Let me tell you. These Jamie Oliver 5 Ingredients pasta recipes? They’ve saved me more times than I can count. It’s always just past 6, you’ve got that hollow-hungry tension in your belly, and the fridge is looking… bleak. Then bam—there’s a handful of olives, a lemon, half a pack of penne. Somehow, you make it work. These dishes aren’t just simple. They’ve got that hit of flavor that wakes you up a bit. A proper kick of real cooking. Inspired by Jamie Oliver, of course.
Ingredients, Forget the usual list. You’ll just need a few things. Usually five (hence the name). But don’t get fussy—some recipes flex depending on what you’ve got lying around. It’s the spirit of the thing that counts.
1. 5 Ingredients Moroccan Pasta
Vermicelli, or anything thin and slurpy. You swirl it around with oil-soaked artichokes, chopped garlic, the kind of black olives that bite back, and plum tomatoes that collapse into a kind of saucey sunset. Tastes like a warm, busy street in Marakesh. Not that I’ve been—but you feel it.
2. 5 Ingredients Speedy Tuna Pasta
Vermicelli, or anything thin and slurpy. You swirl it around with oil-soaked artichokes, chopped garlic, the kind of black olives that bite back, and plum tomatoes that collapse into a kind of saucey sunset. Tastes like a warm, busy street in Marrakesh. Not that I’ve been—but you feel it.
3. 5 Ingredients Turkish Inspired Pasta
Minced lamb, garlic, fresh mint. You mash that into a hot pan until it smells like something ancient. Then in goes the yogurt. Creamy, cool, tangy. Spoon it over pasta like you’re icing a cake. Sounds weird. Tastes insane.
4. 5 Ingredients Lemon Rocket Farfalle Pasta
Little bowties of pasta, bouncing with lemon zest and rocket that almost stings your tongue. Pistachios go in last—crunchy, salty, rich. You eat it in silence. That kind of freshness doesn’t need conversation.
5. 5 Ingredients Greek Cypriot Pasta
Grated tomatoes—don’t skip this. It’s the texture that matters. Garlic sizzled just to the edge of burnt, then stirred into orzo. And parsley, bright and wild. Halloumi on top. Always fried. Always golden.
6. 5 Ingredients Asparagus Pasta
This one hits different in spring. Penne, asparagus snappy like it’s just been picked, pancetta that crackles. And that egg-parm thing—you pour it in slow, watch it cling to every curve. It’s breakfast and dinner somehow smashed together.
7. 5 Ingredients Prawn Pasta
Spaghetti again, but this time with prawns that go pink the second they hit the pan. Lemon juice, harissa, a bit of chopped parsley. You get heat, sea, citrus. Close your eyes and it could be summer on a balcony somewhere near water.
8. 5 Ingredients Sausage Pasta
You ball up sausage meat like it owes you something. Fry it hard. The fat becomes the sauce. Add tagliatelle, stir in a beaten egg, Parmesan avalanche. It’s rich. Guilty. You’ll go back for seconds.
9. 5 Ingredients Mushroom Pasta
Trofie or fusilli—something with nooks. Mushrooms get that glossy edge from butter. Garlic, obviously. Crème fraîche gives it body, Parmesan gives it attitude. You taste the forest, kind of. It’s earthy like wet bark and old books.
10. 5 Ingredients Salmon Pasta
Hot-smoked salmon. Not delicate. It flakes apart like newspaper. Add tender asparagus, crème fraîche, a squeeze of lemon that bites your lip. Eat it fast—it doesn’t like waiting.
11. 5 Ingredients Tuna Pasta
Shell pasta. They hold onto things. Crispy capers—yes, crispy—burst like fireworks. Tomatoes burst too. Tuna’s heavy, oregano keeps it from going too far. You don’t need to think. Just eat.
12. 5 Ingredients Lemon Pasta
Linguine slides around with courgette ribbons. Mint and lemon together—like brushing your teeth after orange juice but in a good way. Parmesan melts in. It’s light, but not forgettable.
13. 5 Ingredients Winter Greens Gnocchi
Potato gnocchi, golden and chewy. Walnuts smell like fireplaces. Mascarpone melts lazily into Gorgonzola. Cavolo nero—the kind of green that makes your jaw work. Deep. Comforting. Like a wool blanket for your mouth.
14. 5 Ingredients Mussel Tagliatelle
Fresh pasta strips cut by hand, mussels that cling to their shells like secrets. Garlic, mushrooms, Manchego—it’s sharp, it’s salty. Feels indulgent but you still want more.
15. 5 Ingredients Crab Linguine
Crab meat, soft and sweet, rolled into little balls. Arrabbiata sauce—spicy and red like a temper tantrum. You want bread to mop the plate, but forget it. Not needed.
16. 5 Ingredients Sweet Pea Orecchiette
Tiny bowls of pasta cradling peas, potato cubes, onions. Pecorino ties it all together—sharp, creamy, stubborn. Feels like something a grandmother might make if she also knew how to DJ.
17. 5 Ingredients Roasted Squash Lasagne
Butternut or onion squash, roasted till sweet and sunburned. Layered with chestnuts (yes, chestnuts), fried sage, Taleggio oozing at the edges. Not traditional. Not trying to be.
18. 5 Ingredients Chestnut Carbonara
Old pasta gets a new life. Pancetta crackles. Chestnuts go crisp around the edges. Then egg, cheese, a swirl of black pepper. Tastes like Christmas met brunch and stayed the night.