Last weekend I got an email from Robyn with a link to this really cool recipe over at Apron Strings. I love cooking pasta and rice in liquids other than water, so this idea for a one pot pasta dish (which is originally from Martha Stewart Living Magazine) was right up my alley!
This dish is incredibly easy and super flavorful. The pasta cooks in a mixture of broth, herbs, and aromatics, like onion and garlic, which really ramp up the flavor. The starch that dissolves off of the pasta as it cooks helps create a thick sauce right in the pot. It’s magic! So fast, so easy, and SO flavorful. I do want to mention, though, that if you’re the type of person that can’t handle pasta any other way than al dente, you may not like this one. The pasta can get a little soft, if you let it cook even just a little too long.
I made a few changes to the original recipe, as usual, to fit my needs. First, instead of using fresh basil, which can cost an arm and a leg, I used frozen spinach for a pop of green and increased the dried basil to make up for the flavor. Second, I wanted more “stuff” in my pasta, so I used a larger can of diced tomatoes and reduced the amount of vegetable broth to compensate. Lastly, I added a light sprinkle of shaved Parmesan over top. Other great ideas for add-ins: mushrooms, parmesan, artichoke hearts, or olives.
I think next time I’ll save adding the frozen spinach until the end so that it will defrost and heat quickly from the pasta’s residual heat. That way the spinach will stay bright green and pretty, and it will not darken the pasta as it cooks. But hey, either way it tasted fantastic!
Tomato Spinach One Pot Pasta
Servings 6Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable broth ($0.52)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.22)
- 12 oz. fettuccine ($0.75)
- 8 oz. frozen chopped spinach ($0.72)
- 1 28oz. can diced tomatoes ($1.68)
- 1 yellow onion, sliced ($0.42)
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced ($0.32)
- 1/2 Tbsp dried basil ($0.15)
- 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano ($0.15)
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper ($0.03)
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste ($0.05)
- 2 oz. shaved Parmesan ($1.25)
Instructions
- Add four cups of vegetable broth to a large pot. Break the fettuccine in half and add it to the pot along with the canned tomatoes (with juices), olive oil, frozen spinach, onion, garlic, basil, oregano, red pepper, and some freshly cracked black pepper.
- Make sure the ingredients are submerged under the liquid, place a lid on top of the pot, and then turn the heat on to high. Allow the pot to come up to a full boil over high heat, then remove the lid and turn the heat down to medium.
- Allow the pot to continue to boil over medium heat, without a lid, for 10-15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir the pot every few minutes as it cooks to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom, but avoid over stirring which can cause the pasta to become sticky.
- Sprinkle with shaved Parmesan just before serving.
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Nutrition
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How to Make One Pot Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Start with four cups of vegetable broth. The flavor intensity and salt content of your broth will make a big difference in the end flavor of the pasta. If you use a low sodium broth, the pasta will taste bland. I use Better Than Bouillon soup base for all of my broths because it is really flavorful, much less expensive than boxed or canned broths, and I can mix up any amount needed. These little jars last forever in the refrigerator, too, so it’s there whenever you need it. And no, I am not being paid to endorse it. :)
Add the four cups of broth to a large pot along with 12 oz. fettuccine, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 8oz. frozen spinach, a 28oz. can diced tomatoes (with the juices), 1 sliced onion, 4 cloves garlic (minced or sliced), 1/2 Tbsp dried basil, 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, and some freshly cracked pepper. Although I show the fettuccine whole here, it’s best to break the pasta in half to help it fit in the pot and make it easier to stir later.
Briefly stir the pot and make sure all the pasta is submerged. Place a lid on the pot and bring it up to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a full boil, remove the lid, turn the heat down to medium, and give it a stir. Make sure it’s still bubbling away when you turn the heat down. It needs to continue boiling for this to work.
Let it boil for 10-15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated. Only stir once every few minutes to keep the pasta from sticking. Over stirring it can make the pasta overly mushy and sticky.
