Broccoli pasta is an easy 30-minute dinner that turns simple, affordable ingredients into a creamy, comforting meal packed with broccoli.
For more pasta with vegetables, try our zucchini pasta, asparagus pasta, or broccoli orzo with white beans.
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Why you’ll love our broccoli pasta!
Broccoli pasta is one of those simple Italian recipes I grew up eating all the time, and honestly, it’s much more common in Italian homes than famous dishes like carbonara or amatriciana. 🥦🇮🇹
The magic is in how the broccoli cooks until tender and creamy, coating the pasta with a simple, flavorful sauce made from everyday ingredients. There’s no heavy cream needed, and the whole dish comes together in about 30 minutes.
Louise and I love it because it makes eating more vegetables feel effortless. Broccoli adds plenty of goodness, while pasta makes the meal satisfying and comforting. It’s a wholesome, Mediterranean-style dinner that fits naturally into a balanced way of eating. 🌿
Best of all, you don’t need anything fancy. A handful of affordable ingredients and one pot of boiling water are enough to make a cozy, nutritious weeknight meal the whole family can enjoy.
P.S: For even more easy Italian pasta recipes, check out our pasta and peas, spaghetti aglio e olio, or pasta alla Norma with eggplant.
Ingredients
Full ingredients and substitutions are in the recipe box below.
- Broccoli: fresh broccoli is my favorite here, and you can use the tender stems too. Frozen broccoli works well if that’s what you have.
- Pasta: short shapes like conchiglie, orecchiette, rigatoni, penne, or fusilli are perfect because they catch the creamy broccoli. Whole wheat, chickpea, or lentil pasta work too.
- Extra virgin olive oil: a good olive oil adds richness and is part of what makes such a simple pasta taste so good. Regular olive oil is fine too.
- Garlic: adds plenty of flavor with very little effort. If you don’t tolerate garlic well, simply leave it out or cook a halved clove in the oil and remove it before adding the broccoli.
- Red pepper flakes: optional, but I love the little kick they add. Black pepper is a good alternative if you prefer no heat.
- Parmesan: makes the broccoli extra savory and creamy. Pecorino Romano is delicious too, while feta gives it a tangier flavor. For dairy-free, try nutritional yeast.
How to Make Broccoli Pasta
Step 1. Boil the broccoli
Cut the broccoli into small florets.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook for about 5 minutes, or until fork-tender.
Keep the cooking water as you’ll use it for the pasta.
Step 2. Make the broccoli sauce
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the grated garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about 1 minute, stirring often.
Lift the broccoli out of the pot with a slotted spoon and add it to the skillet.
Add 1 cup of the broccoli cooking water, season with salt, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the broccoli is very soft.
Mash with a fork for a rustic texture, or use an immersion blender for a smoother, creamy broccoli sauce.
Step 3. Cook the pasta
Meanwhile, cook the short pasta in the same water you used for the broccoli.
Cook it for about 2 minutes less than the package directions.
Before draining, reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
Step 4. Finish the pasta
Add the drained pasta to the broccoli sauce.
Stir in the grated Parmesan and cook for about 1 minute, tossing until the pasta is well coated.
Add a splash of reserved pasta water if needed to make it creamy and saucy.
Taste, adjust the salt and Parmesan, and serve.
Serving Suggestions
- Add more protein: Serve with white beans, chickpeas, crispy tofu, grilled chicken, shrimp, or salmon for a more substantial meal.
- Pair it with a simple salad: A tomato cucumber salad, arugula salad, or mixed greens with lemon vinaigrette keeps dinner fresh and balanced.
- Make it a family dinner: Serve with warm crusty bread or garlic bread and a big salad. It’s simple, filling, and easy to scale up.
- Bring it to a potluck: Broccoli pasta is easy to make in a larger batch. Keep it slightly saucier than usual, as the pasta absorbs sauce while it sits.
- Make it ahead for lunch: Prepare it the night before and refrigerate. When reheating, add a splash of water to loosen the sauce and bring back its creaminess.
- Finish it your way: Add extra Parmesan, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, toasted breadcrumbs, or a drizzle of good olive oil just before serving.
