A quick Vegetable Pasta that’s made with less pasta and more veggies that tastes so amazing, no one realises it’s a healthy pasta recipe!!! It’s a vegetarian pasta loaded with a whole head of broccoli, corn, zucchinis, capsicum/peppers and onion, and smothered in a garlic herb tomato sauce.
All made in one pot – from scratch, in 20 minutes. *Fist pump!*
Vegetable Pasta
There’s a time for making vegetable pasta the proper way – roasting veggies until beautifully caramelised, making a pasta sauce, cooking the pasta, then bringing it all together at the end. It’ll take close to an hour, and it’s totally fabulous.
This one pot vegetarian pasta is for all those other times.
A complete meal that covers all bases:
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tons of veggies;
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light on the pasta;
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minimal prep;
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just one pot to clean; and
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absolutely delish. (The cheese helps… 😉)
Choose your own vegetables and pasta
This is a terrific versatile vegetarian pasta that you can make your own using your vegetables of choice. I’ve used a whole head of broccoli, the icy remains of frozen corn, 2 zucchinis nearing the end of their life and a capsicum/bell pepper. All vegetables I happened to have (albeit I then had to go out and buy them again to make the video 😂)
You can also choose your own pasta. This recipe will work with any short pasta – macaroni, spirals, penne, ziti (which is what I’ve used).
Jeez, I’m being flexible today, aren’t I! I figure after all the rules I set out in Friday’s Chocolate Mousse, I was due for a nice and easy “use what you want” recipe today. 😂
Though having said that, while this vegetable pasta is adaptable to whatever vegetables and short pasta you want, the liquid quantities and cook times are not as flexible so please do follow the recipe.
A 20 Minute Quick Healthy Dinner
This recipe has a nice flow to it. I start off by chopping the garlic and onion, then get that on the stove to cook slowly on a low heat so it becomes sweet and becomes an amazing flavour base for this quick healthy dinner.
In between leisurely stirring the onion every now and then, I chop the other vegetables, pop open cans and measure out the herbs and spices so it’s all ready to go into the pot by the time the onion is done.
Once the pasta is in, it takes a mere 10 minutes to finish cooking. Much longer than this and you’ll end up with soggy pasta, so basically, this has to be a quick 20 minutes recipe otherwise your pasta is overcooked! 😂
I know I’m talking up how this is a healthy Vegetable Pasta recipe but when you watch the video, you’re going to see me toss in a nice handful of cheese that’s stirred through the pasta, then a bit more to melt on top.
There’s no denying cheese makes this even tastier, but for a healthier option, opt for some parmesan instead.
Excluding the cheese, this pasta is a mere 378 calories per serving – and it’s a generous serving size, this recipe makes a big pot full!
Either way, you’re going to be yscoffing this down. Added bonus: it’s great Couch Food. (Definition: food you can eat on the couch without taking your eyes off the TV 🙌🏻) – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Sometimes it’s nice to have a visual, so watch me make this Vegetable Pasta!
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Vegetable Pasta - One Pot!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 2 zucchinis* , halved lengthwise and cut into sliced 0.8cm / 1/3" slices
- 1 red capsicum/bell pepper* , halved and sliced
- 1 cup corn* (frozen or canned)
- 1 broccoli* , broken into bite size florets
- 250g/ 0.5lb ziti/penne , or other short pasta (Note 1)
- 800 g / 28 oz crushed tomato
- 1.5 cups / 375 ml vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Italian herb mix (or other dried herbs)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (chilli flakes, adjust spiciness to taste)
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
Optional:
- 1.5 cups shredded cheese of choice (Cheddar, tasty, Monterey Jack etc)
To serve:
- Finely chopped parsley (optional)
- Parmesan (if not using cheese)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium. Add garlic and onion - cook slowly for 3 to 4 minutes until onion is translucent and sweet.
- Turn heat up to medium high, add zucchini and capsicum. Cook 1 1/2 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT pasta and broccoli. Stir until tomato paste dissolves.
- When liquid starts bubbling, lower heat to medium, add pasta and stir. Top with broccoli, push in.
- Place lid on and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove lid. Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until pasta is almost cooked through and most of the liquid has been absorbed by the pasta.
- Stir through half the cheese (if using). Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Top with remaining cheese, put lid on. Leave for 1 minute until cheese is melted and pasta is perfectly cooked.