And then it’s done and it tastes amazing! Cool, huh? Sprinkle a little shaved Parmesan over top just before serving. This Tomato Spinach One Pot Pasta deserves a cape for being so amazing. That bowl was gone in 60 seconds. 👅
This is one of my families favorite. We do two slight adaptations. We do add the artichokes. And, this may sound odd, we add a generous helping of crumbled feta when serving. When my kids ask for it they call it “feta noodles”.
A family fav. I’ve made this many times and it is amazing. I usually cook some sliced hot Italian separately and serve it with the wonderpot.
I LOVE THIS WONDERPOT! Fabulous recipe. On top of having these ingredients in your cupboard most of the time you also have the convenience of time. One pot and in less than 45 minutes you could be eating. And it’s delicious! Can you get any better than that? Oh yeah-if you should have leftovers, it’s even better on the second day. Thanks for posting this recipe.
Is it possible to adjust this to gluten free pasta? I tried just subbing regular wheat pasta with rice/corn blend of gluten free pasta. The GF pasta wouldn’t absorb the liquid. Instead, it just developed a paste like consistency. I drained off the excess liquid but what’s left is just paste. The flavors are great! I ate it anyways with some turkey sausage, but I wish the texture were better. Thanks for your help!
I’ve never worked with gluten-free pasta, unfortunately, so I can’t offer any help, but hopefully someone else who has made it work will chime in. :)
I haven’t made this recipe but I’ve made another one pot pasta w gf noodles successfully. If you can find it I’d recommend the catelli brand gf pasta, it holds up really well and the texture is identical to wheat pasta imo :)
Worked great for me. Use brown rice pasta. I used Jovial, but a lot of the brands are good. Wound up at just the right doneness after 13 minutes of medium simmering uncovered. This was their spaghetti, I haven’t seen brown rice fettuccine yet.
I recommend eating this one right away, but it’s super quick, simple and delicious!
Easy, quick, and delicious within minimal cleanup! I used whole wheat linguini and beef broth since that is what I had available. Thank you!
It says each serving is 200 cal but how much is in a serving?
My husbands favorite! We make this for company up at the lake and it goes! I use fresh spinach chopped and Italian sausage. Delish.
Che schifo!
I do this pasta for so long now, I don’t remember when I started :-) and don’t have to check recipe anymore. It’s easy to do, you can adapt it as you wish (I am using dried garlic and different herb mixes, as well as fresh spinach), use practically any pasta you have on hand, skip or substitute cheese if you’re lactose intolerant. And best of all – at most you have to wash one pot, knife and chopping board :-)
This is a family staple. We eat this once a month. I’ve made it exactly as recipe calls, and then also with modifications. The recipe is very forgiving and adaptable.
My favorite way to adapt is to use 3 cups chicken broth (I never seem to have veggie on hand) and 1 cup heavy cream. This has turned out so well I never use just the 4 cups broth any longer.
Additionally, instead of fettuccini, I use penne (easier for my toddlers to eat, and similar cooking time to fettuccini).
Lastly, today I got EXTRA lazy and totally omitted the fresh onion and just used onion powder. I honestly didn’t taste too much of a difference (heavy cream may cover up those subtleties) if any. It was perfect for today when I needed to squeeze in extra hours of work.
Thank you for this amazingly easy and equally delicious recipe. This is one of my alltime favorites!!!!
Where are you getting these ingredients for so cheap
Hi Charles, Beth shops at her local discount grocer, Aldi. There are many around the country but Aldi isn’t everywhere. We have a few discount grocers here in our area, you just have to look around. It’s amazing at the prices if you look beyond the normal chains.
What can I say? When I want a trivially easy pasta dish with minimal cleanup, this is my go-to. Delicious.
I finally made this! And I really, really liked it. It made a great at home lunch for me and my daughters, easy to put together, easy clean-up. I added a good bit of salt (1.5 tsp of Diamond Crystal kosher for 9 oz pasta) and I’m glad that I did, though just 1 tsp would have been enough. I’m excited to try this with other veggies and maybe some pecorino melted in.
Meant to add to this that the broth I used was not salted.
A foolproof staple in my house as written., flavorful and inexpensive. Going to try it out in the Instant Pot tonight.
Game changer!
Recipe works well in the instant pot, and even with whole grain pasta, just half the cooking time (6-7mins).