A colorful medley of garden-fresh vegetables is tossed in a light oil and vinegar dressing to make this tangy pasta salad a surefire hit at your next gathering.

Potluck Pasta Salad

We love pasta salads as the weather warms up. There aren’t many things that beat having a meal ready-to-go in the fridge on a hot summer night.

Part of that is the fact that we lived in Phoenix for so many years. When it’s 108 degrees outside and muggy from a thunderstorm, you learn to eat as light as possible. And, you keep the oven off as much as possible.

No Mayo Pasta Salad

This recipe is great for a summertime gathering because it is simple to make, loaded with flavor, and you don’t have to worry about it sitting in the sun. No mayo is perfect for a potluck pasta salad.

If you’ve been here for very long, then you’ll know that I’m an equal opportunity employer of mayonnaise. I like a mayo free pasta salad with a bright vinaigrette just as much as I enjoy a creamy pasta salad with mayo.

You’ll love that this Italian Penne Pasta Salad can be set out and then forgotten about. There are no worries about a no mayo pasta salad spoiling in the sun.

This Garlicky Spinach Pasta Salad and this Summer Israeli Couscous Salad are excellent salads that are perfect for summer.

This California Spaghetti Salad is loaded with many of our favorite flavors too. And this Strawberry Spinach Pasta Salad is a must any time you have fresh strawberries around!

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Creamy, spicy, pasta with bell peppers and sausage is a 20-minute meal that everyone loves. My family will happily eat this Cajun sausage pasta any night of the week.

Cajun Pasta with Sausage

I love the ease of using seasoning mixes for simple recipes like this one. Technically, there are only five ingredients in this recipe, but with a great seasoning mix there is an abundance of different flavors in the dish.

I shared this Cajun Seasoning Mix in The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook. The seasoning blend has been a staple in my pantry for quite a few years now. I figured it was long past time to share it here so that I can more easily link to it for easy access.

After you whip up that Cajun spice blend (it only takes a minute), you’ll be ready to make this delicious pasta.

Pasta with Bell Peppers

My family loves creamy pasta dishes, but I sometimes find them to be a little too bland. The bell peppers and the sausage help keep things interesting. This recipe satisfies both my family’s love of cream sauces and our need for a little more heat.

This meal starts by browning the sausage in a pan. Because spicy sausage already has so much flavor, it’s the perfect foundation for so many of our favorite meals.

Add in a few bell peppers for color and flavor, plus heavy cream and Cajun spices and you get an extra creamy sauce to toss with your pasta.

With regards to the cream in this recipe

The BEST chicken tetrazzini recipe begins with chicken, mushrooms, and pasta tossed together with a creamy, garlicky sauce.

Layer that deliciousness in a baking dish and sprinkle it with just a handful of cheese before baking just long enough to melt everything together. Served with warm bread and a salad, this meal is a hit every time.

Almost 18 years ago now, my sweet friend Lisa brought my family a pan of this Chicken Tetrazzini. It was a night just a few days after my middle son was born; and in the midst of our new baby fog and sleep deprivation, we managed to eat an absurd amount of this dish.

You know those dishes you taste once and can’t stop thinking about? This chicken Tetrazzini recipe is one of those. When you’re exhausted from a new baby, a hot meal at the end of the day is extra divine.

I promised Sean I’d get the recipe as soon as possible. Lisa shared her recipe with me and this pasta has made regular appearances on our table ever since. 

Best Chicken Tetrazzini Recipe

At the time, this was the best chicken and pasta dish we had ever tasted, giving it the honor of being christened “The Best Chicken Tetrazzini.” (And it still stands as one of the tastiest chicken pasta dishes you’ll ever make!)

It’s an easy and comforting dinner that I make so often I can just about cook it from memory at this point. And I have a feeling that chicken tetrazzini will be a meal my boys think of when they think of favorite family dinners from their childhoods.

My whole family enjoys this meal very much and one of my boys would happily do his best to eat this entire recipe on his own! As I began to make this for dinner last night, I was surprised to realize that I didn’t already have this recipe on the blog.

It’s become such a favorite, I

Filled with fresh vegetables, tangy Italian dressing, and delightful twirls of pasta, you’ll want to savor each bite of this California Spaghetti Salad.

Italian Spaghetti Salad

Like so many pasta salads that I love, this one is loaded to the max with fresh vegetables. I like to add about ¾ of a cup of vegetables to the salad for every ounce of pasta (i.e. 6 cups of vegetables for 8 ounces of pasta).

That might sound like a lot, but I promise this ratio won’t result in too many vegetables. This is the best balance I’ve found for maximizing the textures and flavors in this Italian spaghetti salad.

You can make this recipe with any vegetable you enjoy snacking on or eating raw. Just cut the vegetables into somewhat uniform, bite-size pieces. This ensures the maximum variety of textures and flavors in every bite.

If at all possible, try making this salad with homemade Italian dressing. It takes less than five minutes to shake this dressing together, and it makes a world of difference.

California Spaghetti Salad

Something magical happens in each forkful of this pasta salad. Crunchy cucumbers and juicy tomatoes balance the slight bite of red onions and bell peppers.

The dressing is a tangy highlight, with bright notes of lemon and the smooth richness of olive oil. It adds vibrant and irresistible flavor to this California spaghetti salad recipe.

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Creamy and cheesy, with wonderful lingering heat, this green chile mac and cheese is a keeper, transforming the quintessential comfort food into a dish that is positively irresistible.

Macaroni and Cheese with Green Chiles

Did you know that you can make creamy, rich, and saucy stovetop macaroni and cheese with green chiles, from scratch in about the same amount of time it takes to cook a box of store-bought mac and cheese?

This easy stovetop recipe for mac and cheese gets made at least a couple of times a month in our house. So, it is past time for me to share a green chile variation.

Four years ago, I took my oldest son out to Rusconi’s restaurant (home of our beloved truffle mac and cheese) for a fancy dinner to celebrate submitting the last photos for my third cookbook. That night, he tried their green chile macaroni and cheese and has been hounding me to make a version of it ever since.

Side note: Are you wondering why I took just one kid out for dinner to celebrate? That would be because he washed every single one of the approximately 42,719 dishes that were used in the recipe testing and photographing of The Weeknight Dessert Cookbook. He was a rockstar of an assistant in the kitchen that year.

Green Chile Mac and Cheese

Famous love songs have been written based on my relationship with green chile. Not really