- Garnish with parsley and serve immediately. Don't leave leftovers in the pot, residual heat will overcook the pasta so transfer into a serving dish.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
MORE ONE POT PASTA READER FAVES!
Life of Dozer
If only it was real….
I thought this was a pretty average tasting pasta until the cheese was added – then the deliciousness happened! So good! A great way to add extra veggies in and you wouldn’t know there is a smaller amount of pasta. Served with chev ups for the meat eaters.
Yum! I added two teaspoons of pesto. It was delicious. Definitely a keeper
Your website is my go to for recipes – particularly when trying something new. This was super tasty, easy to make and economical. Thanks for another great recipe!
I made this for the family this weekend, but left out the broccoli on the top as neither the kids or hubby are fans of this vegetable. It went down a treat, with lovely flavours. Will be using this recipe again!
Great recipe!
Used chicken stock powder and added water.
A winner for our family!
Hi Nagi,
I made this recipe tonight, as I had limited groceries in the house and no meat. I did not have zucchini but I had every other ingredient. It turned out great! My husband was quite sceptical to try a dish without meat, but he had two helpings! Thanks for such a fast, economical and delicious recipe.
:/
Lovely recipe although I did not have any brocolli and when it came to the chilli flakes I free poured a bit too much into the pot, therefore did not add any pepper. I had rounded 1 1/2 tsp vegetable stock powder as I did not have ready made stock. The result was delicious except a bit too much chilli due to my clumsy error. I then put in 150g sour cream and omitted the cheese. Such a great creamy result with plenty of flavour and was a quick midweek dinner (hence my messy put together of this). Would definitely cook again.
Sorry this was not nice at all. Last time the pasta and broccoli were still hard so this time I pre boiled and added in the sauce it was like a bland watery mixture. I ended up throwing most of it out
Sounds like the unpleasant outcome was on you there, Nat
I have been coming back to this recipe for years now. It makes for easy meal prep for busy weeks for me and is always delicious!
great recipe thanks! I would cut the red pepper flakes in half next time, personally, and not use cheese, it’s hearty and delicious without it. I was also liberal with the dried basil and oregano (italien “blend”).
This was so delicious. My husband and I loved it. I didn’t have anymore cheese but it was still so tasty and perfect for a meatless dinner. Thank you so much. I’m just printing out more of your other great recipes to try. So happy I found your website.
Being Italian, I was suspicious of this recipe because the pasta wasn’t cooked separately to the sauce. Heresy! But then I remembered that I used to think that about risotto cooked in the oven and that turned out to be an extremely good idea.
Unfortunately I misread the recipe and put in a whole 500g pack of penne so I didn’t start out well. I realised my mistake when the pasta was still hard after 10 minutes of cooking, added some extra liquid and cooked it for another 10 mins or so, stirring and adding water if it got too dry.
The dish looks exactly like the video. It is tasty and there is a lovely creaminess to it which I think is caused by the fact that all the starches, which usually go down the drain in the cooking water, stay in the sauce. I imagine that if I had only put in half the pasta, the tomato would have been more concentrated, maybe even too much so for my liking.
A great couch recipe indeed! Brava Nagi.
I made this with mushrooms vs. broccoli. Instead of Penne I used frozen cheese ravioli. I sauteed all the veg in my instapot, added the sauce, some water but not as much as my pasta was pre-cooked and not going to absorb as much fluid. I instapot under high for 5 minutes. Was delicious.
I followed this word for word and my penne all split into little strips quite early on when they were still a bit crunchy. Definitely wasn’t from overcooking. Any idea what might have caused this? It was a cheap packet of pasta but I’ve used this brand before in other recipes and never had this happen.
Out of all the recipes on this site, this is undoubtedly our favourite. It’s simple, it’s extremely tasty, and it’s so easy to modify to suit. Love this one.
It’s one of the best ways to clean out that veggie drawer! N x
So yummy! 😋
This pasta is just too good!
I made it tonight — sorry lack of pics! — it is delicious, very good flavor. Can see the ease with adjusting to whatever veggies you have on hand. I skipped the corn Bc I didn’t have it and it was as still chock full of veggies and quite good. Husband had seconds and 4 year old ate his and some of mine. Recommend! Thanks for sharing your recipe with us!
This dish is very easy to make and delicious