Pasta Recipes for Two

Pasta recipes for two — creamy one-pan pastas, garlic butter noodles, and small-batch classics that taste like a long simmer in half the time.

The collection leans on one-pan technique: a garlic butter chicken with orzo, a slow cooker chicken and ground beef ragu over pasta, and a pan-seared chicken breast with creamy tomato garlic pasta. Each one builds a sauce that coats the pasta rather than a plain jarred topping.

Portions are measured for two servings, which changes the pasta math — less water, a smaller pan, and a sauce that clings instead of flooding a family-size bowl. Timings stay under 45 minutes, and most recipes are single-pot once the pasta is in.

The one-pan approach matters more at this scale: with less pasta in the pan, the starch it releases thickens the sauce faster, so you don't need a second pot or a roux. That's why these recipes cook the pasta directly in the liquid, then finish with a handful of cheese or butter off the heat.