Pasta con Broccoli is an incredible Italian dish with broccoli and mushrooms tossed in an amazing tomato cream sauce. This one pot dinner is made start to finish in less than 20 minutes!
Pasta con Broccoli has always been a favorite in our family. Growing up my family and I frequented a St. Louis chain, The Pasta House. We gravitated toward Pasta con Broccoli because of it’s rich cream sauce with a hint of tomato paired with tender mushrooms and broccoli. It was irresistible!
My cravings for that dish didn’t die with our move to Kansas City, so I started making it at home. It’s a quick and easy dinner recipe that can be made start to finish in about 20 minutes!
Love quick and easy pasta dinners as much as we do? You’ve got to try my homemade fettuccine alfredo recipe – it’s a rich and creamy way to your family’s heart! You also can’t miss this light and flavorful broccoli pasta – it’s a fresh and tasty filling meal.
It’s one of the easiest pasta recipes because it’s a one-pot pasta! One-pot pastas are amazing. All the ingredients for an incredible, well-rounded dish in a single pot. It’s the perfect weeknight dinner requiring minimal prep, cook time, and a single dish to clean.
Let’s be honest, eating pasta with broccoli is the only way I can sneak it in. Even the girls love it and have no idea I add mushrooms.
Table of Contents
Pasta Con Broccoli Ingredients
- Pasta – You can use a box/bag of pasta, or as I often do, make homemade pasta! Learn how to make How to Make Homemade Pasta here – it’s easier than you think! You can use any noodle, but I like to use medium shells to capture mushrooms and broccoli in every bite.
- Butter – Salted or unsalted, your preference. I use salted for all cooking and baking.
- Half and Half – This results in a light cream sauce, however, if you prefer a richer cream sauce, you can substitute with heavy cream.
- Pepper – both red pepper and black pepper add flavor to this easy recipe. I like to use my pepper grinder set for thick flakes for maximum texture and flavor.
- Garlic – I use minced garlic. It’s an easy shortcut and adds just as much flavor as mincing fresh garlic. You can find jars of it in the produce section of your grocery store.
- Mushrooms – This recipe is the easiest way to sneak veggies in! The mushrooms are coated in cream sauce, who can resist that?
- Broccoli – The broccoli is so tender it becomes one with the noodle and often gets trapped inside with delicious sauce.
- Parmesan – Normally I’d suggest to use fresh grated parmesan, but in this recipe, store bought grated parmesan works just as well!
How to Make Pasta Con Broccoli
This one-pot pasta is easy and fun to make! It’s so effortless. To make Pasta Con Broccoli simply…
- Boil noodles in salty water until ¾ cooked.
- Strain water (I do this using a wooden spoon to avoid a strainer).
- Reduce heat to medium low and add the broccoli, mushrooms, butter, half and half, tomato sauce, garlic, red pepper.
- Sauce will thicken. Remove from heat when noodles are fully cooked and vegetables are tender (about 4 minutes).
- Toss with parmesan. Pepper to taste.
Variations
As with any dish, you can tweak to your preference. The options are endless! These are a few of my favorite ideas to tweak this delicious dish!
- Add more veggies – my mom always enjoyed it with cauliflower as well. You can mix in your favorite veggies! Other options include sweet onions, asparagus and zucchini.
- Add protein – this pairs really well with my juicy baked chicken breast which is equally quick and easy to make. Cooked Italian sausage, bacon, or guanicale also work well.
- Substitute with rice or gnocchi – not a fan of egg noodle? These flavors also work well with rice and gnocchi.
Serving Suggestions
This pairs incredibly well with Italian Salad! It’s a match made in heaven. One of the other things I love about this one-pot Pasta Con Broccoli is that you don’t need a side dish. Of course, there’s always dessert. For that may I suggest Cream Cheese Ice Cream?
Tips
- Use fresh broccoli for the best flavor and texture.
- Adjust tomato sauce to taste. Some may enjoy more, others less.
