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.
Crisp White Cheddar
The Crisp mix sounds delightful.
goat cheese or broccoli :)
Thanks for letting everyone know about the vegetarian parm cheese that Whole Foods sells! As a strict vegetarian that is my favorite cheese!!
the sharp asiago sounds like it would be wonderful!
I’ve gotten into a practice of subbing quinoa for pasta in dishes or using pasta made from quinoa. This recipe’s going to be on my “to make” list!
That dish looks amazing! I would love to try the cheddar and apple seasoning. We are big fans of cheddar in my house!
A friend of mine sent me in your direction for choosing other recipes to make for the week….they all look amazing and I will be shopping today so I can start cooking tonight and make ahead recipes too. Thank you much!
Thank you, Lin! I’m glad you found my blog! Please thank your friend for me. :)
This looks delicious!!! Can’t wait to try it.
I alred use roasted chickpeas, sundried tomatoes and feta a lot in salads and it would be handy to have them all packaged together.
The goat cheese with marinated beet and pecans looks delicious and would be great with your balsamic dressing. Thanks for the inspiration!
oo the zesty sounds good!
I would love to try the salad savers with feta and chickpeas. Those help make my favorite salad :)
The recipe looks lovely. I’m looking forward to trying it. Your recipes never disappoint. Therefore, I’d have to go with your recco on the Salad Savers and try Crisp!
The goat cheese one sounds great!
This looks lovely! And I’d try the sharp asiago.
Looks delicious–I might try it with a little bit of tomato paste thrown in for a little richness :3
Tangy for sure! So much beet love <3 <3
Going to try this tonight, can’t wait!
This recipe looks amazing! And those salad savers looks like something I would love – I’m surprised I haven’t found these already! The feta, olives, and red peppers one looks AMAZING. Would love to try that! Thanks for this Christmas-esque recipe!
The recipe looks delicious
Anything with goat or bleu cheese please. I love flavor!
the salad savors are incredible! that would seriously stop all my excuses in not making a quick salad. the goat cheese, cranberry, walnut one is definitely my jam. and would be great alongside this pasta dish! I will admit that I find myself whipping up a dish very similar quite frequently and I love it!
This looks so good! I’ll have to try it sometime soon. And for the SaladSavors, the “Crisp” flavor looks amazing and super easy.
Sharp cheddar + apple is one of my very favorite flavor combinations, so I would definitely try that one!
love C+K!
Anything with white cheddar!
I would want to try the sharp asiago!
I think I’ll try an apple, pecan, cranberry salad for Christmas dinner.
I love the number of versatile recipes on your site that are easy to throw together (and delicious!) during the week. Thank you for all the inspiration!
Great recipe! I already made it, and even though I forgot the spinach, it was delicious and satisfied my hankering for pasta. Hmm, the goat cheese SaladSavors sound good too…
Looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
Tonight we had a vegetable lasagna which included broccoli, so I am anxious to try this dish in about a week so I don’t overdue the broccoli. Ha ha! It sounds delicious and I am looking forward to experimenting. Thank you, Debbie
I would definitely try the bold gorgonzola and the fresh goat cheese. :) yum yum yum
This recipe looks great, looking forward to trying it. I would be interested in trying SaladSavors’ Tangy goat cheese, beets and pecans.
I’d try the goat cheese!
Mmmm, cheddar and apple is one of my favorite combinations (scones, anyone?) But I am THE WORST about remembering to have a side salad – even when I have the stuff ready in the fridge. I can’t even count the number of lettuces I’ve neglected to death. :(
ALL the salad savors look yummy!
Recipe looks great. As for the flavor, probably Zesty Feta, although wouldn’t mind trying a few of them.
Love the easy pasta dish. I would try the cheese, almonds, and dried apple Salad Savor topping.
A little Gorgonzola goes a long way in a salad, so I would choose the bold.
Yum! You make the best pastas!
Looks so good! Would love to try zesty!
Zesty feta all the way! This looks incredible, I can’t wait to try it!
This looks delicious – I’m such a sucker for any type of spinach pasta :)! And I would love to try the Salad Savors Bold gorgonzola with pear and walnuts….YUM!!!
the CRISP white cheddar sounds awesome!
Hi friend…are the Salad Savors available locally? Thanks :)
I would like to try the sharp asaigo, artichoke, sundried tomato!
mmm cheddar cheese, esp sharp cabot
I would like to try all of the Salad Savors.