endless adaptations of one pan pasta recipes, also called one pot pasta. Essentially the idea is that you don’t have to pre-cook the pasta. The pasta cooks with the sauce and vegetables all together in one pan. It’s one less pan you have to use, which means quicker dinner on the table, and quicker clean-up.
I know this is not the authentic way to cook pasta. And when I recently shared this idea on my Instagram account, there was a lot of skepticism and negative remarks mentioning how wrong this technique is and how the result is starchy pasta. But for me, this is a quicker cooking method that results in tender pasta that soaks up all the flavors you’re cooking with. And that’s the kind of fail-proof weeknight meal that makes me feel good!
How do you make one pan pasta?
Start by placing all the ingredients together in a large pan, skillet or pot. You want to make sure that the linguine fits in the pan. Then cover the ingredients with boiling water. You can eyeball the amount of water you use. Or I found that 1 cup per 2 ounces results in the perfect sauce ratio.
Now you’ll want to bring the mixture to a boil since the boiling water gets cooler when it mixes with the ingredients already in the pan.
Then you can lower the heat and allow the pasta to cook and absorb the water. The important step now is to constantly stir the pasta with the ingredients. You can use a large slotted spoon, fork or tongs to do this. This step helps to ensure that no pasta gets stuck to the bottom of the pan or to each other.
Within 10 minutes, it will go from that to this. What happened to all that water? The noodles absorb all the water, creating a starchy binder. So essentially, the sauce clings better to the noodles without the separation of sauce and noodles in the pan.
When you notice that the linguine has absorbed 80-90% of the liquid, that’s when you can add the parmesan cheese. You can leave out the parmesan cheese if you prefer to keep it vegan.
And just like that, one pan pasta makes your weeknight dinner dreams a reality – minimum cleanup, but maximum taste! I mean, it’s truly a game changer. I even have my kids stand by the stove and stir, while I prepare a salad or some chicken to go along with the meal.
Tips for making one pan pasta
- Salt the pasta before adding the boiling water. It’s important to season the pasta with salt, crushed red pepper and any other seasoning before adding the liquid. This will allow the linguine to really absorb the full flavor while it’s cooking. And you’ll end up using less salt this way compared to salting the dish after you finish cooking it.
- Stir pasta constantly while cooking. It’s not a completely hands-off recipe unfortunately, since you’ll need to do some stirring while the pasta cooks with the liquid and vegetables. But hey, it’s 10 minutes or less.
- Vary the liquid used. This is definitely an infinitely customizable one pot pasta recipe. One of the easiest ways to vary it is by using vegetable or chicken broth instead of water. It intensifies the flavor of the pasta.
- Watch the liquid as you’re cooking. I prefer to use 1 cup of liquid for every 2 ounces of pasta. But this may vary depending on the type of pasta and vegetables you use. For example, mushrooms will absorb liquid, while tomatoes or zucchini will release liquid. If the sauce is drying up before the pasta is fully cooked, add more water or broth to the pan.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best pasta to use for one pan pasta?
You can use any kind of pasta. I don’t think you can really go wrong the type of pasta you use, but note that cooking time will vary based on the type you use. Linguine, spaghetti, fettuccine and angel hair are vary popular in one pan pasta recipes. But short pasta shapes likes elbow macaroni, rotini or bow-tie work well too!
Can I use gluten-free pasta?
Yes, this recipe works with gluten-free pasta. However, because gluten-free pasta cooks differently than regular pasta, you’ll need to adjust accordingly. Gluten free pasta tends to be more starchy than regular pasta, and tends to grow more than regular pasta. I recommend adding an extra half cup of water if you’re using 8 ounces of pasta. Or you can use less pasta depending on the serving suggestion for 4 people of the given brand you’re using.
What type of cookware should I use to make pasta?
This is often referred to as one pot pasta instead of one pan pasta. So really, you can use a pot like a heavy soup pot or a dutch oven (I like this one by Anolon!), or a pan like a non-stick skillet or stainless steel deep pan like I’ve used. My favorite stainless steel deep pan is by All-Clad, and I’ve never experienced any pasta sticking to the bottom of it! Using non-stick may help keep this recipe hassle-free.
This is one of those easy back-pocket recipes that you can make over and over again with minimum cleanup and maximum taste. All the magic happens in one pan from start to finish. No need to boil noodles ahead of time, no need to strain noodles and no need to tend to a noodle pan and a sauce pan at the same time. It’s ready in less than 20 minutes, endlessly customizable and full of flavor the whole family will love!
