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.
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Tried This Recipe?
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Broccoli Pasta
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
- 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.
So So So Delicious! Perfect after a evening walk to come home and have dinner made in 30 minutes… your recipe was very much appreciated. Husband and I loved it! Had to go back for seconds….
That’s so great to hear Wendy! I’m so happy you and your husband loved it. This is one of my go to recipes when I need something quick but yummy. Thanks so much for the great comments and review!😍
This was absolutely delicious! Thank you for the idea 🙂
You’re very welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!❤️
Made this for dinner tonight. LOVED it.
I’ll be sharing this with family & friends.
I am so happy to hear that Karri!! Thank you SO much for sharing the recipe and for taking the time to leave a review, I appreciate it so much!!! -Stephanie
This was delicious and very flavorful! I added a few more splashes of milk, grated the garlic, and used cavatappi pasta! I let it sit in the pan to thicken the sauce for a few minutes before serving. So yummy! Perfect recipe!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Crissy!❤️ Thanks so much for the helpful comments and for leaving a review!
You are very close here to a cecillian pasta con broccoli. Remove the lemon from the recipe. Add some tomato sauce (when the sauce turns pink you know that’s enough) and add one oz sweet vermouth to finish.. obviously simmer to let alcohol cook out of it. Give a try.
Sounds delicious John!! I’ll definitely have to try that sometime soon, thank you for sharing!
Delicious, quick, and easy. This recipe was great for a week night meal. It’s also easy to other ingredients to. I added diced bell peppers and Trader Joe’s chicken sausage. We loved it!
Hey Nikki! I am so happy that you enjoyed this recipe and I love the ingredient additions that you made, sausage in this sounds incredible, as do the bell peppers! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
Yummy! I added extra pasta so needed extra liquid! Loved it!
Happy to hear you enjoyed it Noel! This is one of my go to weekday meals!😋
This was such a delicious and easy dinner! I lightened it up by reducing the butter and replaced half of the half and half with milk. Served with a side salad. Couldn’t have been easier for a busy week night!
I’m so happy this helped you out during a busy week night! That’s why I love One Pots so much!❤️ Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Absolutely delicious and way to make. Loved it
Thanks Denise! Happy to hear you loved it!😍
Hi can the Broccoli be frozen? Thanks!
Hi Linda! Yes, that should be just fine!