Below are quick & easy ideas for feeding your family a meal "on the double" when your schedule gets hectic. Thank you to Barilla® for sponsoring this handy collection of one-pan, no-boil (and no drain!) pasta recipes for time-crunched parents — like me.
Family schedules can get hectic during the school year. With two elementary-school-age kiddos now, I feel like our afternoons often consist of finishing homework and carting the girls to and from all their after-school activities. On double-whammy days — where both kids have classes or lessons scheduled back to back — I cry "Uncle" and declare it Noodle Night.
In the past, Noodle Night simply meant organic boxed mac & cheese or just plain ol' buttered noodles. While either of these kid-friendly, go-to solutions is just fine in a pinch, I felt like it was becoming an unhealthy default-meal at our house on busy nights. So, I decided to tinker around with my Noodle Night menu... I began to try out some one-pot pasta recipes that kept things simple, but added some PUNCH, variety, and color.
What I realized is that once you learn the basic one-pot recipe approach, you can start creating your own custom recipes with random ingredients you have on hand.
Now, before you begin freestylin' all on your own... you might want to try making a few one-pot pasta recipes "by the book" till you get a feel for it. Here are a few mom-tested recipe suggestions from the Barilla® Pronto™ Kitchen to get you started:
1. Pizza in a Pan
Pepperoni, cheese, and pasta—brilliance. Yep. Yep. I'm totally adding this Barilla® Pronto™ Penne with Pepperoni & Cheese to my meal-planning list.
2. Kid-Friendly Chili Pie
This is the perfect fall comfort food. Serve this Campfire Chili Pie with Corn Chips. Nom. Nom. Nom.
3. Rotisserie Chicken Spaghetti
Use that leftover rotisserie chicken in this Barilla® Pronto™ Spaghetti with Rotisserie Chicken & Barilla® Tomato & Basil Sauce recipe.
4. You Had Me at Bacon
I've never considered combining this collection of ingredients. I'm intrigued by this Linguine with Asparagus & Bacon in Barilla® Traditional Sauce recipe. I'm going to give it a whirl with the kiddos. (It has bacon, after all. It's sure to be a hit with everyone in our family.)
5. Homemade One-Pot Mac & Cheese
Homemade in 25 minutes? My kids will thank me for trying this creamy, home-style Barilla® Pronto™ Cheesy One Pan Mac & Cheese recipe.
Once you've mastered a few of your favorite one-pot recipes... The next step? Grab some ingredients from your kitchen and start experimenting!
Here's a little something-something I threw together this week. Yep. All on my own.
6. Creamy Tomato One-Pot Pasta
The light and creamy texture of this sauce is sure to win over the hearts of your kiddos.
Below is the full recipe, but basically we just used the new one-pan, no boil, no drain Barilla® Pronto™ Penne noodles, along with some sauce and cream cheese. Does it get much simpler than that?
Creamy Tomato One-Pot Pasta
This simple one-pot pasta recipe is an easy solution on a crazy weeknight.
Ingredients
- 12 oz. Barilla® Pronto™ Penne Noodles
- 3 cups Cold water
- salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste
- 24 oz Barilla® Traditional All-Natural Sauce
- 3 oz Cream cheese (⅓ less-fat variety is optional)
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (or more!)
Instructions
- In a pan, combine pasta, water, salt, and pepper.
- Turn on the burner to high, and set your timer to 10 minutes.
- Cook on high, stirring occasionally until most of the water is absorbed (about 10 minutes, but this may vary by stove).
- Add the sauce and the cream cheese. Continue to stir on low until the desired consistency and pasta texture are reached.
- Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.
- Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top, and serve immediately.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 224Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 21mgSodium 799mgCarbohydrates 29gFiber 4gSugar 7gProtein 7g
Disclaimer: Nutrition calculation is automatically calculated and may be inaccurate.
You know it's good when your "Butter only, please" noodle eaters give it a thumbs-up.
After this basic experimenting, I started to get more daring and expanded on the basic creamy tomato one-pot recipe. This led to...
7. Red Pepper Pasta
A dash of this and a slice of that makes a unique one-pot pasta creation.
I was inspired by this awesome Recipe Builder (PDF). Basically, it helps you mix and match fresh veggies, sauce, and protein for a one-of-a-kind recipe. So, I threw together some precooked, Italian sausage I had leftover in my freezer with some fresh ingredients I had in my fridge to create this delicious Red Pepper Pasta.
Red Pepper Pasta
A dash of this and a bit of that equals the perfect one-pot pasta recipe.
Ingredients
- 12 oz. Barilla® Pronto™ Penne Noodles
- 3 cups cold water
- salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste
- Italian sausage (optional; Hint: Fry a whole pack and use half now and save the other half for another time. Or simply slice some kielbasa as a quick precooked protein substitute.)
- 24 oz Barilla® Traditional All-Natural Sauce
- 3 oz cream cheese (⅓ less-fat variety is optional)
- ½ Red pepper
- ½ Red onion
- 3 cloves Garlic
- Fresh basil
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (or more!)
Instructions
- In a pan, fry Italian sausage until brown. Reserve half the meat for future use. Cool and store in a freezer-safe sealable plastic bag.
- Add pasta, water, pepper, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper to the pan.
- Turn on the burner to high, and set your timer to 10 minutes.
- Cook on high, stirring occasionally until most of the water is absorbed (about 10 minutes, but this may vary by stove).
- Add the sauce and the cream cheese. Continue to stir on low until the desired consistency and pasta texture are reached.
- Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.
- Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top, and serve immediately.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 275Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 28mgSodium 892mgCarbohydrates 31gFiber 4gSugar 8gProtein 10g
Disclaimer: Nutrition calculation is automatically calculated and may be inaccurate.
What I love about these new one pan, no boil, no drain Barilla® Pronto™ Noodles is that they have really opened the door to getting creative with Noodle Night at our house.
On days you're busy trucking the kiddos to _______ (fill in the blank: soccer, dance, basketball, drawing, swimming, piano, martial arts, or something else), you can still whip up something beyond buttered noodles. Although, I have to admit... that simple staple will always be part of our family meal rotation, too.
Pasta lovers unite,
P.S. Want to see the Barilla® Pronto™ Noodles in action? Check out this video.
See more One-Pan Recipes from Barilla®
Need additional dinner inspiration? Get inspired: Follow Barilla® on Pinterest or check out additional one-pot pasta recipes on their site!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Barilla®. The opinions and text are all mine. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
