Ultra creamy and delicious broccoli kale pasta is a quick one-pot dinner that the whole family will enjoy. This comforting pasta dish brings together Cavatappi pasta, broccoli and kale in a cheesy sauce that both kids and adults will love. This can easily become your next go-to 25-minute meal!
Try this soft and fluffy vegetable flan too, a crustless quiche with eggs and cheese.
Isn't there something totally satisfying about eating pasta? We're all huge pasta fans in my family and I never pass up the chance to make an easy pasta dinner. Bonus points if there are some veggies thrown in. My twin boys don't particularly like broccoli or kale, and they won't touch them in a salad, but they'll eat both in this recipe! I think because the vegetables are nice and crunchy? Not completely raw but not mushy either? The impossibly flavorful and creamy sauce helps plenty, I'm sure!
Mum is happy too because she gets to cook it all in one pot and does not have to wash a ton of extra dishes after. Win-win!
If vegetarian pasta dishes are up your alley, do check out this pasta primavera with asparagus, peas, and cherry tomatoes, and this chickpea pasta with spinach and rosemary. Both of these recipes have parmesan cheese, but you can easily swap them out for cheddar or some other vegetarian cheese.
Ingredients
Note: exact amounts are mentioned in the recipe card further down.
Instructions
Preparation - Get your veggies prepped and ready.
- Slice the shallots and mince the garlic.
- Wash the broccoli and kale. Cut the broccoli into florets making sure they aren't too big. Destem the kale, keeping the leaves and discarding the tough stems.
Cooking - All you have to do now is add the ingredients to a pot or wok in the correct lineup and the pasta will come together in a snap.
- Add the olive oil to a pot or wok and when it is hot, add the shallots and garlic. Fry for a minute until the shallots and garlic are slightly soft.
- Add the vegetable broth, and bring it to a boil on high heat.
- Add the pasta and lower the heat to medium low. Follow immediately with the cream, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, and cover the pot. Let the pasta cook for 10 minutes, covered.
- Add the broccoli and kale, stir, and again cover the pot for 5 minutes. The broccoli will become slightly tender and the kale will wilt in the steam. Switch off the heat.
- Finally, add the cheese and let it melt into the pasta. Serve hot.
Top tips
- The pasta should be al dente, i.e., it should be cooked but still retain its shape and bite. Overcooked pasta is no fun.
- Three cups of broth should be enough for the amount of pasta used, but if you find that all the liquid has dried up before the pasta is cooked, simply add half a cup of liquid, broth or water, and continue to cook until the pasta is cooked.
- Don't overcook the pasta after adding the vegetables. The broccoli should be slightly crunchy and the kale still green though wilted.
- Leave out the red pepper flakes and reduce the amount of black pepper if serving kids.
- Go easy on the salt especially since the vegetable broth might have salt as well.
Variations
- Don't care for dairy? To make a vegan broccoli and kale pasta, use a nut milk like almond or cashew milk. And instead of cheddar cheese, use nutritional yeast. It has a savory, umami flavor and is a very good substitute for milk cheese. And yes, vegans can eat nutritional yeast.
- Another option is to go for a vegan cheese substitute. Daiya (no affiliate link) carries vegan, gluten free and dairy free cheeses that are not real cheese but very close to the real thing.
- Switch up the kale for another green like spinach if you want. My feelings will not be hurt:)
- Vary the shape of pasta you're using. We enjoy eating tubular pasta shapes like cavatappi or macaroni in this recipe because the sauce gets inside the holes too! However, orecchiette and bow-tie pasta are also good choices. Go with what you have.
- Don't have half and half cream? Use milk:)
More pasta recipes
Broccoli and Kale Pasta
Equipment
- 1 medium sized pot or wok with a lid
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 3 shallots
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 8 oz pasta cavatappi, macaroni or any other
- ½ cup half and half cream or milk
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt adjust to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper adjust to taste
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes adjust to taste
- 1 broccoli small
- ½ bunch kale
- 1 cup cheddar cheese pre-grated
Instructions
Preparation
- Slice the shallots and mince the garlic.
- Wash the broccoli and kale. Cut the broccoli into florets making sure they aren’t too big. Destem the kale, keeping the leaves and discarding the tough stems.
Cooking
- Add the olive oil to a pot or wok and when it is hot, add the shallots and garlic. Fry for a minute until the shallots and garlic are slightly soft.
- Add the vegetable broth, and bring it to a boil on high heat.
- Add the pasta and lower the heat to medium low. Follow immediately with the cream, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, and cover the pot. Let the pasta cook for 10 minutes, covered.
- Add the broccoli and kale, stir, and again cover the pot for 5 minutes. The broccoli will become slightly tender and the kale will wilt in the steam. Switch off the heat.
- Finally, add the cheese and let it melt into the pasta. Serve hot.
Notes
- The pasta should be al dente, i.e., it should be cooked but still retain its shape and bite.
- If the liquid has dried up before the pasta is cooked, simply add half a cup of liquid, broth or water and continue to cook until the pasta is cooked.
- Don’t overcook the pasta after adding the vegetables. The broccoli should be slightly crunchy and the kale still green though wilted.
- Omit the red pepper flakes and reduce the amount of black pepper if serving kids.
- Go easy on the salt especially since the vegetable broth might have salt too.
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