Home » Pasta » Creamy Broccoli Pasta – One Pot!
by Stephanie on June 18, 2021 (Updated July 12, 2021)281*This post may contain affiliate links. Read more »
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This Creamy Broccoli Pasta has pasta shells smothered in a buttery Garlic Parmesan Sauce with herbs and lots of broccoli! Add a hint of lemon juice at the end for the ultimate flavor that your family will love.
Serve this with some Garlic Bread with Cheese or Cheddar Bay Biscuits.
Broccoli Pasta
If you ask me, it doesn’t get much better than savory pasta shells smothered in a flavorful cream sauce. I never have to worry about getting my family to eat their broccoli when I make this for dinner.
BONUS: This is one pot meal that you can make in 30 minutes or less!
Check out my PRO tips below for different types of pasta options and what you need to do to make sure your sauce is EXTRA creamy.
Want to add more to this meal? Serve these creamy shells with some homemade chicken nuggets and some garlic bread with cheese.
How to Make It
Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the chicken broth, half and half, and seasonings. Bring to a boil.
Add the pasta. Submerge the pasta into the liquid and let it return to a boil. Cook according to package instructions, partially covered. Plan on adding the broccoli during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Run a silicone spatula along the bottom of the pot occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking to it.
Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice and use a silicone spatula to gently mix in the Parmesan cheese. Sauce will continue to thicken upon standing.
Pro Tips
- Grate the cheese from a block so that it melts and tastes the best. Packaged grated or shredded Parmesan cheese contains cellulose to prevent it from clumping together, which also prevents it from melting as well.
- A combination of Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano cheese tastes great as well.
- Don’t add the cheese to a super hot base as this will cause the dairy to separate and the consistency will be grainy instead of smooth.
- Similarly-sized pastas may be substituted, refer to package for approximate cooking time. Examples include Fusilli (spiral) and Farfalle (bowtie).
- If you prefer to add chicken: Be sure to check out my Chicken and Broccoli pasta recipe!
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.The consistency of the dairy is altered slightly once reheated but I love heating it in the microwave for a quick lunch!
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- Measuring Spoons– Comes with small spoons that makes it easy to measure out the herbs in this recipe.
- Box Grater– Makes it easy to shred or grate cheese in a variety of sizes. We grate the Parmesan cheese into a fine powder in this recipe, this grater makes it easy.
- 10-inch pan– with lid, the perfect size for this recipe.
- Pasta Shells– I used Colavita brand for this recipe, (I like the shape)!
- Garlic Twister– it’s much more flavorful to mince fresh garlic. This twister does it in seconds and is easy to clean and store.
Try These Next
- Chicken Spinach Pasta
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Baked Potato Soup
- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Chicken Corn Chowder
- Creamy Lemon Chicken
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Broccoli Pasta
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes minutes
5 from 108 ratings
Servings: 4 people
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This Creamy Broccoli Pasta has pasta shells smothered in a buttery Garlic Parmesan Sauce with herbs, a hint of lemon juice, and lots of broccoli!
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups half and half
- ½ lb. medium pasta shells
- ¼ teaspoon EACH: onion powder, dried thyme, salt
- ½ teaspoon EACH: dried oregano, dried parsley
- 3 ½ cups broccoli florets, uncooked
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ¾ cup Parmesan Cheese, finely grated into a powder
Instructions
Measure out all ingredients prior to beginning. (This is called “mise en place” and is a good idea for quick recipes.) Pro Tip: Cut the broccoli into smaller pieces so that they cook more quickly.
Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the chicken broth, half and half, and seasonings.
Bring to a boil and add the pasta. Submerge the pasta into the liquid and let it return to a boil. Cook partially covered according to package instructions. Add the broccoli during the last 6 minutes. Run a silicone spatula along the bottom of the pan occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking to it.
Remove cover taste-test a pasta noodle for doneness before proceeding. If needed, cover and cook longer, until your desired doneness is obtained.
Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice and use a silicone spatula to gently mix in the Parmesan cheese.
Sauce will continue to thicken upon standing. Garnish with parsley and serve with garlic bread with cheese.
Notes
Pro Tips
- Grate the cheese from a block so that it melts and tastes the best. Packaged grated or shredded Parmesan cheese contains cellulose to prevent it from clumping together, which also prevents it from melting as well.
