Spinach Pasta with Roasted Broccoli & Bell Pepper
This healthy vegetarian spinach pasta features roasted vegetables tossed with light balsamic sauce! Recipe is easily vegan and gluten free.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 12, 2024
Would you look at that? I made Christmas-colored pasta, completely on accident. I’m on a perpetual roasted broccoli and red bell pepper kick, you see, and got a hankering for some hearty pasta.
Here, freshly roasted broccoli and bell pepper collide with lots of delicious sautéed spinach, my favorite whole wheat linguine and some balsamic vinegar. Toss all that together with some magical reserved pasta water for a light, silky sauce, and we end up with high-contrast Christmas pasta. I love it.
This spinach pasta recipe is highly adaptable. Feel free to change up the roasted vegetables—just use whatever you have around, cut to similar sizes and roasted until tender. Or, skip the roasted vegetables for a very simple but very flavorful and hearty spinach pasta.
The recipe is easily made vegan and/or gluten free, and the leftovers are great, whether served chilled, at room temperature or warmed again.
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments. I’m always so eager for your feedback, and hope you love my recipes!
Spinach Pasta with Roasted Broccoli & Bell Pepper
This healthy vegetarian pasta features loads of spinach and roasted vegetables tossed with light balsamic sauce! Feel free to change up the vegetables or skip them completely for a simple, hearty spinach pasta recipe. Recipe is easily vegan and gluten free (see notes). Serve with a green side salad for a complete meal. Recipe yields 4 large or 6 more modest portions.
Ingredients
Roasted vegetables
- 1 large bunch of broccoli (about 1 ½ pounds), florets removed and sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into 1-inch squares
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt
Spinach pasta
- 8 ounces linguine or spaghetti (whole wheat if desired)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 shallot bulb, sliced very thin (about ½ cup, sliced)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 12 ounces baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
- Optional: 1 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese* (about ¾ cup, grated), plus extra for garnishing
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To prepare the roasted vegetables (optional, skip for a more simple spinach pasta): Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Transfer the sliced broccoli florets and bell pepper to the prepared baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss until the vegetables are lightly coated in oil (add a little more olive oil if necessary). Sprinkle with salt, arrange the vegetables in an even layer and bake until the broccoli is tender and caramelized on the edges, tossing halfway, about 25 minutes.
- Once the vegetables are in the oven, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta just until al dente, according to package directions. Before draining, carefully reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain and return the pasta to the pot.
- To prepare the balsamic spinach, in a large Dutch oven (my 5.5-quart Le Creuset is perfect here) or large sauté pan over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil until shimmering. Add the sliced shallot, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until the shallot is translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 20 seconds. While stirring constantly, add several big handfuls of spinach at a time until they have wilted, then repeat until all of the spinach is in the pot. Once the spinach has reduced a bit but is still bright green in parts (this happens quickly!), pour in the balsamic vinegar and remove the pot from heat.
- In your Dutch oven or in a large serving bowl, combine the roasted vegetables and cooked pasta with the spinach mixture. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil and optional Parmesan. Drizzle in about ⅓ cup reserved pasta cooking water and gently toss to coat. Season to taste with additional salt (mine needed about ½ teaspoon more) and freshly ground black pepper. Divide into bowls and serve immediately, with extra grated Parmesan on top for bonus presentation points.
Notes
Change it up: Skip the roasted veggies for a simple weeknight pasta that’s full of greens, or change up the vegetables used.
Make it vegan/dairy free: Use olive oil instead of butter and omit the Parmesan. This pasta is great without the Parmesan, but you could add a light sprinkle of nutritional yeast for some cheesy flavor, if you’d like. Another option for extra savory flavor would be to add about ⅓ cup freshly toasted pine nuts or sliced almonds.
*A note on Parmesan: I always get a few comments on recipes that include Parmesan (“It’s not vegetarian!”) but Whole Foods actually makes a great animal rennet-free Parmesan. There’s plenty of flavor in here without the Parmesan, if you’d rather leave it out.