Variations
- Add crispy pancetta: Cook diced pancetta in the skillet until crisp, then set it aside. Make the broccoli sauce in the rendered fat with a little olive oil, then stir the pancetta back in before serving.
- Add Italian sausage: Brown and crumble mild or hot Italian sausage, then add it back to the skillet when you toss the pasta with the broccoli. This makes the dish especially hearty.
- Try it with anchovies: This is a delicious Italian-style variation. Add 4 to 5 anchovy fillets to the olive oil with the grated garlic and red pepper flakes. Let them melt into the oil—they add deep savory flavor without making the pasta taste of fish.
- Keep it meatless: White beans or chickpeas are easy additions if you want something more substantial while keeping the recipe vegetarian.
Tips
- Cook the broccoli until very soft: This isn’t the time for crisp-tender broccoli. It should be soft enough to mash easily and become part of the sauce.
- Cut the florets small: Smaller pieces cook faster and break down more easily, giving you a creamier sauce.
- Don’t throw away the broccoli water: Cook the pasta in the same water. It saves a pot and carries some of that broccoli flavor into the pasta.
- Always reserve pasta water: The starchy water loosens the broccoli and helps the olive oil, Parmesan, and sauce cling to the pasta.
- Add pasta water gradually: Start with a splash and add more only as needed. Too much at once can make the sauce watery.
- Watch the garlic: Grated garlic cooks quickly. Keep the heat moderate and cook just until fragrant; browned garlic can taste bitter.
- Undercook the pasta slightly: Drain it about 2 minutes before it’s done so it can finish cooking in the skillet and absorb the sauce.
- Mash to your preferred texture: A fork gives you a more rustic Italian-style sauce; an immersion blender makes it smoother and creamier.
- Finish the pasta in the skillet: Tossing everything together for the final minute is what turns broccoli, olive oil, cheese, and pasta water into a cohesive sauce.
- Grate your own Parmesan: Freshly grated cheese melts more smoothly than pre-grated cheese and gives the sauce a better texture.
- Don’t let it sit too long: Broccoli pasta is best served right away because the pasta continues absorbing the sauce as it sits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can leave out the Parmesan and add a little extra olive oil. Nutritional yeast is also a good dairy-free option.
Absolutely. For an easy weeknight option, stir in shredded rotisserie chicken when you add the pasta to the broccoli sauce, giving it just enough time to warm through.
You can also add browned and crumbled Italian sausage, crispy pancetta, shrimp, white beans, or chickpeas.
Reserve some pasta water and add it gradually as you toss everything together. The starch helps the mashed broccoli, olive oil, and Parmesan coat the pasta.
Let leftovers cool, then refrigerate them in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat with a splash of water to loosen the sauce.
You can also freeze broccoli pasta, although the pasta will be softer after thawing. Freeze in an airtight container, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and reheat thoroughly.
More Wholesome Pasta Dinners
- Pasta e Ceci
- Lentil Pasta
- Pasta e Fagioli
- Lemon Ricotta Pasta
- Cherry Tomato Pasta
- Mediterranean Mushroom Pasta
- Mediterranean Pasta
- Lemon Zucchini Orzo
If you try this Broccoli Pasta Recipe please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it turned out in the comments—we love hearing from you.
Broccoli Pasta (Easy 6 Ingredients)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound broccoli cut into small florets
- 12 ounces short pasta orecchiette, rigatoni, penne, fusilli, or shells
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes or more to taste
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated, plus more for serving
- ½ teaspoon salt season the pasta water well, then add more to taste
Instructions
- Boil the broccoli: Cut 1 pound broccoli into small florets. Boil in a large pot of salted water for about 5 minutes, until fork-tender. Keep the cooking water for the pasta.
- Make the broccoli sauce: Heat 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 cloves garlic (grated) and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute, stirring often.Transfer the broccoli to the skillet with a slotted spoon. Add 1 cup of broccoli cooking water, ½ teaspoon salt, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until very soft. Mash with a fork, or blend with an immersion blender for a smoother sauce.