More pasta recipes:
- Easy Baked Spaghetti
- Lemon Ricotta Pasta
- One Pot Turkey Pasta
- Spaghetti with Meatballs
- Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
- Vegan Creamy Tomato Pasta
- Healthy Shrimp Scampi
If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good One Pan Pasta recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
One Pan Pasta
Video
Ingredients
- 8 ounces linguine
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 2 ounces baby spinach leaves
- 1 small onion finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves finely sliced
- A small handful of basil leaves roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces parmesan cheese grated (optional)
- 4 cups water boiling
Instructions
- In a large deep pan, place the linguine in addition to the cherry tomatoes, spinach, sliced onions, garlic and basil. Drizzle the olive on top and season with crushed red pepper and salt.
- Pour boiling water into the pan and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for 8-10 minutes on medium heat stirring occasionally with tongs, until the liquid in nearly evaporated, creating a sauce.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in parmesan cheese and fresh basil, if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy warm.
Notes
- To make it gluten-free, you can use any gluten-free pasta of your choice.
- To make it vegan, just skip the Parmesan cheese, or add in nutritional yeast or a vegan parmesan substitute.
- To make the sauce more creamy, you can add some milk instead of some of the water.
- Feel free to substitute any vegetables you don’t like.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
I eat “plant based” with little oil. I changed up the recipe a bit. I chose to add only 1Tbsp. olive oil. I added capers, which I feel is a must and next time more basil, spinach and throw in mushrooms. That’s the beauty of this recipe…you can add what you like. Lots of other good ingredients in the comments. This is an amazing fresh recipe.
Thanks.
Your tweaks sound so good, Irene! Love the changes you made, thank you for sharing!!
This is my go-to recipe. I really don’t care for pasta. BUT since I add more tomatoes, and spinach and onions ,etc… it comes out just right for me. I also use chicken broth in place of half the water and it give it some extra flavor.
Love your tweaks, Pat! Chicken broth sounds so good, I will have to try that next time!
Excellent! Made this for dinner at our airbnb. Delicious, satisfying and classy meal!
So happy you enjoyed it!
If you double the recipe, reduce the water. I used the full 8 cups of water and it was quite soupy (still yummy). I would start with 6 cups of water next time and add a bit more if needed. My fam said it tasted like ramen (in a good way!)
Thanks for letting me know!
This was the bomb! I added zucchini, but next time I’ll add it later, as I like a firm bites of zucchini. I also added chicken bouillon to the boiling water, which made a more savory sauce.
Pasta/Italian food purists criticize one pot pastas
But you cant beat this for an amazing, flavorable quick meal!
So glad you liked it! Love the chicken bouillon idea!
EXCELLENT!
Thanks so much!
Thank you for this delicious recipe! I cooked our homegrown shiitake mushrooms, onions, and garlic first, then followed with the remaining ingredients. I’m ever so grateful to now have a new dish for my quick fix meals!
Yum! You’re so welcome!
I guess I should have read the recipe and THEN clicked the times 2 button to make this for my family. Because you didn’t add Water to the ingredients list, it didn’t double. So, this ruined the dinner and that sucks.
I am so sorry! This is an older recipe of mine, and the doubling feature got added a few years ago. Sometimes it messes with old recipes like this that I did not have the water listed as an ingredient. I have updated the ingredients to include the water to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Thank you for taking the time to point this out!
This turned out sooo delicious!!! I didn’t let the chicken stock evaporate all the way, and with the stock it was so good! Kind of like pho or soup, but not as liquidy. Just a little bit of liquid. It was so yummy! My family really enjoyed it (I am 14 oldest of 7, and made dinner tonight), definitely will make again soon!! Thank you, Yumna!!
Thank you so much! That’s perfect. I hope you all continue to enjoy! You’re welcome!!
Thank you! Have a blessed rest of the week!
I love everything about this recipe. I can’t wait to try my hand at it!
That makes me so happy to hear! Yay!
Yummy!!!
Thank you!
I’ve eaten in Italy many times, and this recipe is good as an Italian restaurant dish.
We followed it completely and were amazed how simple and delicious it turned out.
Thank you!
Wow, thank you so much!
Brilliant!!! So yummy and easy!! Thank you, so much Yumna. All members of our family loved it!!
Thank you so much! That makes me so happy to hear!!
