Beat the Heat With These 14 Quick Summer Pasta Recipes

Sesame Noodles with chili paste, cucumbers, and scallions in a blue bow with a wavy patterm — Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

It's mid-summer, and we're all hot and sweaty. The last thing anyone wants to do is spend more time sweating in the kitchen. One solution? Pasta and noodles of all kinds. They're cheap, quick, and endlessly adaptable. To prove it, we've rounded up some of our favorite recipes, from bold, flavor-packed pasta salads to cold, slurpable noodles and breezy takes on Italian classics. Keep these recipes on rotation and you'll breeze through the summer heat like a champ.

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Italian-American Pasta Salad

Serious Eats / Greg Dupree

Contrary to popular belief, not all pasta needs to be cooked al dente. Cooking the pasta just past that point ensures it stays tender—but isn't mushy—when chilled. A concave-shaped pasta like orecchiette is ideal for capturing vegetables, cheese, and cured meats in each bite. Opt for punchy, flavor-dense components, such as capers, olives, pickled peppers, and rendered salami oil, to build intensity beyond the usual vinaigrette.

Italian-American Pasta Salad
Lemony Orzo Pasta Salad

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

Perfectly cooked orzo makes an excellent base for a balanced pasta salad built from pantry staples, such as canned chickpeas and jarred banana peppers, along with a few fresh ingredients. Tossing the orzo with half the vinaigrette while it's still hot prevents clumping and helps it absorb the dressing.

Lemony Orzo Pasta Salad
Pasta With Burst Cherry Tomatoes and XO Sauce

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Sometimes all a pasta needs is the right condiment. Here, that's XO sauce, a deeply savory condiment packed with dried seafood and cured ham. Its intense umami balances the sweet, bright cherry tomatoes, giving the quick sauce the richness of a long-simmered ragù in a fraction of the time.

Pasta With Burst Cherry Tomatoes and XO Sauce
Macarona Bil Laban (Levantine Macaroni With Yogurt, Lamb, Pine Nuts, and Herbs)

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Think of this as mac 'n cheese's brighter Levantine cousin, tailor-made for summer. Hot pasta is cooled slightly, then tossed with creamy whole milk yogurt brightened with lemon juice. It's layered with spiced lamb or beef, toasted pine nuts, and a generous amount of freshly chopped mint and parsley.

Macarona Bil Laban (Levantine Macaroni With Yogurt, Lamb, Pine Nuts, and Herbs)

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Bibim Guksu (Korean Cold Mixed Noodles)

Serious Eats / Matt Hunziker

These thin, cold, chewy noodles are slicked with a sweet and spicy gochujang-based sauce that makes them wonderfully slurpable. Julienned cucumber and perilla leaves add a cooling contrast, while a hard-cooked egg and toasted sesame seeds bring richness and crunch.

Bibim Guksu (Korean Cold Mixed Noodles)
Chinese Cold Noodle Salad with Sesame Dressing

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

This chilled noodle salad from contributor Lucas Sin stands out for its simplicity and execution. Cooling the noodles locks in their surface starch, helping them better absorb the creamy, nutty dressing made with toasted sesame paste and a Chinese vinaigrette.

Chinese Cold Noodle Salad with Sesame Dressing
Sicilian-Style Spaghetti Alla Carrettiera (Fresh Tomato and Garlic Sauce)

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Our take on this Sicilian classic couldn't be easier or faster: Grate fresh tomatoes and mix with raw garlic, chopped basil, olive oil, and red pepper flakes for a quick, zippy sauce. Toss with hot spaghetti, a splash of pasta water, and toasted breadcrumbs to help the sauce cling to the noodles.

Sicilian-Style Spaghetti Alla Carrettiera (Fresh Tomato and Garlic Sauce)
Tangy and Creamy Macaroni Salad

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

This bold, tangy macaroni salad is a standout at any summer cookout. The dressing—made with Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, and hot sauce—packs a punch, while shallots, celery, and scallions add crisp texture. A spoonful of apple cider vinegar tossed into the hot macaroni brings brightness to every bite.

Tangy and Creamy Macaroni Salad

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Spaghetti Puttanesca (Spaghetti With Capers, Olives, and Anchovies)

Serious Eats / Melissa Hom

This quick spin on spaghetti puttanesca uses less water to cook the pasta, which increases the water's starchiness and helps emulsify the sauce quickly. To make this dish even more substantial, add some good-quality oil-packed tuna.

Spaghetti Puttanesca (Spaghetti With Capers, Olives, and Anchovies)
Classic Cold Soba

Serious Eats / Diana Chistruga

Pairing cold buckwheat noodles with a well-balanced dashi-based dipping sauce is about as minimalist as it gets. The clean flavors of the sauce, accented with grated daikon, wasabi, and chopped scallions, allow the nutty, chewy soba noodles to take center stage.

Classic Cold Soba
Rigatoni Con Pesce Spada (Pasta With Swordfish, Tomato, and Eggplant)

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

There's a reason why this Sicilian pasta with swordfish, fresh tomatoes, and eggplant is a summertime classic: It's hearty enough to satisfy, but light on effort. It comes together in about 30 minutes and requires barely more than one pan. How's that for easy?

Rigatoni Con Pesce Spada (Pasta With Swordfish, Tomato, and Eggplant)
Mul Naengmyun (Korean Cold Noodle Soup With Asian Pear and Cucumber)

Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer

Topped with crisp cucumber, pickled radish, and Asian pear, these slick, chewy buckwheat noodles floating in an icy beef broth are ideal for slurping on a hot summer day. They're also served with cold sliced brisket and a hard-boiled egg, then seasoned with mustard and vinegar to taste.

Mul Naengmyun (Cold Korean Noodle Soup)

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Pesto alla Trapanese (Sicilian Pesto With Almonds and Tomatoes)

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Fresh tomatoes give this Sicilian-style pesto its distinctive, creamy orange color. Crushing the ingredients—tomatoes, almonds, garlic, and basil—in a mortar and pestle releases their flavors more fully. Because the sauce is simply warmed by the heat of the pasta when tossed together, the fresh flavors of the ingredients remain intact.

Pesto alla Trapanese (Sicilian Pesto With Almonds and Tomatoes)
Yam Woon Sen (Thai Glass Noodle Salad With Shrimp)

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

This spicy, tangy noodle salad comes together in under 30 minutes and is ideal for lunch or a light supper. Cook the shrimp and ground pork in the same pot, then remove them to boil the glass noodles. Not only is this efficient, but it helps flavor the glass noodles, which act like a sponge to absorb all the bright, punchy flavors of the dressing. Shallots, tomatoes, Chinese celery, and roasted peanuts, meanwhile, provide a refreshing crunch.

Yam Woon Sen (Thai Glass Noodle Salad With Shrimp)