This Creamy Broccoli Pasta takes only 30 minutes to make and it's the perfect budget-friendly weeknight dinner! You can make it with both fresh or frozen broccoli and just a few other ingredients. Serve it on its own or with roasted chicken, salmon, or canned chickpeas!
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Why This Recipe Works
Easy and simple - This pasta is the perfect dinner for those busy days when you want a proper meal but don't have time to make anything that requires a lot of time. It takes less than 30 minutes to make and requires just a few simple ingredients!
A crowd favorite - Make this for your guests! They'll never guess it took you so little time. This pasta is restaurant-worthy without the extra work! You can add some extra protein like chickpeas or roasted salmon or chicken to stretch the recipe into more portions.
It's easy to make vegan-friendly - The sauce has Pecorino cheese in it but you can easily turn this dish vegan by using nutritional yeast instead of the cheese.
Ingredients
- Broccoli - You can use both fresh or frozen. I use frozen more often than fresh, especially in the winter months. Plus it's so convenient!
- Pasta - Any pasta shape works here. I like using brown-rice pasta to keep it gluten-free but any pasta works.
- Onion and garlic - These give the sauce most of its flavor so don't skip them! The sauce also has dried oregano and red pepper flakes.
- Cashew milk - I like using cashew milk to keep the sauce completely dairy-free if needed. You can use any milk you like most! I use cashew milk because it doesn't have much flavor which is great for savory dishes.
- Pecorino cheese - Pecorino is saltier than parmesan and tends to have a stronger flavor but you can use them interchangeably. It should be made with sheep milk but be sure to check the ingredients. Keep in mind pecorino and parmesan aren't vegetarian because they are made with sheep's rennet. Use nutritional yeast to keep the dish vegan.
Step-by-Step Instructions
The sauce can be made in four easy steps. I usually do this while the broccoli and pasta are cooking which is explained after these four steps.
- Sautee the onion with avocado oil, dried oregano, and chili flakes for a few minutes. Once it's translucent, add garlic and saute for 30 seconds more.
- Add cashew milk and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add grated pecorino cheese and stir to melt and combine.
- The sauce should be slightly thicker and reduced.
- Add fresh or frozen broccoli to salted boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes until soft and bright green.
- Take the broccoli out of the water and set it aside. Add more water if needed and cook the pasta in the same water according to package instructions.
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain and quickly rinse it under running water. Don't forget to save some of the pasta water before draining.
- Add the pasta and broccoli to the creamy sauce and toss gently. Add reserved pasta water if needed and more grated Pecorino cheese.
Serving and Storing
Serving: Serve the pasta immediately with an extra sprinkle of red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, or more Pecorino. You can also use nutritional yeast for flavor if you'd like to keep this dish vegan-friendly. You can also add a squeeze of lemon to the pasta for some freshness.
Storing: Store the pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. To reheat, add it to a saucepan with a splash of water and gently warm up. Keep in mind the pasta might fall apart slightly when warming up. This means this recipe isn't ideal for meal prep but the leftovers can definitely be stored and reheated!
FAQs
Definitely! Just swap the pecorino for vegan cheese or use nutritional yeast instead.
Unfortunately, pasta tends to soak up any sauce very well which makes it hard to meal prep any pasta recipe. You can store leftovers in the fridge and reheat them but the pasta will fall apart slightly. This dish is best served freshly made.
Yes, totally! I've used frozen broccoli for this pasta many times and it's really good.
More Easy Pasta Recipes
We're all constantly looking for easy, simple dinners and pasta is always my go-to. Below are four of my favorite easy vegetarian pasta dishes I highly recommend you to try! If you want to see the latest ones, head over to Pasta Recipes.
📖 Recipe
Creamy Broccoli Pasta
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This broccoli pasta can be made in just 30 minutes, it's simple yet fancy, and it can be made vegan and gluten-free!
Ingredients
- 1 large head of broccoli (or approx. 400g frozen)
- 250g pasta (any kind works)
- 1 tbsp avocado oil (or other cooking oil)
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (makes about 1 cup)
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cup milk of choice (I like cashew milk)
- 1 cup grated pecorino cheese (or parmesan)
- A squeeze of lemon (approx. 1 teaspoon - 1 tbsp)
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Chili flakes (for serving, optional)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Add the broccoli and cook for 5 minutes. If using frozen broccoli, you might need a little longer to bring it back to a boil but frozen broccoli is usually already blanched so it doesn’t need to be cooked as much, just heated up.
- Take the broccoli out and bring the water back to a boil (add more if needed) and cook the pasta in it according to the package instructions. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water and drain and rinse when soft.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat a pan over medium-high heat and add avocado oil.
- Add the chopped yellow onion and cook for 5-7 minutes until translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.
- Lower the heat to medium and pour in the milk. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add ½ cup of the pecorino cheese and a squeeze of lemon, and stir to melt and combine.
- Add the broccoli and pasta and toss gently. Let them warm up and add pasta water as needed to thin out the sauce.
- Serve with more Pecorino, pepper, and chili flakes if desired.
Notes
Salt: I only add ¼ teaspoon to the onion (this helps the onion to release water, soften, and cook better) because Pecorino is a very salty cheese. If you’re using parmesan or no cheese, I recommend adding more salt.
No cheese: If you want to keep this dish vegetarian or vegan, use nutritional yeast instead of Pecorino. I recommend adding 2-3 tablespoon to the sauce and adding more to taste.
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Gloria says
I love the combination of broccoli and pasta. This makes a great main dish, or the perfect side. Add a salad and call it dinner.
Loreto and Nicoletta says
One of our favorite pasta combinations. Great tip on cooking the pasta in the water the broccoli cooked in!👍 Using the cashew milk too would add a lovely flavir to the mix, with that pecorino kicking things up a few notches! Very nice!😋🥰👍🙏
Marta says
I loved the tartness the pecorino gave to this broccoli pasta. I was so much more complex than you'd expect a pasta dish to be. Definitely a recipe worth repeating.
Mikayla says
A great meatless meal as is, for left overs we decided to add a cooked chicken breast and it was just as good on night two.
Tracy says
This is so delicious! My kids absolutely loved it. Thanks for a great recipe!
Tristin says
My kids LOVED this pasta recipe. All foods they like all in one dish, they were totally on board.
Hayley Dhanecha says
This creamy broccoli pasta looks to incredibly tasty so I’m going to make it for my lunch tomorrow! Glad you have given vegan option too.It looks so simple to prepare and I love that it’s quick. can’t wait.
Katie Crenshaw says
This was a fantastic meal to make for dinner. It turned out creamy and delicious. That squeeze of lemon adds the perfect touch of additional flavor.
LaKita says
This broccoli pasta is so creamy, filling, and delicious! Love that it is vegan and requires little time to make!
Heidy says
This Creamy Broccoli Pasta was a cinch to make and came out perfect. I loved all the flavors and how creamy the sauce was—definitely a keeper recipe.
Kristen says
Tried the recipe twice and the sauce curdled so badly. I even used an immersion blender the second time to attempt to save the sauce. After mixing the pasta and broccoli in, the taste wasn’t good. I am not a new cook. I did love your salmon creme recipe though!
Veronika | thehealthfulideas says
I'd be more than happy to help you out with your issue with the recipe before you leave a one star review! What milk did you use? The only way it would curdle is if you used a lot of lemon juice right away mixed with the milk. I'm not sure what else would make the milk curdle otherwise. Unless it's very low fat.