When I'm feeling thrifty, I like to make fried pasta. I cook noodles, then with a bit of oil I'll fry a diced onion, garlic, sliced mushrooms or zucchini (whatever's in the fridge will do), season it with cajun seasoning, italian, crushed chilis, etc, then add the pasta to the veg and toss it until the oil coats it and it's all nicely heated. It's suprisingly good; not having a saucy base is a nice change when you've been eating a lot of pasta. You can add just about anything that's kicking around the fridge, from halved olives or sundried tomatoes, to cilantro, spinach, celery, or any leftover meat(diced sandwich salami is great). The first time I made it, I was kind of broke and I had invited a date over for dinner, since I was too broke to go out. I made what I could with the scraps in my fridge, and he liked it so much that after 10 years together, he still asks me to make fried pasta, even when we have plenty of sauce to go around.
There are lots of cheap pasta sauce in tetra packs and they won't cost you more than a dollar per piece. If you're aiming for red sauce, then you can very well make your own by putting a clump of tomatoes in a blender and adding herbs and spices to the mix. I do think it's much cheaper to go for carbonara sauce. You can just buy a can of cream soup and pour it over the drained pasta. Add other ingredients such as ham or bacon if you like.
I enjoy doing something similar. As much as I love marinara, it just feels like too much sometimes. Sauteed pasta and veggies can be such a nice change of pace when that happens. It’s super fun to experiment with the flavors and veggie combos, too.
I guess I am pretty lucky to live in a place wherein pasta sauce is not really that expensive. There is a local brand called "Del Monte" that offers a wide range of sauces from tomato to banana. They are very cheap but really tasty.
