81 cheesy pasta sauce recipes

Chili macaroni is a one-pot weeknight dinner combining ground beef, kidney beans, corn, tomatoes, and elbow macaroni in a chili-spiced sauce, topped with melted cheddar. Think homemade Hamburger Helper chili mac, only better.

This comes out almost black in color and is VERY HOT!

Authentic Italian Beef Manicotti recipe that everyone loves. Pasta shells stuffed with beef and cheese lovingly surrounded by a rich homemade sauce.

Skillet macaroni barbecue: elbow pasta simmered one-pot with stewed tomatoes, barbecue sauce, sweet corn, peppers, onions, and melted cheddar on top. A vegetarian weeknight skillet dinner that tastes like a cowboy diner plate.

Low-fat pasta with dry-sauteed vegetables in fat-free spaghetti sauce. Chunky onion, pepper, mushrooms, and zucchini over pasta with Parmesan. A quick vegetarian weeknight dinner.

Hearty baked ziti with ground beef and Italian sausage in spaghetti sauce, tossed with pasta shells and smothered in melted mozzarella. A big-batch family dinner with serious meat and cheese.

Vegetarian stuffed pasta shells loaded with sauteed mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, and ricotta, baked in tomato sauce with melted mozzarella. A hearty meatless main dish.

Pasta stuffed pizza-style, jumbo pasta shells filled with shredded zucchini, torn pepperoni and Italian bread crumbs, baked under tomato sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan. A pizza-night mashup in shell form.

Carol's lasagna stacks six noodle layers with a triple-cheese mix of ricotta, cottage, and romano, plus mozzarella and a slow-simmered ground beef tomato sauce. The classic baked pasta done generously.

Macaroni and bean soup with white beans, salt pork, elbow pasta, and a tomato-beef broth base. An Italian-American pasta e fagioli cousin with a hearty two-hour simmer for deep flavor.

Cold pasta salad with cubed Spam, cheddar cheese, crunchy veggies, and a smoky BBQ-mustard-mayo dressing. No cooking required beyond boiling the pasta!

Cajun shrimp pasta with linguine tossed in a slow-simmered tomato sauce spiked with cayenne, thyme, Worcestershire, and hot sauce, finished with Parmesan.

Fettuccine with Gorgonzola sauce tossed with sauteed asparagus, leeks, artichoke hearts, red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, and garlic. A vegetable-loaded pasta with bold blue cheese flavor.

Mike's lasagne layers hot Italian sausage, ground beef, ricotta, and mozzarella between noodles with a red wine-spiked tomato sauce. Hearty, slow-simmered Italian-American lasagna.

Italian zucchini casserole with a spaghetti sauce, cheddar cheese, and mushroom topping baked under Parmesan. A vegetarian main dish or side that uses up summer zucchini.

Spinach and three-cheese stuffed manicotti with sautéed mushrooms, baked in spaghetti sauce until bubbly. No-boil shells make this Florentine-style pasta a breeze.