Spring is just around the corner, and there’s no better way to welcome the season of blooming flowers and warmer weather than with a burst of color on your dinner plate. From veggie-packed pasta salads to garden-fresh pesto pasta, these dishes celebrate seasonal produce like lemon, peas and spinach. Recipes like our Beet Pasta with Goat Cheese & Walnuts and our Rotisserie Chicken & Spinach Pasta are sure to bring a splash of color and freshness to your table.
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Spaghetti with Creamy Lemon-Spinach Sauce: The Tastiest Way to Eat More Vegetables
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
Give your veggie servings a boost with this easy spaghetti with spinach sauce recipe. Loosely inspired by the flavors of classic pesto, this vibrant pasta packs in plenty of spinach and basil with a garnish of nutty walnuts and savory Parmesan cheese. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil and a green salad on the side.
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Beet Pasta with Goat Cheese & Walnuts
Beets are blended to create a vibrant sauce for an easy way to amp up your veggie intake. We use marinated beets for extra flavor, but you can easily substitute plain cooked beets—just add a bit of lemon juice or white-wine vinegar to balance the sauce. Goat cheese adds creaminess while walnuts provide a satisfying crunch in this healthy pasta dish.
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Grilled Eggplant & Tomato Pasta
The combination of slightly smoky grilled eggplant and sweet tomatoes is delightful. The eggplant-tomato mixture served over whole-wheat pasta with fresh basil and a bit of salty cheese makes an easy, healthy weeknight dinner.
Roasted Red Pepper, Spinach & Feta Penne Pasta
In this quick 20-minute dinner recipe, tender penne pasta is combined with garlic, roasted red peppers and spinach and topped with crumbled feta cheese for a fast and easy Mediterranean-inspired meal. This recipe was graciously shared by EatingWell reader Dottie Carpenter, who states, “Recipes are no good if they’re not shared!”
You’ll Make This Creamy Rotisserie Chicken & Spinach Pasta Again and Again
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle
This creamy rotisserie chicken pasta recipe uses Gruyère cheese and cream cheese as the base for the velvety sauce. Gruyère adds a rich and nutty flavor, although you can experiment with alternatives like Cheddar or Swiss cheese. We love the ease of using baby spinach, but feel free to swap it out for another leafy green like kale or Swiss chard if you have them on hand.
Caprese Pasta Salad with Salami
Tomatoes—both cherry and heirloom—are the star of the show in this pasta salad. This easy summer dinner includes salami for its rich savory flavor, but you can skip it or sub in white beans to make this dish vegetarian. Recipe adapted from Tomato Love by Joy Howard.
Creamy Lemon Pasta with Shrimp
Yogurt makes a fine substitute for cream in the sauce for this easy pasta recipe. Just warm the yogurt (do not boil) and add some pasta-cooking water to thin it out. Lemon and fresh basil brighten up the whole-wheat pasta and complement the shrimp in this quick dinner recipe.
One-Pot Pasta With Spinach & Tomatoes
This one-pot pasta dinner is simple, fresh, and healthy—what’s not to love? Cooking the pasta right in the sauce saves time and cleanup while infusing the noodles with more flavor. This speedy recipe is also endlessly adaptable, and lends itself to plenty of easy ingredient swaps (make sure to check out the clever riffs below). Change up the spinach for any vegetables you have on hand such as sliced zucchini and mushrooms, or add leftover chicken or cooked and crumbled sausage. We’ve happily embraced whole-wheat spaghetti as a healthier alternative to white pasta; it works especially well in this one-pot application.
Cashew, Chickpea & Pasta Salad with Cilantro-Mint-Shallot Vinaigrette
In our humble opinion, the dressing makes this salad. Tangy and zesty with a bit of a crunch from the shallots, this cilantro-mint-shallot vinaigrette will quickly become your go-to. Make the dressing and chop up the veggies while you wait for the pasta to cook, then mix everything and enjoy!
Creamy Lemon & Spinach Pasta Bake
This creamy and comforting vegetarian pasta bake is perfect when you want a pasta dinner that is light, bright and flavorful. This easy pasta bake is packed with spinach. Feel free to swap the spinach out for another green like kale if you have it on hand. Just be sure to remove the tough stems and chop it into smaller pieces before cooking. Depending on your green, you may have to cook it a little bit longer so it’s nice and tender before baking.
Creamy Chicken Pasta with Brussels Sprouts & Artichokes
Photographer: Jennifer Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley
The creamy white wine-garlic sauce helps blend artichokes and shaved Brussels sprouts together with nutty whole-wheat pasta in this quick dinner. Use a mandoline or a very sharp knife to shave the Brussels sprouts. If you opt for pre-packaged shaved sprouts, note that they might be on the thicker side, requiring a few extra minutes of cooking time. You can swap in canned artichokes, but they tend to have more sodium than frozen, so give them a good rinse before adding.
