Four Classic Easy Pasta Sauces—Make Now, Freeze for Later
There are certain nights when nothing but a heaping bowl of pasta will do. The from-scratch recipes below take about as much time to make as a round-trip to the grocery store for a jar of marinara, and as promised, can (almost) all be prepped ahead of time and frozen for future use.
Pesto
There are some great store-bought varieties of pesto, but nothing beats homemade, and since it takes all of five minutes to make, we highly recommend making your own. We love adding a handful of roasted cherry tomatoes for sweetness and color.
Vodka Sauce
Slightly creamy, slightly spicy, and totally comforting, this classic Italian-American sauce is always a crowd-pleaser.
Alfredo Sauce
We’re not in the habit of eating this rich and creamy sauce on the regular, but it’s a deliciously indulgent treat every once in a while and its gotten a huge thumbs up from every kid we’ve served it to. If you start the sauce when you put on the water for pasta, everything comes together perfectly timing-wise.
Aglio e Olio
This isn’t a make-ahead sauce, but it’s so simple it might as well be. If you don’t have fresh parsley and basil, add whatever fresh herbs you have on hand, or skip them. We love this plain, but it’s also killer with some spinach, kale, or finely chopped cauliflower added in—just sauté in the pan before adding the cooked pasta.
Photographer: Ryan Robert Miller
Food Stylist: Sera Wilcox