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 Zesty Feta SaladSavors®. sounds great! They all sound great!
Love the vegan option! Can’t wait to try this after the holidays!
The Tangy Beet salad savour sounds like a real winner. Just tried roasted broccoli pasta. WOW! IT WAS GREAT.
I really like the recipe. I think I’d try the Beet SaladSavors because my young kids eat beets and the beet & goat cheese combo reminds me of my mom :)
sounds delicious, can’t wait to try!
This recipe looks delicious! I will be adding the ingredients to my grocery list for tomorrow. As for the Saladsavors, I would love to try the blue cheese, dried cherries and pecans!
The Fresh Salad Savor looks SOOO good! Vibrant seems like a close second.
I would love to try the cheddar apple almond. Thanks Kate
Hi Kate, beets and goat cheese is right up my alley. Absolutely fabulous!
Thank you for this lovely recipe and Happy Holidays!
xx Lynn
This dish looks great. I will try it soon. Never heard of the salad savors but will look in to them as I do not care for “standard” salads. We usually put everything we have on hand into the salads we make. Our motto is if you are going to do it, make it worth the effort. PS: Coolie looks like a great companion.
OK, new to this. What is and where is the Rafflecopter field ???? The body of your message says to enter my email address in the Rafflecopter but I never saw it.
Roasted beets, goat cheese and toasted pecans, definitely! Sometimes I just make that for dinner on its own. One of the best combinations ever.
Thank you again for all your wonderful recipes. This is where virtually all of my “real” cooked meals come from.
The recipe looks delicious and the Le Creuset looks awesome too!!
I’ve always wanted to try Salad Savors! The Crsip one you mentioned sounds like absolute perfection to me!
I’m thinking vibrant blue sound delicious!
I just moved and I feel so uncomfortable in my new kitchen I haven’t been able to cook yet, but this looks fabulous, healthy yet comforting. I’m going to have to try it before I start gearing up for the holidays. Love your recipes!
Crisp and Beet both look interesting.
The Crisp SaladSavor sounds delicious!
Looks delicious, can’t wait to make this!
I love how you inspire so many people with such beautiful and satisfying vegetarian food dishes. This dish in particular reminds me of how I typically find myself cooking through out the busy weeks as a single parent, mixing varieties of veggies/greens that remain unused in our fridge to fuse with the varieties of pastas I keep. Great job on your site and your posts, they help keep me inspired after a long days work, give me a little boosts, and remind me to share a little more’ with our dog. Go spinach! Cheers!
love your recipes want to try salad savors
The SaladSavors flavor that I would like to try is the Bold gorgonzola flavor.
What a great giveaway! I’d like to try any of the SaladSavors but the tangy is #1 on my list.
The BOLD sounds great!
Goat cheese and beets all the way! Love that as a topping! Actually a lot of them sound tasty.
This recipe looks delicious! And the SaladSavors sound intriguing — I’d love to try the tangy beet.
This pasts has so many possibilities…looks yummy.
Can’t wait to make this for my fam!
Looks beautiful! and the SaladSavors are brilliant. I want to try Crisp and Fresh!
I would defiantly try the tangy beets from salad savors :) i am in love with beets any kind like spiralized and raw or in the oven drizzled with tahini!
You make me excited about vegetables!
I would love to try the beet! I like beets but roasting them in the oven takes a long time, so it would be great to have them ready to eat!
Another great use for a Dutch Oven!
I would like to try the bold gorgonzola.
I would like to try the Bold Gorganzola. Love the flavor of gorganzola and fruit together.
I think the creamy goat cheese, tart and chewy cranberries and crispy walnuts sounds amazing!
I bet a great combination would be the Gorgonzola with some butternut squash and toasted pumpkin seeds!
This pasta looks incredible! And that is such a beautifully colored Le Creuset :D
Boom! Added to menu.
They all look delicious but I would love to try Fresh with goat cheese, cranberries and walnuts!
Shared on Facebook :)
This looks great! I love junking pasta up with whatever veggies I have in the fridge…
I love the Feta-Calamata Salad Savor! Thanks so much for the giveaway! I sure would love to win!!!
I would love to try the Tangy Salad Savor as I am a sucker for beets and goat cheese!
BOLD sounds delicious!
Looks so yummy!
I would love to try the “Crisp” version!
Pasta with roasted broccoli wins me over every time. Looking forward to trying it with the spinach!
The goat cheese looks amazing!
Oma taught me to always add just a pinch of sugar to pasta sauces; has the same flavor-enhancing effect as MSG.