To Store
- Refrigerate – Store in an airtight container up to 3 days. Add a touch of heavy cream or half and half to warm on stovetop, in the oven or microwave.
- Freeze – Freeze in an airtight container up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat to serve.
How to Reheat Pasta
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add pasta to an oven save dish. Drizzle with leftover sauce, heavy cream, half and half or tomato sauce.
- Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes or until completely heated through. Serve with fresh grated parmesan and cracked pepper.
Cut into tiny florets, the same size or smaller than the noodle you are using. Slice large florets in half removing the stem.
This recipe is a favorite at an array of St. Louis restaurants including Pasta House, Cunetto’s, Zia’s and more! You’ll also love these incredible St. Louis recipes:
You can print the recipe below. If you try this dish, don’t forget to share along with a five star review! I love hearing from you!
More Pasta Recipes
- Cherry Tomato Pasta
- Pasta Aglio e Olio
- Pasta Carbonara
- Creamy Chicken Pasta
- Braised Beef Ragu
- Truffle Mac and Cheese
Pasta Con Broccoli
Ingredients
- 16 ounces pasta
- ¼ cup butter
- 1½ cups half and half
- ⅓ cup tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper
- 1 cup broccoli chopped
- 1 cup mushrooms sliced
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Add pasta. Prepare until ¾ done and strain. Return pasta to pot.
- Reduce heat to medium low and add butter, half and half, tomato sauce, minced garlic, red pepper, broccoli, and mushrooms.
- Boil until noodles and vegetables are tender and sauce thickens – about 4 minutes.
- Remove from heat and toss with parmesan.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
Substitutions
- Pasta – Your favorite shells
- Butter – Salted or unsalted, your preference.
- Half and Half – This results in a light cream sauce, however, if you prefer a richer cream sauce, you can substitute with heavy cream.
- Garlic – I use minced garlic. Substitute with 4 garlic cloves, crushed.
Variations
- Add Cauliflower
- Add Protein – this pairs really well with baked chicken breast
- Substitute with Rice or Gnocchi
- Use gluten-free pasta
To Store
- Refrigerate – Store in an airtight container up to 3 days. Add a touch of heavy cream or half and half to warm on stovetop, in the oven or microwave.
- Freeze – Freeze in an airtight container up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat to serve.
Nutrition
Originally posted May 2014
Excellent. I love broccoli, so doubled the amount. Used a little bit of pot water to thin sauce. Even daughter who doesn’t like tomatoes loved it.
Unless things have changed, I don’t recall using Tomato Sauce in the Recipe.. I worked there for years and I would boil the 1/2 n 1/2 with butter once it was boiling I would add the cooked pasta and add the Mushrooms and Broccoli.. That is what I recall.. But hey, they could have changed things
Ever since I was a kid (I actually worked there when I was 16 ?). It’s a tomato cream sauce, heavier on the cream. Thanks for sharing the method!
This is going on the must make list! Looks so good.
Wow this recipe has all my favorite things. I can’t wait to try it!!
Yay! Enjoy!
What an amazing comfort food dish! LOVE it.
So creamy and delicious!
This is everything a gourmet recipe should be, and then some! This looks amazing; can’t wait to give this a try!
Love how quick and easy this was to make! Perfect dinner for busy weeknight!
Incredibly good! Will be making this again soon!
Looks creamy and delicious!
This was so good! My kids really loved it!
This pasta is so simple but oh so delicious! We love it!
Absolutely delicious! The tomato cream sauce was incredible….and the whole dish was super easy to make.
Mmm This is such a great tomato cream sauce base! I bet this would be amazing with some protein in it like shrimp. yum!
I loved the simplicity of this recipe! It’s so easy to make and so delicious to EAT!
Such an easy and tasty recipe! My kids don’t like mushrooms, so I left those out and added a little extra broccoli. It was still delicious!
I have to save and try this, thank you!
This was so easy and delicious! I will be making this again for my niece’s graduation party this weekend; yum!
One of our favorites in my house! It’s so good!