The “Clean & Green” Dinner: The Easiest, Most Vibrant Lemon Garlic Broccoli Pasta!

Don’t you just love those dinners that are incredibly simple to make but are still absolutely bursting with bright, fresh, and vibrant flavor? A wonderful meal that relies on just a handful of high-quality, wholesome ingredients to create something that is truly special. It is beautiful proof that delicious food doesn’t have to be complicated at all.

This beautiful pasta dish is the very definition of that simple perfection. It takes tender, perfectly cooked pasta and combines it with beautiful, crisp-tender broccoli florets. Everything is then brought together and tossed in a vibrant, zesty, and fragrant sauce made from fresh garlic, bright lemon, and a good quality olive oil.

Today, we are making this incredible Lemon Garlic Broccoli Pasta. This recipe is a complete, satisfying, and wonderfully healthy meal that comes together in about 20 minutes from start to finish. Get ready to fall in love with the simple power of clean, fresh ingredients.

The Ultimate “Feel Good” Meal: Healthy Pasta Recipe

This Healthy Pasta Recipe is a true celebration of fresh, vibrant, and nourishing ingredients. It brilliantly combines the satisfying comfort of pasta with nutrient-dense broccoli. The simple, olive oil-based sauce keeps the dish wonderfully light and allows the clean flavors of the lemon and garlic to shine through.

A Perfect Easy Vegetarian Dinner for Simple Weeknight Meals

You will find that this is the perfect easy vegetarian dinner. It is a hearty and satisfying one-pot meal that is packed with flavor and plant-based goodness. This dish is also one of the absolute best simple weeknight meals, as it comes together in less than 30 minutes, making it a stress-free solution for any busy family.

Your Guide: How to Make a Simple Pasta Sauce Without Tomatoes

For anyone wondering how to make a simple pasta sauce without tomatoes, the wonderful secret lies in a classic Italian technique known as aglio e olio, which means garlic and oil. To create this type of sauce, you will gently toast sliced or minced garlic in a good quality olive oil to infuse the oil with a deep, aromatic flavor. You then use the starchy, salty water that the pasta was cooked in to emulsify with the garlic oil, which magically creates a light, silky, and incredibly flavourful sauce that perfectly coats every single noodle.

Why You’ll Love This Lemon Garlic Broccoli Pasta

You are going to love this recipe because it is an incredibly fast and easy one-pot meal that is perfect for a busy weeknight. You’ll also adore the bright, fresh, and zesty flavor from the lemon and garlic sauce, which is so light and delicious. Plus, it’s a healthy, satisfying, and wonderfully versatile vegetarian meal that the whole family will enjoy.

Nutritional Benefits

This beautiful and simple one-pot meal is a wonderfully healthy and nourishing dish. The broccoli is a true nutritional superstar, absolutely packed with essential vitamins like C and K, as well as beneficial dietary fiber. The simple, olive oil-based sauce is full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, and the fresh garlic and lemon add their own powerful array of beneficial antioxidants to this wholesome meal.

Full Recipe

Are you ready to create the easiest, healthiest, and most convenient pasta dinner of your week? This detailed guide will walk you through every simple step of this one-pot wonder, from creating the zesty sauce to cooking the pasta and broccoli together to perfection. Get ready to master a new weeknight staple that will save you time and make your family happy.

Looking for healthy pasta dinner recipes? This vibrant vegetable pasta recipe with broccoli and a zesty lemon-garlic sauce is your answer. It’s a light yet satisfying healthy pasta recipe for vegetarians, made with a simple olive oil pasta sauce.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Yield: 4-6 servings | Category: Dinner, Main Course | Method: One-Pot, Stovetop | Cuisine: Italian-American | Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian, Dairy-Free

Essential Ingredients for Lemon Garlic Broccoli Pasta

This healthy and easy one-pot dinner comes together with a handful of simple, fresh ingredients.

• Pasta: 1 pound (450g) of a short pasta shape, like orecchiette or rotini
• Broccoli: 1 large head of broccoli, cut into small florets
• Aromatics: 6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• Liquid: 4 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth
• Fat: ¼ cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil
• Acidity: Juice and zest of 1 large lemon
• Spice: ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional)
• Seasoning: Salt and black pepper to taste

Ingredients Notes

A little more detail on our key ingredients will ensure your one-pot pasta is a spectacular success.

