Bowties and Broccoli

Looking for a family favorite meal that is also quick and easy!? This Bowties and Broccoli is it! With 5 simple ingredients this is a one-pot meal that is ready in under 30 minutes!

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

Broccoli Bowtie Pasta

I have never before made a dinner where my sons ate so much and so quickly as this bowties & broccoli. To them it is the perfect dinner. I mean the last time I made it my oldest had 3 servings.

And my favorite part is that it is incredibly easy and not to mention quick.

This dinner originated as a meal I always would make when my husband was away on a work trip for a week. After a few days when I tire of doing dishes this is always my go-to because it is a one pot meal that makes for easy clean up.

The fact that my kids also loved it and brought joy to the dinner table makes it a win-win.

Oh I guess a win-win-win because they are obviously eating a bunch of broccoli too!

For some other broccoli loving recipes try out Cheddar and Riced Broccoli Fritters or my Healthy Broccoli Cheese Soup!

Ingredients

• Bowtie/Farfalle Pasta – While commonly called bowtie pasta it will probably say farfalle pasta on the box. This fun shape is the perfect contender to a kid favorite meal! If you don’t have bowtie pasta available no worries, you can really use any of your favorite pastas in this dish! Good substitutes to farfalle would be conchiglie or commonly know as shells.
• Broccoli – Broccoli the second star of this dish. About 2 small or medium broccoli heads work great here. If you want to grab a bag of pre-cut florets you can do that too. Either way you will want to florets to all be uniform in size so that they don’t cook at different speeds.
• Butter – So I tested this recipe with both olive oil and butter and a combo of the two. To me the butter hands down was the family favorite. But of course if you want to sub out the butter for olive oil or do a half and half combo of the two it is definitely possible. Also a note on the butter, I use unsalted butter to ensure the dish doesn’t become too salty, with all the parmesan the dish might get too salty if you use salted butter.
• Parmesan Cheese – My personal favorite part of this meal… I always like to recommend using freshly grated parmesan from a block, realistically though have shredded or grated parmesan will be delicious in this dish! And don’t forget to save a little extra to sprinkle on top.
• Lemon – To really bring this dinner to the next level you will want a little sprinkle of fresh lemon juice, not too much just a few small squeezes to toss in to really bring a freshness to the dish.

For a complete detailed list of the ingredients continue towards the bottom of the page.

Instructions

Add water to a large pot (about 8 cups). Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Once boiling add a pinch of salt and the pasta to the pot.

Cook pasta 3 to 4 minutes. Add the broccoli florets into the pot over the pasta.

Cook everything about ten minutes until pasta is ready and broccoli is tender. Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water.

Use a colander to drain the pasta and broccoli. Bring the pot back to the stove and switch to medium heat. Add the butter to the pot, let the butter melt.

Transfer the pasta and broccoli back to the pot and toss in the melted butter. Add the Parmesan to the pot and a splash of pasta water. Toss until everything is coated and almost turned into a sauce keep adding more pasta water if needed.

Take off the heat and splash the pasta in fresh lemon juice and toss. Serve immediately. 

And make sure you are following me on TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest, for all the latest recipes!