- Cook the pasta: Cook 12 ounces short pasta in the same water as the broccoli for about 2 minutes less than the package directions. Before draining, reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
- Finish the pasta: Add the drained pasta to the broccoli sauce. Stir in ½ cup Parmesan cheese and cook for about 1 minute, tossing until creamy and well coated.Add a splash of reserved pasta water if the sauce is too thick. Taste, adjust the salt and Parmesan, and serve.
Notes
- Broccoli → Frozen broccoli.
- Pasta → Orecchiette, rigatoni, penne, fusilli, whole wheat, chickpea, or lentil pasta.
- Extra virgin olive oil → Regular olive oil.
- Garlic → Omit, or cook a halved clove in the oil and remove it.
- Red pepper flakes → Black pepper, or omit.
- Parmesan → Pecorino Romano, feta, or nutritional yeast for dairy-free.
- Cook broccoli until very soft: It should mash easily into a creamy sauce.
- Cut small florets: They cook faster and break down better.
- Save the broccoli water: Use it to cook the pasta for extra flavor.
- Reserve pasta water: Add it gradually to keep the sauce creamy, not watery.
- Watch the garlic: Cook grated garlic gently just until fragrant.
- Undercook the pasta: Drain it 2 minutes early and finish it in the sauce.
- Choose your texture: Mash with a fork for rustic or blend for extra creamy.
- Use freshly grated Parmesan: It melts more smoothly into the sauce.
- Serve right away: The pasta absorbs the creamy sauce as it sits.
- Storage: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Don’t Lose This Recipe
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Hi! We are Nico & Louise
We're here to share easy, healthy, and delicious recipes 🌿✨.
Welcome to our blog, we are glad you are here.
Made this for my husband and myself tonight, and we both LOVED it. It met my criteria of: quick, easy, cheap and delicious. We are vegetarian so appreciate the no meat aspect of it. Daughter is vegan, and the notes mentioned substituting nutritional yeast flakes for cheese. I know we will be making this often as it was sooo good! Thank-you!
Perfect way to eat Broccoli. Many variables suggestion also as Risotto
Great recipe to freeze
Can this be made with cauliflower in place of the broccoli?
Hi Miriam! I wouldn’t recommend swapping the broccoli for cauliflower in this recipe, as the cauliflower can become too soft and mushy very quick.
Instead, I’d recommend our Cauliflower Pasta recipe, which pairs cauliflower with garlic and olive oil and is designed specifically for it: https://theplantbasedschool.com/cauliflower-pasta/
Hope you feel like trying it 🙂 Best,
Louise
Absolutely loved it, easy and tasty and relatively inexpensive too, which is important now.
I truly love all these recipes and I have made a few of them. However, I don’t know how to get recipe book online. Does this person sell a book that I could purchase?
Thank you so much, Alidia! We’re so happy you’ve been enjoying the recipes.
We don’t currently have a cookbook available for purchase, but all of our recipes are available for free here on the website. Hopefully, a cookbook is something we will offer in the future, for sure 🙂
All the best,
Louise
If I use frozen broccoli am I still boiling or just thawing it?
Hi Elizabeth, frozen broccoli works well. There’s no need to thaw it first—just boil it straight from frozen, though it may need an extra minute or two.
I hope you enjoy it! Kindest, Louise
Looks delicious
So last night, I sat down to one of my favourite dishes (thanks to you). I make the broccoli pasta often. So fresh, healthy, and delicious but also, frankly, so quick and easy.
As I was enjoying it, the thought struck me to try something a friend from Piovene Rocchette taught me; his bolognese sauce always had a hint of something that mysteriously elevated the entire sauce but it was so subtle that I couldn’t place it. He finally told me that in the north, Italians use hints of clove. Wow!
So midmeal, I thought, “This might work …” I added an ever-so-light pinch of powered clove to the dish and it was wonderful. Same effect as my friends bolognese. That soupçon of clove elevates the broccoli. Who would have thought?
Such a simple thing but I thought to share this with you. It’s hard to improve on perfection and your Broccoli pasta is so wonderful. But I think I may have found a modest variation that I know I will try again.
Quick, easy and delicious, right up my alley!
It seemed odd to add a partial box of pasta, so I used the whole box. It turned out fine. I was a little skeptical when I was done with the immersion blender, but once I added tap water (because I forgot to reserve pasta water) and salt, it turned out really good.