One Canned Soup Is All You Need For A Rich Seafood Pasta Sauce

Some of the biggest benefits of making pasta for dinner are its quick cooking time and mild flavor, with the latter meaning you can pair it with just about any kind of sauce. Sure, you can grab a jar of marinara, but why not make an easy seafood pasta using none other than canned clam chowder?

In canned form, New England clam chowder closely mimics pasta sauce. Its creamy texture and rich, savory flavor are exactly what you'd want in a hearty pasta dish. And purchasing canned soup allows you to make an easy recipe without spending a fortune on seafood. (We ranked Walmart's affordable Great Value brand as one of our favorite canned clam chowder varieties.) If you want, you can liven up the soup in a few ways, such as adding in some fresh herbs like parsley or dill, or buying an additional container of canned clams to get even more of that seafood flavor in each bite.

If the soup is too thick, thin it out with a little starchy pasta water, which will give it a lighter consistency without sacrificing much taste. If you prefer a significantly thinner consistency, you can swap the New England clam chowder for Manhattan clam chowder, which offers a light, tomato-based consistency that's reminiscent of more classic red pasta sauce.

Whether you choose Manhattan or New England varieties, clam chowder is an obvious choice for seafood pasta — but it isn't the only one. For an arguably richer, saltier flavor, grab a can of lobster or crab bisque. Bisque usually starts with a seafood stock, then gets combined with other robust ingredients like brandy or sherry, plus rich add-ons like butter and cream. Toss the bisque with some penne, then top it with freshly grated Parmesan and parsley for an elevated pasta dish at home that costs far less than what you'd pay for something similar at a restaurant.

For greater texture, you can purchase additional canned crab meat or steamed lobsters and build an even heftier dish. Of course, this will increase the overall price of the meal, but it's still less expensive than prepping that sauce from scratch. And if you do happen to make a homemade lobster bisque and have leftovers, now you know how to use them.