- A combination of Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano cheese tastes great as well.
- Don't add the cheese to a super hot base as this will cause the dairy to separate and the consistency will be grainy instead of smooth.
- Similarly-sized pastas may be substituted, refer to package for approximate cooking time. Examples include Fusilli (spiral) and Farfalle (bowtie).
- If you prefer to add chicken: Be sure to check out my Chicken and Broccoli pasta recipe!
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.The consistency of the dairy is altered slightly once reheated but I love heating it in the microwave for a quick lunch!
Nutritional information is an estimate and is per serving. There are 4 servings in this recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 495kcal, Carbohydrates: 48g, Protein: 17g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 71mg, Sodium: 866mg, Potassium: 363mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 783IU, Vitamin C: 12mg, Calcium: 335mg, Iron: 1mg
Did you try this recipe?Mention @TheCozyCook on Instagram or tag #thecozycook!
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Author: Stephanie
30 Minute Meals Dinner Italian Meatless One Pot Pasta Popular
posted by Stephanie on June 18, 2021 — 281 Comments »
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281 comments on “Creamy Broccoli Pasta – One Pot!”
RM — Reply
This is one of my favourite recipes. It comes out perfectly every single time.
Stephanie — Reply
That makes me so happy! I love one pot recipes and this one has been a go to in my house for so long. Thanks so much for the review!!!🩷
Julia — Reply
I make this literally all the time now! This is the perfect recipe. I love how 95% of the time I always have all the ingredients already stocked in my pantry, and I don’t have to go out to the store to get anything! I absolutely love how simple this is to make, and you can’t go wrong with this 🙂
Stephanie — Reply
I’m so happy you’re enjoying it Julia! I know what you mean, it’s so nice to work with simple ingredients that are already in the pantry! Thanks so much for the great review!💕
evey — Reply
listen. i am by no means a chef. in fact, i’m actually pretty bad at cooking. so when i made this i didn’t expect much because usually i mess up recipes pretty badly and things don’t end well. and especially in this case, i kept substituting almost every ingredient for something else (heavy whipping cream for half and half and chicken powder + water for chicken stock). but today, wow. i had finally redeemed myself. i don’t know if it was because of this recipe or what but man. thank you. i AM competent. 10/10 awakening.
Stephanie — Reply
Nice work Evey!!! This makes me so happy, sounds like you’re on your way to chef status!❤️ Thanks so much for the great review!
Van — Reply
Delicious, I added some chicken, prepare in the same pan with season and 1 tablespoons of butter. Removed it from pan and reserve adding it at the end. And instead of powder onion I used real onion just before the garlic.
Stephanie — Reply
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it Van! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
Barbara S Werchadlo — Reply
This was delicious. I’ll surely make it again.
Stephanie — Reply
That makes me so happy Barbara! I love this as a back to school recipe for my daughter. So easy and she loves it! Thanks so much for the great comments!🩷
Ruta —
Hi just wandering what do you mean about half and half?
Stephanie —
Hi there! Half and half is half cream, half whole milk🩷
JW Avery — Reply
Oh boy, this was was really tasty. I added too much pasta (1 lb. tried to increase sauce but I didn’t do enough). A surprise hit, and so simple. I threw a whole bunch of other cheese in too. I highly recommend this.
Stephanie — Reply
I’m so happy it was a hit in the end, nice work! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💖
Sophia C — Reply
This was so delicious!!
Stephanie —
So happy to hear that Sophia!! 🙂
Janet — Reply
Easy and delicious
Stephanie — Reply
Thanks so much Janet! I’m so happy you liked it!💗
Marianne — Reply
I made this for dinner and it was delicious!! I used Orecchiette pasta and grated more parmesan on too with some cracked pepper. This is definitely going in my favorites!
Stephanie — Reply
Nice work Marianne! I’m so happy you liked it with the Orecchiette! Thanks so much for the review!💖
Jamie — Reply
Was looking for a potluck-style recipe and found it. This was very delicious, a great recipe to share. Thank you for sharing your recipe with me.
Stephanie — Reply
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it Jamie!
Alysia — Reply
Could you use frozen broccoli for this recipe?
Stephanie — Reply
Hi Alysia! Yes, I would let it thaw and pat it dry, and then I’d add it during the last 4-5 minutes instead of the last 6 minutes. Enjoy!