One-Pot White Bean, Spinach & Sun-Dried Tomato Orzo with Lemon & Feta
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless
This one-pot pasta dish with white beans, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes is lively and vibrant and leaves you with an easy cleanup. Toasting the orzo before adding the broth adds another layer of flavor. Another dark leafy green like chopped kale or Swiss chard can stand in for the spinach, but may take longer to wilt in the pan. If you use a sturdier green, add it to the pan during the last 5 minutes of cooking time.
Creamy Arugula Pesto Pasta with Peas & Tomatoes
Here, we jazz up store-bought pesto with peppery arugula and tangy goat cheese to make a creamy pasta sauce.
Creamy Lemon Orzo with Spring Peas
This recipe is an irresistible bowl-scraper. It’s fragrant and flavorful from the shallots, garlic, lemon and tarragon, and creamy from cream cheese. Plus, with the addition of low-sodium broth, the orzo cooks in the same pan as the rest of the ingredients—no extra pot or strainer necessary. You can have this easy, comforting spring dish on your table in about 30 minutes.
Spicy Chicken Pasta with Peppers & Onions
Inspired by the flavors of fajitas, this healthy chicken pasta is packed with color and spice. We use a mix of chili powder, cumin and chipotle powder to add heat and flavor.
Artichoke, Chickpea & Mozzarella Pasta Salad
This healthy pasta salad draws inspiration from a traditional antipasto platter. Artichoke hearts and pepperoncini add briny flavor, while fresh mozzarella lends a creamy note. Serve this pasta salad at your next dinner party or backyard get-together.
Giada’s Zucchini Carbonara
This meatless version of spaghetti carbonara has a similar depth of flavor to the original, thanks to browning the zucchini before adding it to the pasta. And, of course, it has all the rich, creamy goodness you look for in a carbonara.
Parmesan Eggplant Pasta
This lightened-up version of the classic eggplant pasta dish swaps out some of the cheese and uses protein-rich lentil pasta.
Super Green Pasta
Pack in your veggies with this quick and easy green pasta. Plenty of kale and spinach transform into a vibrant green sauce once cooked and blended with basil, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese for a pesto-like flavor. Enjoy this easy vegetarian pasta as is, or add grilled chicken or white beans for a boost of protein.
Elote-Inspired Pasta Salad
This zesty pasta salad draws inspiration from the flavors of elote—Mexican grilled corn on the cob that’s smothered in a creamy mayo-based sauce and sprinkled with chili powder, cotija cheese and lime. Corn kernels blister in the hot pan and a sprinkle of smoked paprika brings out the flavor. If you can’t find cotija cheese, grated Parmesan is a good substitute. There are a few methods you can use to remove corn kernels, whether it’s a corn stripper tool or a knife and a dish towel. For more, learn .
Green Goddess Ricotta Pasta
We take the flavors of green goddess dressing—lemon, anchovy and herbs—and use them as the base for a colorful, bright pasta sauce. We like a mix of basil, chives, parsley and tarragon, but you can mix herbs depending on what you have on hand. Adding ricotta to the sauce creates a luscious, velvety texture, while the acidity from the lemon juice balances out the creaminess. We use shells, which hold the pools of sauce well, but you could easily swap in another noodle if you prefer. To amp up the veggies even more, try adding asparagus or peas to the dish.
Black Bean, Corn & Avocado Pasta Salad
Serve this colorful, veggie-packed pasta salad at your next outdoor gathering. From creamy avocado to crunchy bell peppers, this pasta salad is full of texture and flavor. A homemade herb-lime vinaigrette ties everything together.
Burrata Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes & Spinach
This luscious weeknight pasta dish features burrata cheese—a soft cow’s-milk cheese that looks similar to fresh mozzarella but features a creamy center that melts beautifully. You can substitute chopped fresh summer-ripe tomatoes for the cherry tomatoes. If they are plump and juicy they will moisten and flavor the pasta well so you can hold back on adding the full amount of pasta water. Serve with crusty garlic bread and a green salad on the side.
Shirataki Noodles with Chicken, Feta & Tomato
We pair with feta and tomatoes in this quick and vibrant dinner recipe. The tomatoes release their juices to create a glossy sauce that clings to the noodles and carries with it the flavors of garlic, oregano and basil. Crumbled feta and Kalamata olives add a briny punch.
Creamy Tomato, Cucumber & Feta Pasta Salad
Enjoy this veggie-packed pasta salad at your next picnic or backyard get-together. Cucumbers and fennel provide crunch to contrast the creamy feta and Kalamata olives. A tangy herb-buttermilk dressing completes the dish.
Fusilli with Green Sauce & Burst Cherry Tomatoes
This vegetarian dinner is packed with flavor, thanks to a lemon-herb shallot sauce. The herbaceous green sauce uses plenty of fresh herbs, including cilantro, dill and parsley. Use any leftover sauce as a dressing for grain bowls and salads.
Caprese Pasta Salad
This light and fresh caprese pasta salad is brought together with a bright and tangy dressing, with fresh mozzarella pearls adding creaminess to every bite.