This one goes out to all of you “one pot pasta” lovers out there. …And I know there are a lot of you! Allow me to introduce to you this amazing One Pot Roasted Red Pepper Pasta!
This pasta dish combines roasted red peppers, fire roasted tomatoes, a hefty dose of garlic, sweet Vidalia onion, and dried basil for a smoky sweet pasta that practically cooks itself. Using vegetable broth in place of water gives the pasta extra depth and takes care of most of the need for the usual added salt and seasonings. The ingredients all simmer together in one pot (yes, even the pasta!) and creates its own thick, silky sauce. There’s so much flavor here you’ll wonder why you ever boiled pasta in plain water.
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Make it Creamy or Not.
The other great thing about this One Pot Roasted Red Pepper Pasta is that you can choose to make it creamy (like I did) or not. Once my pasta was finished cooking, I stirred in a few dollops of cream cheese until it melted into the sauce and made the whole pot luxuriously creamy. It’s a little indulgent with the cream cheese, but I also tasted it before adding the cheese and it was still amazing. So, you have the option of no cream cheese, full cream cheese, or even half cream cheese. It’s up to you!
Can I Add Meat?
Yes, chicken or Italian sausage would both go great with this recipe! To add chicken, simply dice up a chicken breast or two and sauté it in the pot before adding the remaining ingredients. Or you can add shredded rotisserie chicken after cooking the pasta. To add Italian sausage, simply brown some sausage in the pot before adding the rest of the ingredients.
Tips for One Pot Pasta Success:
One pot pasta recipes can be a bit tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, they’re a breeze! Here are some tips to get you started:
- Use heavy, thick cookware to make sure the ingredients heat evenly.
- Make sure the pasta is simmering the whole time and adjust the heat as needed. If the heat is too low, the pasta will just get mushy.
- Stir to prevent the pasta from sticking, but not too often or you risk breaking down the pasta.
- Use your intuition. If the mixture dries up before the pasta is tender, add a splash more liquid. If the pasta is almost finished cooking and there is too much liquid, allow it to simmer without the lid for the last few minutes.
How to Store the Leftovers
This recipe makes a very large batch. I froze one serving last night to test the freeze/thaw cycle and it held up pretty well. The sauce was a bit more dry after reheating in the microwave, but the flavor was still great! Refrigerated portions will stay good in the refrigerator for about five days.
One Pot Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
Servings 6 (1 1/3 cup each)Ingredients
- 5 cups vegetable broth ($0.60)
- 1 lb. Fettuccine ($1.00)
- 1 small Vidalia onion ($0.61)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1 12oz. jar roasted red peppers ($2.49)
- 1 15oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes ($1.29)
- 1/2 Tbsp dried basil ($0.07)
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional) ($0.03)
- Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.05)
- 4 oz. cream cheese (optional) ($1.08)
Instructions
- Thinly slice the onion and mince the garlic. Remove the red peppers from the liquid in the jar and then slice them into thin strips.
- In a large pot, combine the broth, onion, garlic, red pepper slices, diced tomatoes (with juice), basil, crushed red pepper, and some freshly cracked black pepper (10-15 cranks of a pepper mill). Stir these ingredients to combine. Break the fettuccine in half, then add it to the pot, attempting to submerge the pieces as much as possible.
- Place a lid on the pot and turn the heat up to high. As soon as the pot reaches a full boil, give it a quick stir to loosen any pieces that may have stuck to the bottom, return the lid, and turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Let the pot simmer on medium low for 10-12 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom. Return the lid as quickly as possible after each stir. After ten minutes, test the pasta to see if it is al dente. Once the pasta is tender, remove it from the heat. (If the pasta becomes too dry before it is tender, simply add a small amount of water and continue to simmer.)
- Divide the cream cheese into tablespoon sized pieces, then add them to the pot. Stir the pasta until the cheese melts in and creates a smooth sauce (it will look lumpy at first, just keep stirring). Serve hot.
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Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make One Pot Red Pepper Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Begin by slicing one Vidalia onion and mincing four cloves of garlic. Remove the peppers from a 12oz. jar of roasted red peppers, and slice them into thin strips.
Using both fire roasted red peppers AND fire roasted diced tomatoes gives the pasta a slightly smoky/sweet flavor.
Now it’s time to add everything to the pot. For the pictures, I added everything at one time, but it will help if you add everything in two steps. First add 5 cups of broth, the sliced onion, minced garlic, sliced red peppers, diced tomatoes (with the juices from the can), 1/2 Tbsp dried basil, 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional), and some freshly cracked black pepper. Stir all those ingredients together, then break the pasta in half and submerge it under the liquid. Breaking the past in half helps it incorporate into the other ingredients better and makes it fit better in the pot (and under the liquid).
Place a lid on the pot and put it over high heat. Once it reaches a boil, stir the pot to loosen anything that has stuck to the bottom. Return the lid quickly, turn the heat down to medium-low, and let the pot simmer for 10-12 minutes. Stir the pot every couple of minutes or so to make sure nothing sticks, but always replace the lid quickly so that it keeps simmering and you don’t loose too much of the moisture. After 10-12 minutes, the pasta should be tender, but still slightly firm (al dente). Remove it from the heat.
