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Broccoli pesto pasta is the perfect mix of flavor, nutrition, and convenience. Try it once and you’ll make it on repeat!
Pasta with Broccoli Pesto
This broccoli pesto pasta is one of my go-to pasta dinners when I crave something simple and flavorful that I can cook fast with everyday ingredients.
While you can make this pesto pasta recipe with jarred sauce, once you see how simple homemade broccoli pesto is, you won’t think twice. Bonus: it has all the pesto flavors we love + broccoli! Yep, I sneak nutrition, and nobody notices this delish sauce has the most hated veggie in it. Totally a win!
Benefits of Broccoli Pesto
While broccoli may not be everyone’s favorite flavor, it’s packed with many health benefits, so recipes like this make it much easier to eat! Broccoli is considered a nutritional powerhouse due to its rich content of fiber, vitamins C, K, and A, potassium, calcium, and iron, and its anti-inflammatory properties.
Ingredients
The sauce you’ll make to combine with your favorite pasta is made with fresh or frozen broccoli florets, fresh basil, garlic, olive oil (essential to turn the ingredients into a sauce), and grated Parmesan to give the sauce consistency and cheesy flavor.
How to Make Broccoli Pesto Pasta
While the pasta cooks, prepare the pesto sauce in the food processor, adding the dry ingredients first, and then the olive oil to emulsify. Combine the pasta with the sauce, and add some reserved pasta water until you get a saucy consistency.
Variations
If you have cooked chicken leftovers or rotisserie chicken, make the most of them and serve a protein-rich pesto chicken pasta. Another quick variation is adding shrimp or pan-seared salmon. Want to kick up nutrition even more? Include chopped spinach, cherry tomatoes, or peas. So good!
What to Serve with This Dinner
Broccoli pesto pasta pairs amazingly well with simple sides like an everyday side salad or a bruschetta salad. Roasted veggies like asparagus are also a terrific side. To indulge yourself a little, try these drool-worthy baked cheese twists. Delish!
Broccoli Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 12 ounces of pasta, your favorite
- 1 cup broccoli florets, steamed but still crunchy
- 1 large handful fresh basil
- 1 small clove garlic
- ½ cup grated Parmesan
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup olive oil, plus more if needed
Instructions
Cook the pasta:
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup pasta water, drain the pasta, and return it to the pot.
Make the broccoli pesto:
- While the pasta cooks, place all the dry ingredients in the food processor bowl and pulse until finely chopped. In between pulses, slowly pour the olive oil in a thin stream. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. You can add more oil if necessary to achieve the desired consistency.
Combine:
- Mix the cooked pasta and broccoli pesto in the pot. Add a little bit of warm reserved pasta water and stir until you achieve a saucy consistency you enjoy.
Serve:
- Serve topped with a little more Parmesan cheese.
Ellie says
This was one of the best dinners I have ever had! Putting the broccoli in the pesto was a great idea! I will definitely be making this again! One of the best pastas I have ever had!!