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No need to call in takeout tonight, because dinner plans have already been made for you. (Swoon.)
Before anyone has the chance to ask the dreaded question—“What do you want for dinner tonight?”—we’ve rounded up five Instant Pot pasta recipes made with five ingredients or less, which means your meal planning for the entire work week will be signed, sealed, and (ahem) not delivered. Now, onto the hard part: picking which one to make first.
These incredibly delicious and easy recipes are loaded with protein, too, so they’ll help keep you energized and alert throughout the day. Seriously: With just a few pantry staple ingredients, you can make everything from an easy vegan mac and cheese to a plant-based cacio e pepe to a refreshing pasta salad. The pasta-bilities are endless, fam.
5 easy, protein-packed Instant Pot pasta recipes with five ingredients (or less)
1. Easy Vegan Mac and Cheese
No matter how old we get, there are some things that we really can never outgrow. Take a comforting bowl of mac and cheese, for example: it’s just as delicious as it is soul-soothing. While there’s nothing wrong with making a quick boxed version, this homemade vegan mac and cheese recipe by Minimalist Baker will hit the spot. Why? It has a vegan cheese sauce that’s the perfect combination of creamy and savory, thanks to the combination of cheddar and nutritional yeast. It’s also made with Banza chickpea pasta shells that have about 20 grams of protein and eight grams of fiber per 3.5-ounce serving. Talk about an overachiever.
Get the recipe: Easy Vegan Mac and Cheese
2. Vegan Cacio e Pepe
A perfect example that less is often more, this vegan cacio e pepe recipe by Simply Quinoa is made with minimal ingredients and packs delicious peppery flavor in every bite. Unlike a traditional cacio e pepe—which is Italian for cheese and pepper—this vegan interpretation gets all of its dairy-free umami from ingredients like nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and miso paste. Plus, one of the main components in this pasta recipe is protein-packed cashews that give this pasta dish a rich, creamy texture once they’re blended into the sauce. Believe us when we say that you’ll feel like you’re in the city of Rome as you dive into this simply delicious dish.
Get the recipe: Vegan Cacio e Pepe
3. Arugula Pasta Salad
When you’re in a pickle—meaning you’re not sure what to make and your loved ones are hounding you for dinner—this easy arugula pasta salad recipe by Gimme Some Oven will be the answer to your prayers. It takes just 15 minutes to whip together and even less time to clean up, and only cooking required is boiling some water to make al dente pasta. To make this simple dish, you’ll use nutritious ingredients like anti-inflammatory red peppers, calcium-rich mozzarella cheese, antioxidant-packed arugula, and your favorite pesto sauce. And best of all, the recipe lends itself to making extra and saving the leftovers for munching on throughout the week.
Get the recipe: 5-Ingredient Pasta Salad
4. Creamy Carrot Tomato Pasta
It’s no secret that eating enough fruits and veggies throughout the day can be a challenging task at times—especially if there’s a picky eater (or two) in the household. Enter this creamy carrot tomato pasta sauce by Vegetarian Gastronomy, which is a genius way to sneak in a few extra veggies. Super nutritious ingredients like lycopene-rich tomatoes and antioxidant-rich carrots get blended into the creamy pasta sauce, which pairs perfectly with tender-cooked macaroni noodles.
Get the recipe: Easy, 5-Ingredient Creamy Carrot Tomato Vegan Pasta Sauce
5. Hummus Pasta
This might just be our favorite out of the bunch. It’s a one-pot, five-ingredient recipe that combines two of the things we love most in this world: pasta and hummus. (Yes, you heard that right.) This protein-packed pasta recipe by Sweet Simple Vegan is super creamy, rich, and delicious, thanks to a generous scoop of garlic hummus. We already knew that this dip pairs perfectly with a bowl of crispy pita chips, but we’re beyond pleased to find out that it makes for the best no-fuss pasta sauce, too.
Get the recipe: One-Pot, Five-Ingredient Hummus Pasta
How to eat pasta every day, according to a registered dietitian:
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