The Best Boxed Pasta for a Quick and Delicious Weeknight Carb Fix

If you're whipping up a batch of homemade Bolognese sauce for Sunday supper, the only noodle shape up for the task of clinging to that sauce is classic pappardelle. 

More toothsome than spaghetti, but still a long pasta that can be twirled around a fork, this boxed pasta tastes almost as good as a homemade recipe. 

These pappardelle nests from Colavita make cooking fun — just drop a nest or two into a pot of salted boiling water and simmer for 8 minutes until it's al dente. This pasta will make any meat sauce sing.

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If you have an active family on the go and can't seem to get enough whole grains into your little one's diet, switch out that white-flour-based pasta for a serving of this organic whole-wheat-grain orecchiette from DeLallo instead.

It's loaded with 6 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein per serving — and tastes downright delicious cloaked in a creamy cheese sauce with broccoli florets. 

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With 25 grams of protein, 13 grams of fiber, and nearly half the net carbs of traditional pasta, this best-selling chickpea-based boxed pasta from Banza is a gluten-free no-brainer. 

With shells, elbows, penne, and rotini included in this six-pack, the recipe possibilities are virtually endless.

We especially love subbing in this rotini for wheat-based pasta in our mac and cheese for a seriously satisfying protein boost.

Turn any boring tomato sauce-based dish into a spicy arrabbiata by simply adding this Sriracha-infused fusilli from Sfoglini into your recipe. Just slightly spicy with a nice chewy texture, this boxed pasta adds a tasty kick to minestrone or chicken noodle soup.

If you're making your own macaroni and cheese from scratch, you should use these perfectly bite-sized organic noodles from World Market, which are shell-shaped to soak up every drop of that creamy cheese sauce. We love adding green peas and freshly cracked pepper to our homemade mac for good measure. 

A number-one best-selling pasta, this spaghetti from household name Barilla is unanimously praised by reviewers for both taste and texture. Delicious served with virtually any sauce, from simple tomato sauce to creamy carbonara, we recommend stocking up on this popular long-cut pasta for weeknight meals. 

One of the most popular and readily available brands on the market, Barilla has an extensive variety of versatile dried pasta for virtually any occasion or meal. We love this fun rotini shape for use in hearty soups or fresh pasta salads.

With a cook time of only 3 minutes, these angel hair pasta nests are perfect for a quick and easy addition to any weeknight dinner. Try sautéing these thin noodles with ripe cherry tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella for a lighter pasta dish.

This traditional bucatini — a slightly thicker and more toothsome version of spaghetti — is made by using hand-carved bronze molds. This gives the pasta a distinct coarse texture, which in turn gives it excellent sauce-gripping abilities. 

Hands-down our favorite pasta shape, this bucatini is perfect for creamy, saucy pasta dishes like bucatini carbonara or cacio e pepe.