5-Ingredient Pasta Dinners That Cost Less Than $2 a Serving

Pasta is the most reliable cheap dinner there is, but most people do not realize how simple the best pasta dishes actually are. The Italian pasta canon is built on recipes with four or five ingredients that cost almost nothing and produce results better than anything with twenty ingredients and a complicated sauce.

Here are five pasta dinners that each cost under $2 a serving and take less than thirty minutes from start to table.

Pasta Aglio e Olio

This is the gold standard of simple pasta. Spaghetti, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and Parmesan. That is the entire list. You cook the garlic slowly in olive oil until it turns golden and fragrant, then toss it with the pasta and a splash of starchy pasta water to create something that looks and tastes like restaurant food. The key is patience on the garlic. Low heat for three to four minutes. Let it turn golden, not brown. Brown is bitter.

Reserve about a cup of pasta cooking water before draining. That cloudy, starchy liquid is what makes the sauce cling to the noodles. It is the reason aglio e olio tastes different from plain oily pasta.

Cacio e Pepe

Cacio e Pepe uses spaghetti, Pecorino Romano, Parmesan, black pepper, and pasta water. That is it. Toast whole black pepper in a dry pan until fragrant, then crack it coarsely. Grate the cheese as finely as possible. Combine them off the heat with pasta water and toss until the cheese melts into a creamy coating. No cream. No butter. Just cheese, pepper, and the starch from the water.

This one takes a few tries to get right. The cheese can clump if the pan is too hot. Lower heat and more pasta water fixes it every time.

Pasta with Canned Tomatoes and Garlic

Keep two cans of whole peeled tomatoes in your pantry and you always have dinner. Crush them by hand into a pan with olive oil and a few crushed garlic cloves. Simmer fifteen minutes. Salt it. Toss with pasta and fresh basil if you have it. This is what Italian home cooks actually eat, not the heavy jarred sauce versions most Americans grew up with.

The quality of canned tomatoes matters here. San Marzanos at $2.50 a can make a noticeably better sauce than generic shelf tomatoes. It still comes out under $2 a serving for four people.

Pasta Burro e Parmigiano

Butter and Parmesan pasta is what Italian parents make for kids and what adults make when they want comfort without effort. Boil spaghetti or rigatoni, toss with two tablespoons of cold butter cut into small cubes, and add a generous handful of grated Parmesan. The cold butter emulsifies into the pasta water and coats everything evenly. Salt well. That is the whole recipe.

This one works as a side dish or as a base to add leftover protein to the next day. It reheats better than almost any other pasta.

Fridge-Clearing Egg and Parmesan Pasta

When there is nothing left in the house except pasta and a couple of eggs, this works. Whisk two eggs with Parmesan and a splash of pasta water. Drain the pasta while still al dente, toss it back in the warm pot off the heat, pour the egg mixture over, and keep tossing. The residual heat cooks the eggs gently into a creamy coating. Add salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.

This is essentially carbonara without the guanciale. If you happen to have a few strips of bacon in the fridge, cook them first and toss the rendered fat in with the egg mixture. You will not miss the expensive cured pork.

Making These Work for the Whole Week

All five of these dishes store well for lunch the next day. Pack portions into airtight containers right after dinner and refrigerate. Most pasta dishes reheat fine with a small splash of water added before microwaving to loosen the sauce back up.

If you want to build pasta nights into a full weekly meal prep rotation, the Meal Prep on a Budget guide maps out exactly how to batch cook and rotate meals through the week without repeating the same dinner twice in a row.