This One Pot Pasta Primavera is a 30-minute dinner that's packed with fresh vegetables and an easy creamy parmesan sauce.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or any other neutral cooking oil like avocado or grapeseed oil.
- Red onions – white or yellow onion would also work.
- Garlic – fresh minced garlic is best, but the jarred variety will work in a pinch.
- Penne pasta – feel free to use another kind of pasta of your choice like rotini, rigatoni or fettucine.
- Chicken broth – vegetarian broth will work just as well.
- Mixed fresh vegetables – I like using a combination of broccoli florets, carrots, yellow pepper, zucchini and frozen peas but you can use whatever veggies you have on hand.
- Butter – use a little extra olive oil if you don’t have any butter.
- Heavy cream – you can use half and half, but it won’t give the sauce the same creamy texture.
- Parmesan cheese – nutritional yeast is the best substitute here.
- Fresh parsley – to garnish.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
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How to make pasta primavera
Step 1: Sauté the onion and garlic.
Add olive oil to a large Dutch oven over med-high heat. Saute onion and garlic for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Step 2: Add in the penne and broth.
Add in penne pasta and chicken broth, then bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring often, until pasta is almost cooked through.
Step 3: Mix in the veggies.
Meanwhile, prepare veggies. Add to pasta and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender-crisp.
Step 4: Stir in the remaining ingredients.
Stir in butter, salt & pepper, cream and parmesan cheese.
Step 5: Toss to coat.
Step 6: Garnish and dig in!
Remove from heat. Serve garnished with parsley (optional), and enjoy!
What to serve with pasta primavera
This delicious pasta primavera recipe has plenty of veggies and is quite filling on its own. If you’d like to serve something alongside it, here are some options:
- Dinner rolls or garlic bread
- Bruschetta
- Arugula salad
Frequently Asked Questions
You can add any vegetables of your choice to this pasta primavera. Try adding in bell peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, corn, squash, corn, red onion and more!
Yes! If you want to add some extra protein to this dish, you could top it with some chicken breast or even shrimp.
I like to use penne for my one pot pasta primavera, but you can use another shaped pasta of your choice. Rotini, rigatoni or fettucine would all be delicious! You can try using whole wheat pasta, but you may need to adjust the cooking time, as the noodles will take longer to cook.
I personally haven't tried making this recipe dairy-free, but you can certainly test it out. Swap out the butter for olive oil, the parmesan cheese for nutritional yeast and the heavy cream for a non-dairy alternative of your choice. Just keep in mind that the sauce won't be as creamy, since you won't be using heavy cream.
Storing and reheating
You can store this pasta primavera recipe in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat, warm a little oil in a pan on the stovetop. Add the leftovers to the pan and stir occasionally until heated through.
You can also add your leftovers to a microwave-safe dish and heat on high for a few minutes. The vegetables just won’t be as crisp if you use this method. Make sure to add some extra water when reheating using whichever method to ensure your pasta doesn't dry out.
Freezing this recipe
Although you can freeze this meal, the texture of the vegetables just won’t be the same when reheated. If you’d still like to freeze for later, there are a couple of methods that seem to work well. One is separating portions into freezer-safe zippered plastic bags. Then drop the bag into simmering water until heated through before serving. You could also freeze the dish in a disposable foil pan. When you’re ready to reheat, place the pan in a preheated oven and bake.
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Easy One Pot Pasta Primavera Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb penne pasta
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian
- 4 cups mixed fresh vegetables (I used a combination of broccoli florets, julienned carrots, chopped yellow pepper, diced zucchini and frozen peas)
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp each salt & pepper
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese make sure the parmesan is vegetarian if necessary
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a large Dutch oven over med-high heat. Saute onion and garlic for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Add in penne pasta and chicken broth, then bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring often, until pasta is almost cooked through.
- Meanwhile, prepare veggies. Add to pasta and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender-crisp.
- Stir in butter, salt & pepper, cream and parmesan cheese, tossing to coat. Remove from heat. Serve garnished with parsley (optional), and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Audrey O. says
My family of 4 (excluding me as I was not home), just tried this recipe last night. My husband has been more on board with my menu planning and trying new recipes, and so far you are his favorite blog that I pull recipes from.
Anyway, my family is about 50/50 when it comes to liking veggies, but I taught them to try everything once, every time it’s made, and when trying new recipes, I give everybody an opportunity to give it a “star” if they liked it enough to eat it again, so a 5 star rating would be max. My husband cooked this last night, and sent me a picture with a text that said “Here goes nothing…”. Literally like 3 minutes later, he sent me a text saying “Everybody gave it a star”. I sent the shocked emoji as a response, because I was NOT expecting that, LOL!
Anyway, my husband said that the sauce was very runny (and he’s not sure if he did something wrong or not; is it supposed to be runny? He took a picture of his empty plate and you could literally see liquid sauce still covering the plate), but that it tasted fantastic, so I guess this is another recipe from you that will stay in rotation. Thanks as always for sharing.
Taylor Stinson says
Thanks so much for the review and I’m so happy you all liked it 🙂
Linda says
Great instructions and super easy! Very tasty and makes a lot. Will love the leftovers! Thank you.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed, thank you for the kind words 🙂
Rohini Rasa says
I was skeptical about this recipe. Didn’t think it would be flavorful. I was pleasantly surprised on how tasty it was despite not using heavy cream or garlic. I used carrot, broccoli, red bell pepper, yellow squash, zucchini and peas. This is a keeper.
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you enjoyed 🙂
Lorelei says
I can’t have cream because it hurts my stomach. What can I substitute – I was thinking plant based milk and some plain Greek yogurt?
Taylor Stinson says
I haven’t tried it without the cream and personally I don’t like the taste of Greek yogurt when trying to use it as a substitute for something like sour cream for instance, but if you have made similar substitutes before and it’s turned out ok then it might work! Wish I could be of more assistance.
Lisa Solby says
Easy and delicious!
Keri says
This is one of my go-to’s! Great flavor & super easy! I usually add some grilled chicken on top 😋
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so happy you love it!
Krissy says
Hi Taylor!
This recipe looks absolutely delicious! I’m
definitely going to try it. I searched the Internet
for a pasta primavera recipe and yours looks
the most delicious. But best of all it looks the
easiest! I can’t wait to try it. I’ll come back and
let you know how it turns out. 🙂
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you! I hope you enjoy 🙂
Rachelle says
I have some broccoli and bell peppers in my fridge that I would like to use up as well as some frozen veggies so this is perfect I think. I might try it tomorrow. I have a blend of parmesian cheese and asiago. will that be ok? or does it need to be just parmesian cheese?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Rachelle – that sounds like a great veggie combo! And the cheese combo will work beautifully too! Let me know how it turns out 🙂