Chefs share the best and worst meals to make with a box of pasta

• Insider asked chefs about the dishes they do and don't recommend making with boxed pasta.
• Pasta salad and cacio e pepe are both fairly easy meals to throw together.
• Stuffed shells and spaghetti carbonara can feel heavy.

Boxed pasta is affordable, simple to cook, and easy to keep on hand, but it's not ideal for every recipe.

Insider spoke with professional chefs to find out the meals they love making with dry pasta, and which dishes they tend to skip.

Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes is perfect for summer

Chef and Italian cookbook author Maria Liberati told Insider that boxed spaghetti is the perfect vehicle for showcasing ripe and juicy summer produce like tomatoes.

"I like to use spaghetti to highlight the taste of fresh summer tomatoes," Liberati said. "Just top your pasta with tomatoes sautéed with capers, garlic, olive oil, and oregano."

You can add an additional drizzle of oil or a sprinkle of basil to garnish.

You can turn leftover boxed pasta into a frittata

Turning leftover pasta into a frittata is a simple way to reduce food waste and make lunch at the same time.

"One of my favorite ways of reusing leftover boxed pasta is to make a pasta egg frittata," Liberati said. "It's really flavorful and can be wrapped in parchment paper to take for lunch or a picnic."

To make this dish, combine your leftover pasta with beaten eggs, toss in chopped vegetables or meat for added flavor, and bake in the oven until set.

Premade pasta makes for a great, cold summer salad

You can turn a simple box of pasta into a refreshing salad by tossing it with fresh vegetables and fragrant olive oil.

"Cold pasta salad is summer's favorite dish," Liberati said. "It's refreshing to eat on a hot day and easy to bring to an outdoor picnic or your own backyard for some al fresco eating."

Liberati recommended mixing bow-tie pasta with pesto, avocado, salmon pieces, and fresh grape tomatoes for a filling and flavorful side.

Cacio e pepe is a classic dish made with just 3 extra ingredients

Chef Joel Gamoran of Abbio Kitchen told Insider that one of his favorite easy pasta dishes is cacio e pepe, which means "cheese and pepper" in Italian.

"There may not be a better dried-pasta dish out there. It uses just three ingredients - black pepper, parmesan cheese, and pasta water," Gamoran said. "It seems simple, but there is some technique involved, and it's amazing when done right."

To make the traditional dish, which often calls for spaghetti or bucatini, swirl cooked noodles with black pepper, parmesan cheese, and a bit of pasta water in a skillet on low heat until melty and combined, adding butter or additional spices if needed.

It's better to make linguine and clams with dry pasta

There are some dishes that dried pasta is better suited for than the fresh alternative, and the denser texture of the boxed option is actually an asset when making linguine and clams.

"This dish simply does not work with fresh pasta," Gamoran said. "You need the bite of the dry pasta to soak up all the juice from the clams, garlic, and white wine."

Although you can certainly top this dish with some grated parmesan cheese, Gamoran recommended a sprinkling of breadcrumbs instead.

Spaghetti marinara with chicken or shrimp is a lighter Italian option

Jessica Randhawa, chef and recipe creator at The Forked Spoon, told Insider that she enjoys preparing spaghetti with marinara sauce and some protein.

"Spaghetti marinara is a healthier choice when it comes to Italian cuisine," Randhawa said. "Along with a marinara sauce packed with onions, garlic, and fresh herbs, you can add chicken or shrimp for protein."

Home cooks looking to avoid meat can instead add olives, capers, or sautéed mushrooms to their sauce for an extra dose of umami flavor.

On the other hand, spaghetti carbonara can feel heavy

Randhawa told Insider that although this pasta dish can be tasty, she doesn't recommend whipping it up at home too often.

"I usually skip making spaghetti carbonara," Randhawa said. "With ingredients like egg yolks, lots of olive oil, cheese, bacon, and often heavy cream, this is a very unhealthy dish that is pretty hard to lighten up."

Stuffed shells can be tricky to make with dry pasta

Randhawa said that she tends to avoid making stuffed shells with boxed pasta.

"Stuffed shells are usually filled with multiple fatty kinds of cheese," Randhawa said. "They're definitely not the most health-conscious pasta dish."

Premade, dry shells can also be prone to cracking and splitting during cooking, so if you're looking to make this dish at home, you should use fresh pasta instead.

If it's not prepared right, orzo in sauce can be unappetizing

Although it looks a bit like rice, orzo is actually a type of pasta that usually calls for a heavy parmesan or butter sauce, which can turn the meal into a gluey mess.

"The sauce for orzo is typically made with loads of butter, oil, milk, and parmesan cheese, with the only vegetable being garlic," Randhawa said. "It can turn out way too heavy."

If you're looking to prepare a lighter version of orzo, try dressing it in a drizzle of olive oil and lemon or mixing the pasta with a helping of steamed vegetables.

Penne alla vodka doesn't always deliver on flavor

This tomato-based pasta dish is typically made with penne, heavy cream, onions, and vodka.

Gamoran told Insider that he's not a fan of any aspect of this meal, from the shape of the pasta to the flavor of the sauce.

"Penne doesn't hold onto sauce well and squeaks when you eat it cold. As for the sauce itself, you don't taste the vodka so I'm not sure why it's in there," Gamoran said. "99% of vodka sauce tastes like tomato soup."

Spaghetti and meatballs is an easy dish to get wrong

Depending on how it's prepared, spaghetti and meatballs made with dried pasta can be hit or miss.

"Most people spoon the red sauce with the meatballs over the pasta," Gamoran said. "In order for a dry pasta to hit its maximum potential, it needs to be cooked and finished in the sauce itself."

Gamoran added that instead of going to the trouble of making meatballs, you should prepare a ragù, a type of meat-based sauce, and simply cook the spaghetti in that instead.