What can I make with pasta and vegetables?
Pasta and Vegetables is the weeknight default for good reason, and the gap between fine and excellent comes down to two things: salted water and finishing in the sauce. Recipes using pasta and vegetables are below.
12 recipes with pasta and vegetables
Grilled Paneer and Vegetable Skewers
Quick and easy vegetarian skewers with paneer, zucchini, bell peppers, and scallions, flavored with cumin
Indian13m4Vegetable Stir Fry
Crisp-tender veggies in a glossy ginger-soy sauce.
Chinese15m2Egg Fried Rice
Wok-tossed day-old rice with egg, scallion, and soy.
Chinese15m4
Tonkatsu
Crisp panko-crusted pork cutlets with tangy tonkatsu sauce.
Japanese22m4Suya
Grilled skewered beef crusted in spicy peanut yaji.
Nigerian23m4
Beef and Broccoli
Tender flank steak stir-fried with broccoli in a glossy soy sauce.
Chinese-American25m4
Pad See Ew
Wide rice noodles stir-fried with dark soy, egg, and Chinese broccoli.
Thai25m3Nasi Goreng
Sweet, savory, spicy fried rice topped with a fried egg.
Indonesian25m4
Tempura
Ethereally light battered and fried shrimp and vegetables.
Japanese30m4
Churros
Crisp fried dough sticks rolled in cinnamon sugar.
Spanish30m6Falafel
Herby crushed chickpea fritters, fried till crackly.
Middle Eastern35m6
Lentil Soup
Hearty red lentil soup with cumin and lemon.
Mediterranean40m6
Restaurant-quality pasta and vegetables at home
- 1Salt the water until it tastes like a seasoned soup; this is the only chance to season the pasta and vegetables itself.
- 2Cook 1-2 minutes short of the box time and reserve a mug of the starchy water before draining.
- 3Finish the pasta and vegetables in the sauce over heat, adding the reserved water a splash at a time until the sauce clings.
- 4Add cheese off the heat so it emulsifies instead of turning stringy.
What goes well with pasta and vegetables
Pasta and Vegetables is at its best with garlic, olive oil, parmesan, tomato, basil and chili flakes. Any two or three of those, plus pasta and vegetables, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing pasta and vegetables
Dry pasta and vegetables keeps for months in a sealed container away from light and heat. Once cooked, cool it quickly, refrigerate within two hours, and use within 3-4 days; cooked grains and legumes freeze extremely well in single-portion bags.
Substituting pasta and vegetables
If you are out of pasta and vegetables, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Pasta and Vegetables recipes: common questions
- What can I make with pasta and vegetables and not much else?
- Plenty. With pasta and vegetables plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest pasta and vegetables recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute pasta and vegetables?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover pasta and vegetables?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover pasta and vegetables without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.