Make it gluten free: Choose a good gluten-free pasta (DeLallo makes one!).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
The “Fresh” one with goat cheese!
I’ve never heard of this product before so I’d go with your apple/cheddar/almond recommendation.
Always look forward to the emails, this looks like it would be good even with gluten free pasta(which sometimes needs a little help)! Feta, olive and pepper salad savor sounds delicious!
They all sound really yummy, but the one with sun dried tomatoes and artichokes sounds especially appealing!
I would love to try the feta topping!
This receipe looks delicious. I will definitely be making this! I would love to try the SaladSavors with Blue Cheese, that one really sounds great!!
I’d love to try the zesty feta!
This recipe looks great…definitely on the menu for this weekend. I think I would like to try the crisp SaladSavors in Crisp. Thanks for the great giveaway too. Happy Holidays!
I love the use of roasted vegetables in this pasta dish! I would love to try the sharp asiago salad too!
Yummmmmmm. Cheddar and apples!
oh yum! I’m so making this for dinner tomorrow night! And thanks for the great contest!
This dish looks both tasty and healthy!
A perfect pan for winter cooking ~ pastas, soups, and stews!
I’d love to try them all but I would start with sharp asiago!
I’d love to try the goat cheese dressing. Sounds as great as this pasta looks!!
Tangy!
This recipe looks delicious, I love spinach! For the Salad Savors, I think I’d quite like the Zesty Feta–with feta, olives and roasted red peppers. Sounds delish!
Yum! This looks so good :) I would love to try the zesty feta salad savor!
I like the Sharp Cheddar one!
I’m a sucker for anything with apples and cheddar, so definitely the apple, cheddar, and almond flavored salad saver would be my first choice!
Glazed pecan.
I would really like to try the one with Gorgonzola! love that stuff
I love blue cheese, I’d definitely go for the Bold SaladSavors!
The Marinated Beets, Goat Cheese and Pecans SaladSavor has my name written all over it.
Beets for sure!
Beets, goat cheese, and glazed pecans sounds yummy ;)
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it!
The tangy beets, pecan and goat cheese is just my style!
i love anything with spinach and pasta!
mmm beets and goat cheese sounds fab!
sharp asiago
The gorgonzola, pears and almonds sounds delicious. Thanks for doing this giveaway, and happy holidays!
Sharp Asiago. Yum!
I’m so sad to be lactose intolerant and couldn’t have any of these, but the one with Apple chips and toasted almonds world be amazing (minus the cheese :))
Ditto here – lactose – but have to innovate and use alternates. Would be good if original recipes can note alternates right inside recipe.
I would try Asiago :) It’s a good cheese for salad. Happy holidays and thanks for the giveaway!
I love the concept of the salad savers! If only they were vegan…I would have to go with the beet!
They all look delicious, but I think the “Bold” looks best – I love gorgonzola!
Zesty feta sounds fantastic! And this pasta sounds yummy too!
Yum! I love roasted broccoli. I’ll have to try this one!
Oh, I think it would have to be Zesty, because I LOVE Feta!
I definitely want to try the Crisp!
Love this! My husband and I are vegetarians since July and are always on the lookout for new recipes. This would definitely help make some yummy stuff!
This looks delicious!! Thanks for the chance to win a Le Creuset piece. I love them!
the cherry pecan version sounds great! thanks for the fabulous giveaway!
They all sound very appealing, but I would try Vibrant SaladSavors first.
This pasta looks so good! I’m a sucker for beets so I’d go with that one!
I’d like to try Vibrant, first. They all look so good.
This recipe look delicious! I love balsamic and have been on a roasted veggie kick. I can’t wait to try it. All the saladsavors sound yummy….. it would be hard to choose just one. Maybe the bold.
Love your blog! I have been following for a few years and rave about your recipes. I have to follow a vegan and gluten free diet. Your recipes are always a hit… even for my meat and gluten eating husband!
They all look good! I hadn’t even heard of these before! I would definitely like to try the Tangy Beets variety :)
Great recipe to make for my vegetarian son home for the holidays. Thanks