Summer

19 Summer Pasta Recipes for Easy Dinners at Home

Got summer produce? Got a box of spaghetti? Let’s keep things simple.
Pasta salad with grilled eggplant tomatoes mozzarella and zucchini.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Laura Rege

Summer pasta recipes are the best way to transform whatever vegetables you have on hand into a dinner that feels fancy without much effort. Cherry tomatoes, garden zucchini, fresh herbs, eggplant, corn—they’re all just a step away from a comforting and easy weeknight meal. So put a pot on the stove to boil, scrounge around for that Parmesan end in the fridge, and pick one of the 19 great pasta recipes below for dinner tonight.

  • Image may contain Dish Food Meal Plant and Pasta
    Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Judy Mancini
    1/19

    Summer Squash and Basil Pasta

    This summer pasta recipe is the answer to excess zucchini and summer squash, which cooks until saucy and deeply tender, which takes under 15 minutes of total time while you boil the pasta. Add lemon juice and basil leaves just before serving.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    2/19

    15-Minute Cherry Tomato Pasta

    This is one of our most popular easy pasta recipes of all time. And if you have a pint of cherry tomatoes sitting around right now, it's absolutely what you should make for dinner tonight. 

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    3/19

    Pasta Salad With Corn and Tomatoes

    Chopped summer tomatoes add freshness to a quick corn and pasta salad dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, and basil.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    4/19

    Pasta With Clams, Corn, and Basil Pesto

    Garlicky littleneck or Manila clams steam open in white wine, then turn into a silky sauce with a bit of pasta water, fresh corn, and homemade or storebought pesto.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Laura Rege
    9/19

    Grilled Ratatouille Pasta Salad

    If you grill the vegetables a day or two ahead, this satisfying pasta dinner comes together in a snap.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks
    10/19

    Zucchini "Noodles" With Eggplant and Tomatoes

    If you somehow ended up with too much zucchini, add this ratatouille-inspired dinner to your meal plan. Fresh mozzarella contributes a bit of creamy richness to the dish.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Aneta Florczyk, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou
    11/19

    Spaghetti with No-Cook Puttanesca

    This recipe packs in all the punches puttanesca is known for—salty! briny! olive-y!—without the need to cook a sauce. Two types of tomatoes are involved: beefsteaks get blended until smooth, and then tossed with cherry tomato halves.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    12/19

    Fresh Corn Carbonara

    No, this summer pasta recipe isn't a traditional carbonara. Instead, it leans on sweet summer corn, puréed with a bit of cream and rendered bacon fat for an eggless take.

    Get This Recipe
  • Tara Donne, food styling by Chelsea Zimmer
    15/19

    Linguine With Grilled Tuna, Capers and Parsley

    In addition to the tuna, the leeks and garlic are also grilled, giving this simple Mediterranean-inspired pasta sauce complex flavor.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Christina Holmes
    16/19

    Spicy Lobster Pasta

    With store-bought cooked lobster (or shrimp if that’s more your speed) this luxe, buttery pasta comes together at lightning speed.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Sue Li
    17/19

    Corn Cacio e Pepe

    If you've been trying to squeeze some corn into every meal while it's local and sweet, this pasta dish is worth getting into your rotation.

    Get This Recipe
  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
    18/19

    Spaghetti with Tuna, Tomatoes, and Olives

    This fresh take on tuna pasta salad is excellent warm, but on a hot day, you can eat it straight out of the refrigerator.

    Get This Recipe
  • donna hay magazine, photography by Chris Court
    19/19

    Fresh Tomato, Kale, and Caper Berry Pasta

    Looking for meatless summer pasta recipes? This one gets briny richness from caper berries, and sweetness from marinated cherry tomatoes. It's sure to be a hit.

    Get This Recipe
The Epicurious editorial team develops original recipes, and publishes stories about cooking better, faster, and more creatively, sustainably, and affordably. See our full masthead, here. ... Read More
Read More
The Most-Saved Recipes in the Epicurious App This Week
Like herby chicken kofta meatballs and baked feta and greens.
15 of Our Favorite Alison Roman Recipes
From German potato salad to the “best halibut.”
The Most-Saved Recipes in the Epicurious App in June
Like hummingbird cake and a steak salad with feta dressing.
All the Recipes From Bon Appétit’s Summer Issue
We’ve got sausage with cabbage and giardiniera, tomato aguachile, and matcha-berry frozen yogurt.
29 Yogurt Desserts That Are Tangy, Sweet, and Delicious
Like peach yogurt semifreddo, apple pie smoothies, golden yogurt cake, and more.
41 Low-Fuss Recipes for Labor Day Weekend
Peel-and-eat shrimp, corn on the cob with basil butter, three-ingredient peach floats, and more.
17 Types of Apples for Cooking, Baking, Lunchboxes, and More
These are the varieties you’re most likely to come across in American markets.
23 Galette Recipes to Make for Easy Desserts (and Dinners)
Like apricot-almond, cheesy mushroom, cannoli-inspired, and more.
Inside a 160-year-old Japanese Rice Cracker Factory
Join Epicurious for a behind-the-scenes look at a 160-year-old rice cracker factory in Japan, where one of the country’s most popular traditional snacks, senbei, is still made by hand using time-honored techniques. Senbei are sweet, crispy rice crackers often enjoyed with green tea and have been a staple of Japanese cuisine and culture for over a thousand years. Discover the process behind crafting these ancient snacks and how this historic factory has preserved its artisanal methods across generations.
4 Levels of Teriyaki: Amateur to Food Scientist
We challenged chefs of three different skill levels–amateur Billy, home cook Emily, and professional chef Yuji Haraguchi–to make us their take on teriyaki. We then asked expert food scientist Rose to explain each chef's choices along the way. Which teriyaki dish do you want to tuck into first?
‘Squid Game’ Season 3 Cast Test Their Basic Culinary Skills
Today, the ‘Squid Game’ season 3 cast goes head-to-head on Epicurious, testing their basic culinary skills. From orange squeezing to wine bottle opening, which cast member will be crowned winner of the culinary Squid Games?
'Dimension 20' Cast Test Their Basic Culinary Skills
Today, the ‘Dimension 20’ cast–Brennan Lee Mulligan, Zac Oyama, Siobhan Thompson, and Ally Beardsley–go head-to-head on Epicurious, testing their basic culinary skills. From cheese sniffing to whisking cream, which cast member will be crowned winner of this culinary challenge?

Dimension 20: Cloudward, Ho! is available only on Dropout and recently aired its finale. The cast is led by Game Master Brennan Lee Mulligan, and additionally stars Emily Axford, Ally Beardsley, Brian Murphy, Zac Oyama, Siobhan Thompson, and Lou Wilson.

The cast of Dimension 20: Cloudward, Ho! is nearing the end of its West Coast tour, and tickets are available for purchase to their live shows in Seattle, WA, on July 20 and Las Vegas, NV, on November 1.

Dropout presents independent, ad-free, uncensored comedy, producing and hosting several original series, such as Game Changer, Dimension 20, Very Important People, and many more. The Dropout app is available on Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TVs, plus iOS and Android mobile devices. For more information and to browse the Dropout catalog, please visit Dropout.tv.