Healthy Spaghetti Recipes

The meat sauce in this healthy pasta recipe is a Greek take on a red chili. This recipe calls for ground lamb but you could easily use ground beef or ground turkey instead.

Carbonara, traditionally bathed in eggs, gets a vegan makeover using roasted and pureed butternut squash instead to make it ultra-creamy. A topping of ground almonds, garlic and sage gives it texture and an herby, savory flavor in place of the cheese and bacon.

Beans stand in place of ground beef in this hearty vegetarian sauce that's ready when you are—thanks to the crock pot. The prep is quick and easy to do in the morning before heading off to work. When you get home, just cook up some whole-wheat pasta to serve it over and dinner is ready. If you have leftovers, freeze them for an easy meal another day.

Noodles are a key part of Chinese New Year celebrations because they symbolize long life. We love this recipe for the tradition because it's super-customizable based on your tastes. Try swapping in chicken for the steak. Can't find Chinese broccoli? Use broccolini instead. Or swap out the mushrooms and broccoli altogether for snow peas and carrots.

Thai curry paste delivers a spicy kick-in-the-pants in this healthy peanut noodle recipe. If you haven't tried kohlrabi yet, here's your excuse to buy it. The bulbous vegetable is related to broccoli and Brussels sprouts, but has a milder, sweet flavor and fabulous crunch.

This crowd-pleasing and easy dinner recipe takes just 20 minutes to make, start to finish, so it's perfect for weeknights! When tomatoes are at their in-season best, just a quick chop and a few ingredients are all you need to make a spaghetti sauce in minutes. Store-bought chicken meatballs keep the low-effort theme going all the way to the table.

This version of chorba, a soup popular in North Africa, features broken pieces of spaghetti and chicken in a fragrant broth.

Toss a garlicky, Middle Eastern-inspired yogurt sauce with pasta, shrimp, asparagus, peas and red bell pepper for a fresh, satisfying summer meal. Serve with: Slices of cucumber and tomato tossed with lemon juice and olive oil.

Traditionally, this Italian pasta recipe combines pasta and pesto with potatoes and green beans. In our recipe for Spaghetti Genovese we give pesto a nutritional boost by adding spinach and toss it all together with fiber-rich whole-wheat pasta for a warm, comforting weeknight meal. Serve with escarole and radicchio salad.

Our healthy spaghetti carbonara recipe is lower in calories and fat than a traditional spaghetti carbonara recipe, plus it boasts 9 more grams of fiber per serving from whole-wheat pasta. For the best flavor, use Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. The eggs in the sauce are not fully cooked; if you're concerned about consuming undercooked eggs, use pasteurized-in-the-shell eggs in this spaghetti carbonara recipe.

"Cacio e pepe" means "cheese and pepper" in Italian. This spaghetti dish, with fresh asparagus and baby arugula, is flavored with "cacio e pepe" and a little lemon zest. It's simple to prepare and on the table in just 25 minutes.

The naturally sweet taste of scallops partners beautifully with summer corn at its peak in this corn and scallop pasta recipe. To get the most corn flavor into the creamy pasta sauce for this summer pasta recipe, we use the dull side of a knife to remove the extra bit of the corn kernels and the sweet corn “milk” from the ear after cutting off the fresh kernels. Try this technique anytime you are adding fresh corn to sauces or soups.

This healthy casserole recipe contains tons of veggies alongside whole-wheat pasta for a satisfying dinner kids and adults will enjoy.

This kitchen-sink of a vegetarian dish was most likely invented in Egypt in the mid-1800s when Cairo was a major multicultural trade port, which could explain the similarities to Italian spaghetti as well as the Indian rice-and-lentil comfort food khichdi. Three toppings--a spicy tomato sauce (shatta), crispy onions and a garlicky vinegar (dakka)--are added to the koshari before serving, but in Cairo most people like them in separate bowls so they can season their bites one at a time. (Recipe adapted from Zooba Restaurant.)

Canned clams are a great ingredient to have on hand for a fast dinner. Plus, their juices amp up the flavor of this sauce. Look for cans with certification from the Marine Stewardship Council for the most sustainable choice.

Zucchini, bell pepper and onion combine to create a delicious medley of flavor and color in this healthy vegetable pasta dish.

In this version, the eggs are cooked into a custardlike sauce. An extra step, yes, but the technique ensures food safety. To vary the vegetables, try green beans, asparagus or frozen peas (cook peas separately from pasta).

This whole grain, creamy pasta dish is ready in just 30 minutes -- perfect for a weeknight meal.

Breadcrumbs on pasta are known in Italy as the poor man's cheese and they are often used instead for lactose-sensitive individuals. This treatment is quite popular in the southern regions of Italy, such as Sicily, Calabria and Basilicata.