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. :)
By far one of my FAVORITE dishes! Especially the next day. My question now is… if I am trying to be semi-healthy and cut out the cream cheese, any suggestions on what I can use to replace it?
Honestly, I thought this pasta was great even before adding the cream cheese, so I’d probably just leave it out and enjoy it as is! Or just stick to a little Parm sprinkled over top!
My Aldi sells something called Neufchâtel cheese with their cream cheese. It’s apparently a lower-fat version of cream cheese, made with milk instead of cream. I don’t know why you don’t want to use cream cheese, but if the fat content bothers you, I tried Neufchâtel cheese in this and it tasted exactly the same!
As it was cooking, I could see that I was going to have the same trouble others had had… there was too much liquid. When I read over the recipe, I realized my mistake. The recipe calls for a pound of pasta and my brain had translated that to “a box” of pasta. I believe most pasta used to come in 16 oz. packages, but mine was only 12 ounces. Luckily, I did have some more fettuccine in the cupboard, so measured out an additional 4 ounces and added it to the pot just at the cooking time was up. I let the whole thing cook for another ten minutes and it came out fine.
Fine meal when fresh, awful when reheated. The cream cheese gums up and it doesn’t taste the same. So if you’re not feeding a family, half or even quarter the recipe.
I LOVE this recipe, it’s in my regular dinner rotation now. I use just 4 cups of vegetable broth (which equals one carton), add a bit of salt, and only use about half the jar of peppers. Those are the only tweaks I’ve made and it is one of my favorite pasta dishes now. Thanks for the recipe!
Can I sub Chicken Broth for Vegetable Broth without losing flavor
Yes, chicken broth will also work well here.
any suggestions on what I could use in place of cream cheese?
A little heavy cream will also give a nice creamy effect, you just won’t have that tangy flavor. But this dish is also really good even without the cream cheese. :)
Overall really liked it! Flavor-wise I’d say it was a little acidic for my taste. Any suggestions?
Just add some fat: butter, or cream to counteract the acid! :)
Super delicious and quick family meal! I added a few handfuls of spinach to mine before serving for some extra veggies. It was a hit with the family!
Any tips on what to add to a regular can of diced tomatoes to sub fire roasted? Smoked paprika? Thanks.
Yep, I’d go with a little smoked paprika. :) Maybe ½ tsp.
That’s what I did and it was great! I used one large fresh bell pepper and roasted it in the toaster oven using the “How To Roast Peppers” BB guide. Based on other comments, I reduced the broth to 4 cups and simmered with the lid off most of the time and that seemed to work well.
Yum!
I had bell peppers and zucchini on hand, so I cut the peppers into strips, zucchini into 1/4 half moons, and roasted them in the oven with some sunflower oil at 500° until the peppers started to blacken.
I used a yellow onion, so I sliced it paper thin and then sauteed it for about 1 minute with the garlic before adding the other ingredients. My cooked veggies were a little warmer than room temp by that point and they came out with a great texture so don’t be afraid to roast whatever veggies you want and add to the pan!
I agree with other reviews- a little too much liquid. I would try 4.5c next time. I just left the lid off for half the cooking and used a little extra cream cheese.
I used garden veggie cream cheese because I had it on hand and the flavor was great, but I doubt it made much of a difference; the base recipe is great!
Better as leftovers! Thickens up great.
I saute my onion and garlic before I add everything else, then at the end I drizzle a little bit of Italian salad dressing over it to give it a little extra zing! It’s delicious and my family love it.
Tried this with chickpea pasta to increase protein. It did not turn out. Stick to regular pasta.
I used 16 ounces of red peppers because that was the size of the jar I had and I don’t regret it, the extra little bit of pepper was nice. Ended up with regular Rotel rather than fire roasted, and linguine rather than fettuccine because we’re quarantined and it’s what we had. But it was still soooooo good. My 6 year old loved it!
Had the same experience as some of y’all where it was just way too watery. I realized this towards the last few minutes of cooking it and just dumped out a good bit of the liquid in the pot. After that, I gotta say, perhaps the YUMMIEST pasta I’ve ever had! I can’t wait to make this again (with a little less broth)!
Tastes great, but mine was so liquid-y! It was like roasted red pepper pasta soup? Next time I won’t use as much broth, I suppose!