22 Seafood Pasta Recipes to Serve for Casual Dinners

By Kelly Vaughan
Updated March 24, 2020
Lennart Weibull
With scallops or shrimp or sardines, our seafood pasta recipes shine.
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Lennart Weibull

From classics like salmon and shrimp to briny canned staples like sardines and anchovies, seafood offers so much versatility for dinnertime. You can prepare it in all the best ways—grilled, broiled, or sautéed—and then when it's added to pasta, it becomes something extra special. Our seafood pasta recipes, such as the Classic Shrimp Scampi that's pictured here, are a fabulous mix of everyday essential dishes and some extra-special recipes for entertaining.

Martha's take on Spaghetti alle Vongole starts by making a roasted-garlic butter using garlic confit, which is tossed with pasta, parsley, Parmesan, and clams, then topped with freshly sliced garlic and more cheese. Another elevated seafood pasta is Seafood Linguine, which has a little bit of everything—mussels, small clams, sea scallops, shrimp, and squid. It serves six and is well worth the effort for one showstopping meal.

When you don't have fresh seafood, use canned pantry staples like tuna packed in olive oil, anchovies, and sardines make for wonderful pasta dinners. Pasta Peperonata with Tuna and Olives is brimming with bright colors from purple olives, green basil, red peppers, and mixed cherry tomatoes. And once you dig in, you'll be blown away by the flavor that awaits.

Looking for a guaranteed winner for kids and adults alike? Make our family-friendly creamy shrimp alfredo. The recipe uses a clever technique with pasta water for the sauce so there's no need for the usual heavy cream. Fettuccine is tossed in this rich, silky sauce with sautéed shrimp and peas. Another easy recipe that looks fancy is Mafaldine with Shrimp and Lemon, a zesty and buttery dish made with what may be the most whimsical pasta shape ever.

No matter the occasion, these seafood pasta recipes will be the star of dinnertime.

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Cream-Free Shrimp Alfredo

Chris Simpson
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In this take on the classic Fettuccine alfredo, we create a creamy sauce without the usual heavy cream using a clever combination of an egg yolk, unsalted butter, Parmesan cheese, and pasta water. It's revolutionary!

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Sea Scallops Over Shallot-Herb Pasta

Elizabeth Cecil
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If you've never paired seared scallops with pasta before, now's your chance. Fragrant fennel, savory shallots, and plenty of fresh herbs build flavor in this family-friendly pasta dish.

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Pasta Peperonata with Tuna and Olives

Lennart Weibull
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Nearly every color of the rainbow peeks out between strands of spaghetti in this briny meal. Use good quality olives and tuna, which will add rich flavor in every twirl of pasta.

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Pasta with Shrimp and Creamy Chipotle Sauce

Marcus Nilsson
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Master this spicy dinner in just 30 minutes. Fennel is a light contrast to the bold heat found in the sauce, and its bright green fronds are a delicate garnish atop meaty shrimp and hearty short pasta.

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Pasta with Preserved Lemon and Anchovies

Marcus Nilsson
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No need to go to the grocery store for this 15-minute recipe. Everything you need is right in your own pantry—spaghetti, olive oil, garlic, oil-packed anchovies, and preserved lemon. Get ready for big-time flavor in a flash.

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Martha's Spaghetti alle Vongole

Lennart Weibull
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Imagine that you're dining seaside in Italy, looking at the cerulean blue sea and multi-colored stucco houses. You're sipping on a fruity glass of Pinot Grigio and sharing a plate of garlicky seafood pasta. Martha's recipe for spaghetti with clams will transport you there.

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Seafood Linguine

Ngoc Minh Ngo
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A dish dressed to impress, this luscious pasta is our take on the Italian pasta linguine ai frutti di mare. It features a variety of shellfish—small clams, mussels, sea scallops, shrimp, and squid, plus plenty of aromatics such as garlic, red pepper flakes, and parsley.

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Spaghetti and Shrimp Meatballs

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This recipe is a sweet upgrade to an Italian classic. You can make "meatballs" without meat. Simply pulse raw shrimp in a food processor with panko breadcrumbs, Pecorino Romano cheese, basil, and scallions. Then form the mixture into balls and poach in boiling salted water until cooked through.

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One-Pan Creamy Tuna Pasta

Armando Rafael
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Try this contemporary take on a classic—tuna noodle casserole. It's a 25-minute wonder recipe that calls for cooking butter, short spiral pasta such as cavatappi, broth, shallots, and water together. It's finished by tossing with blanched asparagus, arugula, Parmesan, lemon, and canned tuna.

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Pasta with Salmon, Broccoli Rabe, and Garlic

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If the eye-catching contrast of dark green broccoli and pink salmon isn't enough to entice you in, then the flavor of this penne pasta dish surely will. Garlic and red-pepper flakes add classic Italian flavor in every bite.

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Orecchiette with Corn, Arugula, and Tuna

Bryan Gardner
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With a rainbow of tomatoes, corn the color of sunshine, and peppery arugula, this pasta dish is bursting with seasonal flavor. And it all comes together in just 30 minutes.

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Mafaldine with Shrimp and Lemon

Johnny Miller
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Who wouldn't want to dig into a bowl of this fun ruffled pasta with a shrimp scampi-inspired sauce? All of the flavor comes from the sauce, which includes butter, white wine, shallots, red-pepper flakes, lemon, and crème fraîche.

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Salmon Noodle Casserole

Bryan Gardner
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This is a kid-friendly dinner that represents comfort food at its finest. Instead of the traditional tuna, we've swapped in salmon, which is rich in fatty acids and omega-3s. Combine cooked pasta with a creamy sauce, lemon zest, dill, and chopped scallions, then bake until bubbling and golden.

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Spaghetti with Shrimp and Olives

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There's a secret ingredient in this punchy Italian-American pasta. Sure, there are shrimp and mixed olives along with juicy cherry tomatoes, but it's a little bacon that brings it all together. You'll also want plenty of Pecorino Romano cheese for serving.

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Pasta with Grilled Sardines and Bitter Greens

Bryan Gardner
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Want to serve something different when you're having friends for dinner? Make this stunning pasta, which features bucatini, a hollow version of spaghetti that feels like an upgrade from everyday noodles. Sardines and dandelion greens make it feel totally out of the ordinary.

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Spaghetti with Tuna and Caper Sauce

Alpha Smoot
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Briny and bright, canned tuna and capers are probably not ingredients that your family gravitates to every night, but this recipe could change that. It's an easy way to introduce your family to a delicious and innovative use of canned tuna.

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Garlicky Shrimp Pasta with Chiles

Stephen Johnson
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For a seriously spicy pasta dinner that comes together in about 20 minutes, try this shrimp dish. Thinly sliced fresh chiles are responsible for the fiery flavor—but the heat level is up to you.

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Spicy Clams with Spaghetti

Linda Pugliese
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Make this romantic pasta dinner for two for dinner tonight. Clams are naturally salty, so taste the finished dish before seasoning with any additional salt.

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Spaghetti with Bay Scallops, Leeks, and Tarragon

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The anise-like flavor of tarragon and the freshness of lemon zest are a pleasing complement to sautéed leeks and scallops. Serve with spaghetti or any other long pasta.

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Greek-Style Pasta with Shrimp

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Shrimp, garlic, mint, and Kalamata olives transport you to the Mediterranean. Plain yogurt and lemon juice make a tangy, low-fat sauce for this gemelli pasta dish that is delicious served hot or cold.

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Linguine with Shrimp and White Wine

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Lemony white-wine sauce is the perfect complement to sautéed shrimp. This light dinner for one is ready in just 20 minutes.

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