If you want creamy pasta, add 4 oz. of cream cheese in dollops to the pot. I added half of the 8oz. package, but I bet it would still be pretty creamy if you cut that amount in half. It’s pretty flexible.
Stir the pot until the cream cheese is fully melted in. It may look a little chunky at first, but keep stirring and it will eventually become smooth and creamy.
Then eat this delicious and creamy bowl of One Pot Roasted Red Pepper Pasta. :)
Fast, easy and amazingly tasty with little cleanup! I tossed in some prosciutto and fresh basil from my garden at the end. I also used reduced sodium chicken broth. Will make again!
I made a heavily adulterated version of this that was completely delicious: used straight diced tomatoes and fresh red peppers instead of roasted, because that was what I had on hand, and fried up some sausage with the veggies. Also subbed chicken broth for veggie because why not?
I love these 1 pot recipes – I do find though that almost all of them come out “wet” for me, so I only used 4 cups of broth instead of 5 and it was still a little wet, but definitely within the realm of acceptable.
Delicious!
The cream cheese really helps get rid of the wetness.
I just made this and as tasty as it is, I also had the same issue with the excess liquid. I actually thought I didn’t have enough liquid because my broth box was smaller than 5 oz but I ended up having to take some of the liquid out at the end because it was very soupy. I wonder if I did something wrong? Great idea with the veg. broth and cream cheese–tastes so yummy!
If there is a lot of liquid left over after the pasta is already tender, you can let it simmer for just a moment with the lid off. That usually allows most of the excess to evaporate away. Also, differences in pasta shapes can make a difference in how much is absorbed, so maybe your pasta was a little different somehow?
I really liked the sauce, but by the next day it got a bit dried out, and I may have overcooked the pasta waiting for the excess liquid to evaporate (took the lid off for the last few minutes because it was so watery). Do you think it would work well just making the sauce on its own (with cream cheese, of course), blending/mashing it up a bit, and freezing it in one serving portions to thaw out for freshly cooked pasta?
I’m not sure how well it would freeze because of the cream cheese, but you can definitely make the sauce separately. You will need to use less broth, though, since the pasta won’t be soaking up the extra liquid.
I made this recipe last night for my husband and myself, and we both loved it! I didn’t add the cream cheese because he doesn’t like it, and I added chicken that I cut up and cooked separately. I think I may try adding mushrooms the next time I fix this. It has such deep flavors for such few ingredients!
Very tasty. I used a regular onion though since my store didn’t have any vidalia onions, and also regular diced tomatoes since my store (Ralphs) didn’t have any fire roasted ones. I also used chicken broth since I had a bunch stored in my freezer. With all these substitutions, it still tasted pretty good. I also added a lot of salt. And lot of cream cheese!
Looks great! I think when I make this I’d be tempted to add shrimp. Should raw shrimp be incorporated into the one pot method here or cooked separately and added after?
I would cook it separately and then add it at the end because shrimp cooks so quickly and it’s way too easy to accidentally overcook it.
Made this tonight, with the cream cheese–it was amazing, and my whole family actually ate it. Okay, my 2yo picked out the peppers and tomatoes, but he doesn’t eat anything that even remotely resembles a vegetable–he loved pasta though! My husband and 3.5yo practically licked their bowls!
Next time I’m going to add some shrimp–I think it would go really well together.
I really need to get on this one-pot-pasta bandwagon, I don’t know why I’m so against it. This looks delicious!
Would this work with chicken broth instead? I have the chicken base, but not vegetable, and I’d rather not buy the jar of vegetable base if I don’t have to.
Yes, absolutely. :)
Is it possible to roast your own red peppers rather than buying them at the store?
Yep, if you can get fresh red peppers at a good price I’d definitely suggest it. There are a lot of ways to roast red peppers, but here is a tutorial for one method.
This just looks DIVINE, I’m definitely going to try it! This ‘one pot’ meal idea sounds really encouraging to me, as I live in a small apartment without the dishwasher. The perspective of washing the stack of dirty dishes after making a meal for one person is just too daunting.
You can also check out my latest recipe for a veggie pasta – it’s super easy and budget friendly, too :)
http://www.stylestandpoint.com/summer-veggie-pasta-recipe
Yum, that looks really good!
Just an FYI, many $1 stores, such as Dollar Tree, often carry jarred roasted red peppers. You may be able to find the fire roasted tomatoes there too, along with an 8 oz package of cream cheese if they have a refrigerated section.
Amazing, thanks for the tip!!
I’ve heard that substituting gluten free pasta for a one pot meal makes the pasta gummy and not very palatable. Anybody tried subbing? And if so, what type of pasta – linguini? fettuccine? This recipe sounds so good, but don’t want to make it if the subbing for GL Pasta doesn’t work.
I’ve substituted Tinkyada’s rice pastas as a GF fill in on several occasions with one pot meals, and I’ve had no problems at all. Tinkyada doesn’t dissolve if you cook it ten seconds too long either. ;)
Loved, the recipe, it was a hit with the family. I too couldn’t find a jar of peppers in time, so I used a fresh red bell pepper and sliced it up