Creamy Vegetable Pasta is a perfect comforting meal that you can make in just 30 minutes! This recipe is quick and easy to make and you can use pretty much any veggies you have on hands.
Why you will love this recipe
- Quick and easy to make. This creamy vegetable pasta takes not more than 30 minutes to put together from start to finish. While the pasta is cooking, you can prep the sauce and the veggies.
- Use any veggies you have on hand. You can really use pretty much any vegetables you have in the house. Below, you can find a list of my favorite veggies I like to add to this recipe.
- Delicious! The creamy sauce is packed with spices and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. It’s rich, flavorful, and perfectly marries pasta with other ingredients!
Ingredients and substitution
Pasta. In this recipe I used cavatappy pasta. But you can easily use any pasta you liked, as long as it’s not too small in size. My favorite ones are fusilli, farvalle, penne, ziti, conchigli, and even tortellini.
Chicken stock. While I prefer to use my Homemade Chicken Stock, you can use a good quality store bought chicken stock or broth.
Heavy Cream. Full fat heavy cream will work the best in this recipe. If you want to reduce the calories, you can switch it to half and half or whole milk. Although, you might need to use more flour in the base of the sauce to make sure it’s thickens enough.
Vegetables. In this recipe, I used cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and frozen peas. You really can use pretty much any veggies you have in the house. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Broccoli
- Zucchini
- Yellow squash
- Arugula
- Spinach
- Onion
- Red bell pepper
- Corn
How to make it
Bring to boil a pot of water, season with salt, and cook 10 oz pasta according to the instructions until al-dente. When done, drain the water and set the pasta aside.
Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Melt 3 tbsp butter, then add 3 tbsp all-purpose flour, whisk and cook for 1 minute.
Then add 1 ½ cups chicken stock and 1 cup heavy cream. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes until the flour/butter mixture is fully dissolved.
Add the seasoning (½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, and ¼ tsp red pepper flakes). Stir and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the sauce start to get thicker.
Add 1 cup diced cherry tomatoes, 1 bunch chopped asparagus, and 1 cup frozen peas. Stir in and cook for another 4-5 minutes until the veggies are soften and the sauce thickens.
Stir in cooked pasta and 1 cup Parmesan cheese. Serve and enjoy!
Tips for best results
Pasta. Make sure you don’t overcook pasta as it will continue to cook when mixed it with the sauce.
Vegetables. When adding vegetables, try to incorporate different colors and textures.
Storage and reheating
How to store. You can keep the leftovers in an air-tight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
How to reheat. Simply reheat it in a skillet over medium heat. If the sauce became too thick, you can add a splash of water to loosen it up.
How to freeze. You can freeze it in an air-tight container for up to 2 months. Although, it tastes better freshly made.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. These veggies cook quickly, so you can just add diced tomatoes, asparagus, and frozen peas to the cooking sauce. They will soften up within a few minutes.
Most likely you didn’t cook it long enough. It takes about 7-10 minutes to cook it over medium heat. Depending on the type of skillet you use and the heat, the timing may vary. So just cook the sauce until it starts to coat the spatula.
If you want to add some protein to this recipe, you can add some chicken, salmon, or shrimps.
More Pasta Recipes:
- Pink Sauce Pasta
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Baked Cheese Tortellini
- Old Fashioned Goulash Recipe
- Chicken Broccoli Ziti
- Chicken Macaroni Salad
- Tortellini in Tomato Sauce
- Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe
- Lemon Chicken Orzo
- Vegetable Pasta Bake
Creamy Vegetable Pasta
Ingredients
- 10 ounces pasta
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in halves
- 1 bunch asparagus ends trimmed, cut in 1 ½-inch pieces
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Bring to boil a pot of water, season with salt, and cook 10 oz pasta according to the instructions until al-dente. When done, drain the water and set the pasta aside.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Melt 3 tbsp butter, then add 3 tbsp all-purpose flour, whisk and cook for 1 minute.
- Then add 1 ½ cups chicken stock and 1 cup heavy cream. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes until the flour/butter mixture is fully dissolved.
- Add the seasoning (¼ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, and ¼ tsp red pepper flakes). Stir and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the sauce start to get thicker.
- Add 1 cup diced cherry tomatoes, 1 bunch chopped asparagus, and 1 cup frozen peas. Stir in and cook for another 4-5 minutes until the veggies are soften and the sauce thickens.
- Stir in cooked pasta and 1 cup Parmesan cheese. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Pasta. Make sure you don’t overcook pasta as it will continue to cook when mixed it with the sauce.
- Vegetables. When adding vegetables, try to incorporate different colors and textures.
- How to store. You can keep the leftovers in an air-tight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
I haven’t made a pasta dish in quite some time and i am definitely going it be making this for lunch today! The combination of flavors in this dish look amazing and i cant wait to try it out!
This made such a delicious dinner for my family! It was so flavorful and creamy and best of all, so easy to make!
I’m a sucker for creamy pasta dishes. I love that this one isn’t too heavy and is perfectly balanced with the veggies. A delicious meal any night of the week.
Loved how versatile this pasta was! i added zucchini because we had a lot of them, and it worked perfectly.
What a lovely pasta and great opportunity to add more veggies to the diet. My family loved it!
I like your idea of adding chicken to this vegetable pasta recipe! This is such a great way to sneak in some more veggies!
Ooh, this was so tasty! We all loved it and my son asked for it again soon. Love all the cheese in it! Yum.
Pasta is my go to on a Thursday night as I am always later home from work and need something quick and easy that all 5 kids will eat.
I thought I would give this a go as I was a bit sick of tomato based sauces. I didn’t know how it would go down, but it was a success. I used frozen corn instead of the peas as 2 of them won’t eat peas. It was demolished!
They added extra parmesan at the table.
Hubby and I were expecting leftovers for our dinner. But I had to whip up a quick pasta pesto (from a jar!) as there was nothing left from the veggie pasta!
great recipe 🙂
You can never go wrong with pasta any night of the week. This is so easy. I know it will be a hit with the family for dinner.
Thank you for this sauce recipe 🙂 We ended up using different vegetables, but thanks to your recipe, it was delicious!
Thank you so much, Dora! So happy you enjoyed it 😉