This is a great recipe! I ended up having quite a bit of water left over by the time the pasta was done so I will reduce it by 1 cup next time. I seasoned really heavily and added a bunch of parmesan at the end. Delicious and so easy!
Thank you so much! Let me know how it goes next time you try it that way!
Could I use a spaghetti sauce instead of the cherries. I need it a little sweeter.
I think that should work!
Who think this is faster, is wrong.
The time it takes to cut all those veggies, it’s the time it takes for water to come to a boil – if not longer. So, if you start heating water in a pot, and cook the sauce in another pot, time wise, the only difference from the recipe suggested on this blog is none.
Only one pot extra to wash. But a lot more flavour in the end 😉
Love this recipe. It is so easy to make and it tastes like it took hours to make. My family enjoyed this recipe ❤️
Thank you! That’s the beauty of it!!
Delicious!! I used veg broth and added goat cheese…yum!
That sounds lovely! Yum!!
I really enjoyed this recipe, I followed it, but replaced the water with vegetable broth and did not use any cheese. I was surprised at just how tasty it was. Fresh ingredients really make all the difference.
I’m so glad you still enjoyed it! Thank you!
This was soooo very flavorful and fresh. I used chicken broth. I also added sliced baby portebello mushrooms. Best pasta ever!
I love that! Thank you so much!
I made this for dinner tonight to rave reviews. I used chicken broth rather than plain water, a whole onion I sliced and sautéed in olive oil first, sliced zucchini, cherry tomatoes and spinach. It was outstanding! Thank you for this awesome recipe.
I love those steps you changed or made! So happy to hear it!
My friend made this for our family as I was going through chemotherapy treatments. We fell in love with it and continue to make it on a regular basis. Thank you for your FANTASTIC recipes and help in educating people how to practically and easily eat more healthy-ish.
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that! Hope you’re doing well, Meme!
Love this recipe. One pot easy and so delicious. You can not go wrong with any of her recipes Easy and not overwhelming. She is genuine
Aww you’re the sweetest! Thank you!!
Love this idea but have made it twice and there’s a gelatin-like goo at the end which is less than ideal. Flavor is good. Any idea why the goo?
I think it’s the starchiness from the pasta. You can consider using chicken broth or vegetable broth instead of water and adding more olive oil so that it goes away.
Thanks for the reply and the suggestion!
I added 1 tbl. of balsamic vinegar. Good!
Great idea!
This was so delicious, I will most definitely be making this again! My children loved it
Thank you, Elaine! I’m so glad to hear that you all loved it!
It was great! I used ramen noodles because I did not have any spaghetti, and I had to use the spinach and the tomatoes, and this recipe was perfect! It was very convenient to make on a week night.
Yay, so happy to hear that. Thanks so much!!
I was hoping this recipe would be as tasty as other commenters described, but I was unfortunately disappointed with the recipe unmodified. I found it to be quite bland despite adding extra onions, garlic, parm and fresh ground black pepper. About half-way through eating my partner suggested it needed some acid grilled chicken. As a vegetarian the chicken suggestion was disregarded, but with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice it was quite tasty. We’d rate as 3/5 as written, but a much improved 4.5/5 if you can add some extra umami or acid!
Thanks for your feedback! I totally understand that it could use extra seasoning. For me with the garlic, onion and fresh basil, it was simple and satisfying. But some umami or acid would be great for sure!
I am a pasta lover and tried so many different recipes but it was my first time doing the one pan version. I’ve already made this recipe several times, it is honestly one of the most delicious pastas I ever made. I pre-grill the onions and also add grilled mushrooms. My husband and I both love it
I love that you pre cook the onions and mushrooms before adding in! So glad you liked this one pan version!
I was wondering, if chicken broth could be used instead of water. And if I was to ad sausage would I scramble it and then add everything else, or do I need to drain whatever grease builds in the bottom of the pan.
Yes, you can definitely use chicken broth instead of water. And if you were to add sausage, I recommend cooking it first and then adding everything else. With the grease from the sausage, it really comes down to personally preference. I recommend leaving a little to help flavor the dish but you can also drain it out completely.
The pasta was so tasty and quick, I added chicken and bacon to mine, and I definitely will be adding this recipe to my meal prep menu!
Love that you tried it and added extra protein to it. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Can you add Roma tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes?
Absolutely!
Thank you for sharing such amazing recipe during this lockdown ! This pasta turned out so delicious! A fan all the way from India ?
Aww thank you!
