How to make a complete pasta meal in one pot

Cooking noodles, sauce, and veggies together delivers delicious results for hardly any effort— if you do it right. Here’s how.

By Weight Watchers

Last updated February 13, 2023

How to make a complete pasta meal in one pot

Imagine that you could streamline dinner—and save on cleanup time—by combining pasta, vegetables, seasonings, and liquid all in a single pot. By the time the pasta is perfectly al dente, the liquid has thickened into a creamy sauce. It’s not just a fantasy. Not only does this method work, it serves up your pasta enveloped in a lush, velvety coating that feels decadent without extra oil, butter, or cream. The secret: the starchy pasta-cooking water that forms the base of the sauce.

Use our mix-and-match guidelines to make a masterpiece one-pot pasta, or try this technique with our stovetop mac and cheese first .

Picking the perfect pot

The wrong cooking pot can ruin a dish. The right size allows optimal absorption and evaporation of liquid so the pasta is done just as the sauce reaches the ideal texture. A wide pot works best. Choose either a 12-inch straight-sided sauté pan or a large Dutch oven or stockpot, and stir frequently to make sure the pasta cooks evenly and doesn’t stick together.

Mix and match: One-pot pasta

Choose one item (or more) from each section, plus 1 Tbsp of oil for every 4 servings. Follow the cooking process outlined at left for the mac-and-cheese recipe, using your choice of ingredients. The WeightWatchers Recipe Builder can help you find the Points® value.

Pasta	Liquid	Seasoning	Vegetables	Protein
(2 oz per serving) Quick Cooking (pair with delicate vegetables that you add toward the end of cooking) Angel hair Vermicelli Capellini Elbow macaroni Orzo Sturdy (pair with sturdy vegetables that take longer to soften) Linguine Fettuccine Spaghetti Rigatoni Fusilli Farfalle Gemelli	Use 100 percent broth or dilute one of the other options with water for a total of ¾ cup to 1 cup liquid per serving. Start with the lesser amount of liquid, and add more if the pasta starts to stick to the pot before it’s cooked. When using milk, simmer (don’t boil), or your sauce may curdle. Low-sodium chicken, beef, or vegetable broth Low-fat (1%) milk (dairy or nondairy) Tomato or vegetable juice Wine Citrus juice	Garlic Salt and pepper Red pepper flakes Dried herbs and spices (add at the beginning) Fresh herbs (add at the end) Capers Olives Bacon or pancetta (cook first, then drain) Fresh ginger Reduced-sodium soy sauce Hot sauce Sun-dried tomatoes	Juicy (reduce cooking liquid slightly): Fresh or canned tomatoes Zucchini Mushrooms Onions Sturdy: Carrots Butternut squash Eggplant Broccoli Cauliflower Bell peppers Celery Delicate (add toward the end): Leafy greens Asparagus Frozen peas Snow peas Artichoke hearts (frozen or canned) Scallions	Chop raw protein into bite-size pieces and cook in the pot first. Transfer to a plate while you cook the pasta, then return to the pot toward the end. Skinless boneless chicken breast Ground turkey breast Ground extralean (10% fat or less) beef Shrimp Chicken sausage Ham Canned tuna or salmon Canned beans (rinsed and drained) Diced tofu Shredded cheese

Try Our Recipe!

One-pot butternut squash mac & cheese

#Easy10 MIN

Picking the perfect pot

Mix and match: One-pot pasta

Try Our Recipe!

One-pot butternut squash mac & cheese

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