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Creamy Broccoli Pasta – One Pot!

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.

Creamy Broccoli Pasta with pasta shells in a bowl.

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.

A pot with butter, garlic, broth, and seasonings to make broccoli pasta.

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.

Adding shell pasta and broccoli to a pot of sauce to make broccoli pasta.

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.

Adding cheese to pasta shells and stirring to combine to make creamy broccoli pasta.

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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Creamy Broccoli Pasta in a beige bowl with shell pasta in a white cream sauce.

Broccoli Pasta

4.99 from 86 ratings
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
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233 comments on “Creamy Broccoli Pasta – One Pot!”

  1. Came out great! 5 and 3 year old loved it! I substituted half and half with a non dairy substitute and it work well. I did need to add more liquid but that is only bc we tend to like our pasta and broccoli a little more cooked. Will absolutely add to my rotation! Thank you! 

  2. Great recipe!  I used halved artichoke hearts instead of broccoli and it turned out wonderful. I definitely will use this recipe again!

  3. this is a great recipe!  fast, easy, and delicious!  a perfect score. thank you. 

  4. Made this tonight for my family and it was absolutely delicious! I added some sautéed chicken breast as well. The only thing I would change when making it again is to add more liquid. Mine kept cooking down and I had to add more half and half and broth as I went so the pasta could cook all the way.
    Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!

  5. This was absolutely fantastic!! And the easiness of the recipe with being one pot makes it just that much better, if I could I’d give it 10 stars..Thanks so much for posting such delicious and easy recipes, it makes me feel so much better with knowing I’m giving my kids something that’s MUCH healthier than pre-packaged sides plus they love it too!!

  6. Made this the other night with rotini pasta as that’s all I had on hand and it turned out great! Absolutely loved it! Will for sure be making this again. Thank you for sharing this recipe!

  7. Made this last night for dinner. It was DELICIOUS!

  8. I made this tonight and added diced chicken and onions. Needed to add more seasonings as it was a little bland. Also next time may add a cup and a half of cheese. Never had that cheesy feeling with the 1 cup I added. It was really good though. Will make again.

  9. Excellent. Perfect balance of seasonings, pasta and cheese. We did add chicken and broccoli but it was tasty before our additions also.

  10. This might be a dumb question, but do we have to cook the frozen broccoli [what I’m using anyway] before throwing it in the pot?

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