14 Fall Pasta Recipes That Make Perfect Weeknight Dinners

Fans of mac and cheese won't be disappointed by this decadent version. It's easier than making cheese sauce, and it's packed with vegetable so you can feel good about scooping up seconds. The sauce's bright orange color comes from sweet, nutty butternut squash purée and the luxuriously rich cheesiness is added with creamy garlicky Boursin cheese and pasta cooking water.

Minimal prep with maximum flavor? Yes, please. This fan-favorite linguine dish is one of our most popular recipes and sure to become your weeknight dinner go-to. Cherry and grape tomatoes are available in clamshells year-round, lending the dish a hint of tomato acidity without a long simmer on the stove.

Add pasta to the winning pairing of Brussels and bacon and you have a full meal. This 30-minute entrée pairs crispy bacon and lightly caramelized Brussels sprouts with everyone's favorite long noodle in an easy, cheesy sauce.

Try this bold, unexpected penne on a chilly fall night. Combine canned wild salmon with robust broccoli rabe, garlic, and Pecorino Romano cheese. For a milder taste, sub any fall hearty green such as kale or collard greens for the broccoli rabe and feel free to try canned tuna instead of salmon—it will be just as delicious.

Totally simple and absolutely irresistible, this classic pasta is made with elemental ingredients like cheese and freshly cracked pepper. It's dinner party-worthy and also one of the easiest pasta dishes to put together on a busy fall night. Simply put, this impressive dish never disappoints. Keep the ingredients on hand and dinner is just minutes away.

This simple sausage and fennel pasta brings plenty of rich fall flavor to the table. Give the dish a restaurant-style finish by drizzling it with olive oil and garnishing with fennel fronds, lemon wedges, and arugula. And don't skip the extra Parmesan!

Shrimp might seem light and summery—especially when paired with cherry tomatoes—but by adding rosemary, capers, and olives to the mix, the result is one hearty and totally delicious dish autumnal meal. Bonus points: This entrée will be on the table in just 20 minutes.

Boiling pasta with beets lends a striking hue to gemelli, a short pasta, while also cooking the beets at the same time. Accentuate the pink pasta with sautéed red cabbage and onion and top it all off with rosy crisps of prosciutto—dinner will be very colorful and tasty.

This paella-inspired, one-pan recipe is fancy enough for company but also easy enough for a quick dinner. Al dente pieces of orzo take the place of the usual rice in this dish; they soak up the tomato-based sauce and plenty of shrimp flavor.

Feed a crowd with this creamy baked ziti, which is perfect for when the weather starts to cool and you want to get back to cooking in the oven. For a spin, instead of ricotta, this version uses a favorite ingredient: cream cheese. It's a total win.

What's the secret to really delicious meatballs? The answer isn't breadcrumbs! Our test kitchen's favorite recipe swaps out some of the ground beef for chopped mushrooms, which adds rich umami flavor that's just right for fall. In addition to being totally delicious, these meatballs also reduce meat consumption and increase vegetable intake.

This easy weeknight riff on pasta alla Norma upgrades store-bought cheese ravioli by tossing it with a hearty mix of roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes, shallots, and capers. Making the sauce in the oven frees you from attending to it on the stovetop and the ravioli cooks up in minutes.

Another one-pan wonder, orecchiette's indented shape create the perfect cradle for a creamy pan sauce with bites of chickpeas and Kalamata olives. Woody rosemary lends hearty fall flavor and a fresh baby arugula adds a peppery green finish.