Holy cow – I’m a believer! Tried this tonight with my family (including picky teens) and they all dipped for seconds. I doubled the recipe (big eaters in my household) and had very little left over. I added some mini mozzarella pearls and they got ooey-gooey yummy when it was served. One pot is nothing short of magical. Found a winner here!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that!! It’s such a convenient way of making pasta and the flavor possibilities are endless! Thank you!
I have a combination family which includes vegetarians and meat eaters, I have made this recipe both ways. Using different vegetables and sauteing the onions, garlic, and zucchini (for example) really does up the flavor… I also do the same when I use ground chicken when I am not cooking for the vegetarians. I do vary using vegetable stock or chicken stock as well. It’s a dish that my twelve-year-old daughter can make on her own and I’m not worried about her getting entangled with boiling water…
That’s so awesome! I love that your 12-year old can just make this on her own. Thanks for sharing the flavor combination you use!
As a vegan I’m always looking for tasty recipes. I tweaked a few things to add more flavor and keep it vegan.
First I sautéed an onion + garlic for about 5 minutes to soften and release their flavor. Then added to the one pot ingredients. I used 1 box of spaghetti and Instead of water, I used 1 box of vegetable broth and finished with about 1/2 cup vegan mozzarella cheese at the end. It was delicious! thank you!
I love your ideas for the substitutions, especially cooking the onions and garlic first – bet that makes it taste even better!!
I’m a Scottish uni student home for the holidays trying to show off some new culinary skills and this dish was perfect. It was so easy yet fun and everybody loved it!! It was the perfect midday dish for my hungry WFH family. Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you!!
Made this today and loved it. So quick and easy. Taste is light which is great. Thank you
I’m glad to hear that. Thank you!
This dish was unbelievably delicious and almost too easy to make! My partner and I made it exactly as written with veggie broth and we wolfed this down vegan style with nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese. This will be a staple for us from now on. Thank you so much for the recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that! And thank you so much for taking the time to leave the amazing review!! 🙂
This is awesome! I made the original recipe the other night and it was fantastic! I made it again but I added chicken broth instead of water and included roasted red peppers and a bit of milk with the water. It was great. So quick and so flavorful. I never thought pasta could be this easy without it being starchy. It was not starchy at all and was very good. I’ll remember this quite often. Thank you.
Hi Aaron – So glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe and made it a couple times already! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback 🙂
As per the comments, I fried the onion and garlic together first and then added all the ingredients together. It’s a real winner! My meat eater boyfriend loved it too and wants it as part of out regular meals! Absolutely delicious!
That’s perfect! So glad you did that and enjoyed it!
This one pot pasta has become THE meal my fiancé makes me when he knows I’ve had a long day. It’s definitely my comfort food. I’ve never been one to eat a spicy pasta but this one just hits so perfectly!
I cooked this last night and it was easy and quick to cook. It had super good flavours with healthy ingredients and was absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to try some of your other recipies!
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing and hope you enjoy the other recipes too 🙂
This pasta is delicious! Even my picky kids enjoyed it. Thank you!
Yay! So glad to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Most one pot pasta recipes are for 4 servings. If I want to make 8 servings, should I use 2 pots to the avoid overcrowding.?
That’s an excellent question and I haven’t tried to double it in a larger pot, but I think it’s safer to use 2 pots as you suggested!
I also doubled the recipe as 8 oz pasta will only feed 2-3 people in my family. I made it all in a dutch oven and sautéed the onion and garlic first to give some color to it. I used veggie broth instead of water for some more flavor.
This very simple recipe is a great starting point for a one dish pasta! I love these types of dishes, so much you can do with them!!
Hi Lisa, thanks so much for the feedback. I appreciate it 🙂
Oh my gosh, thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made a version of it tonight and not only did it get compliments, my husband also commented on how quickly it came together. It was super helpful for our XCountry night practice but still managed to be yummy and healthy! Fyi; we did corn, kale, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, asparagus, peas, and added a veggie bullion cube for flavor. ??????
Aww I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for sharing and I love all the additions you included in the pasta!
My second time i am deeply in love with this recipe ???
Woohoo! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks for sharing!
My favorite pasta to make especially on lazy days!
So glad to hear that! I feel the same way!
One pan and no fuss meal with basil and cherry tomatoes. Delicious
Thank you!
This dish amazing!!! So glad I found your page! My bf couldn’t stop raving about how delicious it was! ????
So glad to hear that! Thank you Rebeckah!!