Home » Pasta » Creamy Broccoli Pasta – One Pot!
by Stephanie on June 18, 2021 (Updated July 12, 2021)251*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 Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Chicken and Orzo
- Baked Potato Soup
- 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
4.99 from 95 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
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posted by Stephanie on June 18, 2021 — 251 Comments »
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Leave a Comment & Rate this Recipe
251 comments on “Creamy Broccoli Pasta – One Pot!”
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Suzi — May 25, 2024 @ 7:55 pm Reply
So good! Doubled the recipe so we could have some leftovers
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Stephanie — May 26, 2024 @ 7:43 am Reply
Wonderful! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it Suzi!! ❤️❤️
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AJ Koontz — May 15, 2024 @ 9:02 pm Reply
This was a delicious meal. I sautéed very thin chicken breast in oil & butter & added strips with the broccoli. I sautéed the chicken in the same pan used for this dish; took it out when no longer pink. Really good flavor! Thanks♥️
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Stephanie — May 16, 2024 @ 8:08 am Reply
I’m so happy liked it AJ, sounds like you nailed it. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!💖
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ShaggyB — May 5, 2024 @ 4:11 pm Reply
Very good. Quite impressed. Swapped the shells for Large Egg Fettuccine so the cooking time was a bit shorter, but my gosh was it ever tasty.
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Stephanie — May 5, 2024 @ 4:21 pm Reply
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it!! Thank you so much for the review, I really appreciate it! 🙂 ❤️ -Stephanie
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Ekaterina — April 27, 2024 @ 11:55 am Reply
So easy and delicious!
Thank you!!-
Stephanie — April 27, 2024 @ 12:04 pm Reply
I’m so happy that you loved it!!! ❤️
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Cary — April 25, 2024 @ 8:32 pm Reply
Looking for a quick meal after my plans got cancelled, so I thought I’d try this. So good! I have enough for lunch tomorrow as well! Used roasted garlic that I mashed up, and I added garlic powder because it wasn’t quite the flavor I wanted. This was good and filling on a cold and rainy night!
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Stephanie — April 26, 2024 @ 10:19 am Reply
I’m so happy that you loved it Cary, so glad that you get to have some leftovers for lunch today too, WIN! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
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Tracy — April 23, 2024 @ 8:15 pm Reply
This was amazing! Delicious and easy…I love it…
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Stephanie — April 23, 2024 @ 8:42 pm Reply
I’m so happy to hear that Tracy, thanks so much!❤️
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Laurie — April 10, 2024 @ 5:22 pm Reply
OMG… made this as a last minute idea to use up some broccoli in the fridge. Such an easy recipe & easy to tweak it to preference. Very yummy! Love!
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Stephanie — April 10, 2024 @ 7:26 pm Reply
I’m so happy to hear that Laurie! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💖
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