Salad and pasta is a quintessential dinner combo. It's fairly easy, totally delicious, and with so many with so many salad and pasta recipes to choose from, you never have to have the same meal twice. (But we won't judge you for eating your favorites over and over if you want.) 

The recipes below capture all the cozy, comforting flavors of your favorite pasta dishes, made with real ingredients at home. Paired with salads that elevate the typical "iceberg lettuce with a few chopped tomatoes and croutons drowned in vinaigrette," these are dinners worth sharing. 

Salad & Pasta Dinners for Busy Weeknights

Busy weeknights are all about efficiency: minimal ingredients, minimal time, minimal effort.

Dinner Menu #1: Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan with a Side Wedge Salad

Chicken parm recipes can be laborious, but our version needs only a handful of simple ingredients that cook at the same time in your Instant Pot. While the Instant Pot does its thing in just 5 minutes (plus the time it takes the device to come to pressure), you assemble the salad, and voila. Dinner is on the table before you know it.

• Chef's tips: To save time, use pre-cooked bacon or bacon bits for the salad. For an even creamier, more indulgent salad, use Primal Kitchen Buttermilk Ranch Dressing or Creamy Romano Dressing made with grass-fed dairy.

Dinner Menu #2: Rotisserie Chicken Alfredo Pasta with Caprese Salad

Two Italian classics. Grab a rotisserie chicken on your way home from work, and you can have a complete meal on the table in about 20 minutes. Really!

A Salad & Pasta Dinner That Feeds A Crowd

When you're hosting a dinner party, book club, or a family get-together, you need recipes that are easy to double or triple and that don't require you to be tethered to the stove ignoring your guests. 

Start with this Baked Feta Pasta with Sundried Tomato Sauce. Sundried Tomato Sauce is made with organic California-grown tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, and other real ingredients. The decadent flavor will make your guests think you've been working hard in the kitchen. Little will they know that you just combined a few simple ingredients in a baking dish and cooked a box or two of noodles.

For the salad, this Cobb Salad served family style is always a crowd-pleaser. Or keep it simple with a large tossed salad like this classic Greek Salad.

A Salad & Pasta Dinner You Can Make Ahead of Time

One of the best things about pasta is that the leftovers are usually as good, if not better, than the first time around. Not so much for salads, which wilt and become sad in the fridge. But never fear, there is a way to meal prep a salad and pasta dinner. Here's what we'd do:

For the salad, pick one that use hearty greens like kale or collard greens as the base instead of lettuce, then add toppings that won't release too much liquid in the fridge. This Kale Caesar Salad with chickpeas and cauliflower florets is just the ticket. In fact, it actually gets tastier if the ingredients have some time to marinate in the dressing.

• Chef's tip: The recipe calls for Primal Kitchen's Plant Based Caesar Dressing for a vegan option, but you can also use our no-dairy Caesar Dressing or Creamy Romano made with grass-fed romano cheese.

For the main course, you can't go wrong with One-Pot Pasta with Meat Sauce, an easy take on a classic ragu. The recipe can be made dairy-free, or use regular cheese. If you double the recipe, you can enjoy the leftovers for lunch all week!

A Salad & Pasta Dinner for Date Night

So you want to impress a special someone? We've got you covered. 

This Million Dollar Spaghetti is a bit more involved than simply boiling some noodles and adding a jar of sauce, but it's totally worth the effort. (And it's still pretty simple!) The name says it all—this pasta tastes like a million bucks.

Since presentation is key, we suggest serving it alongside a Rainbow Salad with vibrant vegetables arranged on top of crisp greens. The salad provides a burst of color that's almost like a floral arrangement you can eat.

 Bon appetit!