• The Pasta: It is best to use a short pasta shape with lots of nooks and crannies, like orecchiette, fusilli, or rotini. These shapes are perfect for catching the light, olive oil-based sauce and the small pieces of garlic.
• The Broccoli: Using a fresh head of broccoli and cutting it into small, uniform, bite-sized florets is the best choice for this recipe. This simple step ensures that the broccoli cooks at the same rate as the pasta and becomes perfectly crisp-tender.
• The Garlic: For the most delicious and aromatic sauce, it is very important to thinly slice your fresh garlic cloves rather than mincing them. The thin slices will toast beautifully in the olive oil without burning, infusing the entire dish with a wonderful, mellow garlic flavor.
• The Lemon: For the brightest and most vibrant flavor, it is absolutely essential to use both the zest and the juice of a fresh lemon. The zest, which is the fragrant outer yellow part of the peel, contains all the aromatic oils, while the juice provides the bright, acidic punch that brings the sauce to life.

How to Cook with Simple, Fresh Ingredients

Let’s walk through the incredibly simple one-pot process for creating this healthy and delicious dinner.

• Step 1: Sauté the Garlic. In a large, deep skillet or a Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the thinly sliced garlic and the optional red pepper flakes and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the garlic is fragrant and just beginning to turn golden.
• Step 2: Add the Pasta and Liquid. Add the uncooked pasta, the vegetable broth, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper to the pot.
• Step 3: Cook the Pasta. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and let it cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Step 4: Add the Broccoli and Finish. After 10 minutes, stir in the broccoli florets. Cover the pot again and continue to cook for another 3 to 5 minutes, until the pasta is al dente, the broccoli is crisp-tender, and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
• Step 5: Add the Finishing Touches. Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the fresh lemon zest and lemon juice.
• Step 6: Serve and Enjoy. Taste the pasta and season with any additional salt and pepper if needed. Serve immediately in warm bowls.

Storage Options

This simple and light pasta dish is at its best when it is enjoyed fresh and hot right from the skillet. If you do have any leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The pasta will continue to absorb some of the sauce as it cools.

To reheat, it’s best to place the pasta in a skillet over a low heat. Add a generous splash of vegetable broth or water and stir gently until the sauce becomes loose again and the pasta is heated all the way through.

Variations and Substitutions

This incredibly simple recipe is a perfect blank canvas for your own creative additions. For a boost of protein, you can add a can of rinsed and drained chickpeas or white beans to the pot along with the pasta. For a non-vegetarian version, some cooked, shredded chicken or some pan-seared shrimp would both be fantastic additions that you could stir in at the very end. For a salty, cheesy finish, feel free to add a generous sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese or a vegan parmesan alternative before serving.

Practical & Valuable Tips

For the best result, it is important to use a pot or a skillet that is large enough to hold all the ingredients and has a tight-fitting lid. Stirring the pasta every few minutes as it cooks is a crucial step that will prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Finally, be sure to add your fresh lemon zest and juice at the very end, after you have removed the pot from the heat, to preserve their bright and vibrant flavor.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I use a different type of pasta for this recipe? Yes, absolutely! While a short pasta like orecchiette is fantastic, this one-pot method also works beautifully with any other pasta shape like penne or even a long noodle like spaghetti, broken in half. You may just need to adjust the cooking time slightly based on the package directions.
2. My pasta seems a little dry and has absorbed all the liquid. What should I do? Different brands and shapes of pasta can absorb liquid at different rates. If your pasta seems too dry before it is fully cooked, simply add another half cup of hot vegetable broth or water to the pot and continue to cook.
3. Can I use frozen broccoli for this recipe? You can in a pinch, but fresh broccoli will give you the absolute best, crisp-tender texture. If you do use frozen broccoli florets, you can add them directly to the pot from frozen along with the pasta at the beginning of the cooking time.
4. How can I add more flavor to this simple dish? This dish is all about simple, clean flavors, but you can definitely add other layers. A handful of chopped sun-dried tomatoes, some marinated artichoke hearts, or some Kalamata olives for a briny kick would all be fantastic additions.
5. Can I make this recipe gluten-free? Yes, you can easily adapt this recipe to be gluten-free. You would simply need to substitute the regular pasta with your favourite brand of a gluten-free pasta. Just be aware that some gluten-free pastas can be a bit more delicate and may require a close eye on the cooking time to prevent them from getting mushy.

Conclusion

This Lemon Garlic Broccoli Pasta is the ultimate solution for a healthy, delicious, and incredibly easy weeknight dinner. It’s a dish that takes all the stress and cleanup out of a classic pasta night. It is a foolproof, satisfying, and vibrant meal that is guaranteed to become a new staple in your family’s dinner rotation. A delicious one-pot meal that makes cleanup a breeze. If you love this simple and delicious pasta dish, don’t forget to share it and save it to your favorite one-pot recipes board on Pinterest!