Low-Calorie Pasta Main Dish Recipes

We opt for fresh spinach pasta here--it cooks quickly and adds a pop of color. Cooking lima beans in pancetta drippings infuses them with flavor.

For the creamiest texture and freshest flavor, make homemade ricotta cheese. It's a simple 3-step process that makes ready-to-eat cheese in under an hour. Check your label: milk that has been ultra-high-temperature pasteurized (or ultra-pasteurized) won't work here.

Who says a quick, easy dinner can't feel luxurious? This lobster ravioli recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make. It's quick enough for everyday, but worthy of a special occasion. Whip up this easy dinner on Valentine's Day or double it and serve it on a busy weeknight for the whole family to enjoy.

Teach your kids about the power of aromatic compounds with this recipe: Adding coconut milk to the broth not only adds subtle coconut flavor, but the fat in the liquid also helps the ginger, lemongrass and basil "bloom," releasing even more tastiness.

With a little help from a spiralizer, celeriac is transformed into fettuccine "pasta." Tossed with spinach, chicken and a luscious Parmesan cream sauce, lower-carb pasta never tasted so good. You get a bigger portion of celeriac "noodles" and still save more than 100 calories over 1 cup of regular pasta.

This easy pasta recipe is a weeknight dinner lifesaver. While shelf-stable pesto will work here, we prefer the fresh flavor and more vibrant color of refrigerated pesto. Look for it in the refrigerated section of your supermarket, near the fresh pasta and marinara sauce.

Wondering what to do with leftover salmon? This is a delicious and easy way to turn it into another weeknight-friendly, quick dinner. Don't forget to reserve some pasta water--its starch thickens the lemon-garlic pasta sauce and makes it silky-smooth.

These spicy noodles are inspired by a Chinese dish called Ants Climbing a Tree, named for the way the small pieces of ground pork (the "ants") cling to the noodles (the "tree"). The twist in these healthy noodles comes from adding vegetables like scallions and bok choy.

Get into the fall spirit with this one-pan gnocchi with a creamy pumpkin sauce. Some pumpkin and other squash sauces can be cloyingly sweet, but not this one--it's savory all the way, thanks to the bacon, garlic and thyme. Instead of being boiled, a package of store-bought gnocchi--one of our favorite convenience products--is browned and crisped in a little bit of bacon fat. Then the sauce (made with canned pumpkin--another great convenience product) is prepared right in that same pan, so cleanup is minimal too. Serve with a simple green salad for an easy dinner that comes together in 30 minutes.

If you've ever wanted to make a meal out of warm spinach and artichoke dip, this creamy pasta is for you. And here's what's almost as good as the flavor of this comforting dish: the fact that this healthy dinner takes just 20 minutes to prepare.

Get dinner on the table even faster by using precubed butternut squash in this creamy pasta recipe. Found in the produce section of large grocery stores, the cut butternut is a little bigger than you need here, so you will have to do some chopping--but the peeling and gutting has been done for you. That means this easy healthy dinner takes just 35 minutes to prep. Score!

This easy pasta recipe is an excuse to buy wild mushrooms, available at many grocery stores these days. Or if you prefer white buttons, those will work well too. The creamy linguine is ready in 40 minutes, so it's quick enough for an easy weeknight recipe but it feels fancy enough for entertaining.

This better-for-you creamy, cheesy chicken fettuccine alfredo isn't all that fancy, but it's incredibly comforting. You'll taste a nice pop of pepper and nutty notes from the whole-wheat pasta. Best part about this recipe? It's a one-pot meal, which means fewer dishes for you!

Poblanos add a kick of heat to this chili mac recipe. If that's not your thing, swap in green bell peppers to tone down the heat in this easy pasta dish, which mashes up mac and cheese and chili into a seriously satisfying skillet dinner.

A hit of Sriracha gives a sweet and spicy edge to this healthy vegetarian recipe. Traditional lo mein is made with fresh lo mein noodles, which can be found in Asian markets. You can also use fresh or dried linguine noodles--fresh linguine is in the refrigerated section of some grocery stores. This easy dinner comes together in just 30 minutes, so it's perfect for weeknights.

This entire healthy pasta recipe cooks in one skillet, so there's only one pot to clean! Try it with any greens you have in the fridge, such as chard or spinach.

We're mixing whole-grain spaghetti with zucchini noodles to add volume and save calories in these simple, flavor-packed meal-prep bowls. The bright and herby chimichurri sauce originally appeared in Katie Workman's salmon recipe for EatingWell magazine (see Associated Recipes). Leftover chicken, tofu or canned beans can be swapped in for the shrimp.

Slices of butternut squash stand in for noodles in this veggie-packed lasagna with spinach, mushrooms and a creamy Parmesan cheese sauce. You can make the Parmesan cheese sauce with regular flour or swap in gluten-free flour to make this dish gluten-free. Look for a squash with a long, straight neck for the best results. Serve with a green salad for a vegetarian meal that you'd be happy to serve to company.

Mayonnaise adds great tang and texture to this easy pasta recipe--who knew? Black garlic, which is fermented, offers a sweeter, more mellow flavor than fresh. Find it at well-stocked supermarkets or substitute cloves of roasted garlic.

Squash noodles elbow out some of the starchy ones to give this cool sesame noodle salad a veggie boost. This easy healthy recipe comes together in just 20 minutes, so it's great for weeknight dinners. Pack up any leftovers for lunch.