Easy Broccoli Pasta is a savory 3-ingredient vegetarian dish that’s both meat-free and dairy-free.
It’s an easy-prep dish made with simple pantry ingredients that combines tender pasta with nutritious chopped broccoli and your favorite savory tomato sauce for a flavorful and filling meal.
It’s a quick, budget-friendly dinner option for busy weeknights.
Broccoli pasta is a simple vegetarian dish made with only 3 pantry ingredients: pasta, chopped broccoli, and your favorite pasta sauce.
It is a quick, budget-friendly meal for those busy weeknights, and since it warms up well, you can make it ahead and bring it to work or school for lunch and save your lunch money!
The broccoli and tomato sauce have health benefits. In fact, so does the pasta!
Some useful cooking terms
What does “savory” mean?
“Savory” refers to foods that are not sweet, such as foods that taste salty, spicy, or herbal.
What does it mean when recipes say “to taste” about an ingredient?
When recipes say “to taste,” it means that you can put in as little or as much as you like to your own taste. Some recipes have many ingredients that a cook can adjust to their own taste when cooking (not so much when baking though).
The best way to calculate what your taste is with a recipe that you are not yet familiar with is to first taste the dish and then add the “to taste” ingredient GRADUALLY, a little at a time—a splash of this or a pinch of that—until the dish is just the way you like it.
Make sure to stir the ingredient after each time you add it so that the flavor will distribute evenly and become part of the dish. Then taste again. Repeat until you reach your personal preference.
Note: If you plan on using the recipe again, it is highly recommended to make a note of what and how much you added so that you can refer to it next time.
What does it mean when a recipe says that an ingredient is “optional”?
If an ingredient is “optional,” it means that you can add it in or not based on your own preference. An optional ingredient can be flavor-related (i.e., salty, sweet, spicy, etc.), appearance-related (garnish), or even something like nuts or chocolate chips in baking.
What do those silly measurement expressions really mean?
Drop – ¹/₆₄ teaspoon (or less—it’s however a literal drop comes out)
Smidgen – ¹/₃₂ teaspoon
Pinch – ¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon (what you can grab between your finger and thumb)
Dash – ⅛ teaspoon (what comes out when you shake out of a shaker or bottle)
Tad – ¼ teaspoon
Dollop—a glob on a spoon (like with mayonnaise or ice cream)
Scant—a scant cup is almost a cup, just below the line.
Heaping—above the line of the spoon (teaspoon, tablespoon)*
A Little About Broccoli
Broccoli is part of a group called “cole” crops, which also includes Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, and collard greens.
It began growing in the Mediterranean over 1500 years ago and was grown in the Roman Empire. By the 18th century, it had spread throughout Europe and was brought to North America by Italian immigrants sometime in the 19th century.
Broccoli is considered to be a healthy vegetable. It contains vitamins, nutrients, and fiber, and it is low in calories!
What is needed to make easy broccoli pasta?
I hardly ever meal plan, so I like to keep a cupboard full of seasonings, spices, veggies, and canned goods in my kitchen to use whenever the mood strikes.
But these are all you need to have on hand to make this recipe!
pasta
chopped broccoli
pasta sauce
Love broccoli?
Try these:
Broccoli Kugel
New York Deli-Style Broccoli Salad
Broccoli Quiche
Love pasta?
Try: New York Deli-Style Macaroni Salad
Easy Broccoli Pasta
Simple prep pasta with chopped broccoli and your favorite sauce. Simple pre- and vegetarian—made without meat or dairy.
Ingredients
- 1 pound of pasta
- 14 - 16 ounces of your favorite pasta sauce (or more - depending on how saucy you want it)
- 16 ounces of broccoli (frozen or steamed), chopped
Instructions
- Cook pasta in a pot according to instructions on package and drain.
- Add pasta sauce and chopped broccoli to the pot with the drained pasta.
- Place on medium flame and cook for approximately 10 minutes, mixing occasionally.
Notes
Feel free to put in more broccoli, if desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 762Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 5416mgCarbohydrates: 120gFiber: 26gSugar: 62gProtein: 23g