Five Weeknight Pastas You Can Make in 20 Minutes

Pantry-friendly pasta dinners that respect both your time and your tastebuds.

The best weeknight pastas lean on a handful of pantry staples and the starchy water you would otherwise pour down the drain. That cloudy water is the secret to a silky, restaurant-style sauce that clings to every strand.

Cacio e pepe needs nothing but pecorino, black pepper, and that pasta water. Aglio e olio asks only for garlic, olive oil, and chili. Keep good dry pasta and a wedge of hard cheese on hand and you are never more than twenty minutes from dinner.

Salt your water like the sea, cook the pasta a minute shy of the box, and finish it in the sauce. These small habits turn five simple ingredients into something that tastes like you tried much harder than you did.