Creamy, cheesy, oh so easy, this Healthy One Pot Pasta is the ultimate cozy comfort food. It’s soft and saucy with great flavors from garlic, cheese, and sautéed veggies with minimal dishes and minimal effort required.
About this Pasta
I make this meal nearly every week as part of my meal prep because it’s so delicious and simple. And when I say “one pot,” I truly mean only one dish required for this pasta!
Everything is made in the same dish and you don’t even have to strain the pasta. Now that’s convenient for anyone who hates doing dishes as much as I do!
This Healthy One Pot Pasta is super customizable, too. I like to make it as a “clean out the fridge” dish when I seem to have small random scraps of ingredients laying around. That said, leave out what you’re not a fan of and add what you do enjoy!
And if you’re looking for more cozy pasta dishes, also check out this this Healthy Baked Ziti, Healthy Goulash Pasta, Olive Garden Chicken Pasta, One Pot Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta, this Chicken Caprese Pasta, this Sausage Hummus Pasta or this One Pot Pasta Alfredo that I’m sure you’ll love, too.
Recipe Ingredients
- Ground Meat – I personally love using the brand Mighty Spark Food because they have a seasoned Bruschetta Chicken that is SO good. It knocks the flavor out of the park and it a house favorite here. Ground turkey is a good option, too. You can also omit the meat entirely or sub it for an alternative like roasted tofu or tempeh.
- Pasta – Any pasta will work here but I love to use Barilla or Banza because they have all kinds of shapes and blends for reasonable prices. I usually use the chickpea pasta for a little extra protein.
- Pasta Sauce – Use any blend and brand available. I prefer a sauce with great garlic & olive oil flavor, but will typically go with whatever is on sale at the store.
- Veggies – I usually throw in spinach because it wilts easily, but use whatever is in your fridge. Onions and tomatoes make their way into this recipe, too.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
This pasta dish can be made hundreds different ways depending on what you have available. Whether you’re using up pantry ingredients, buying products on sale, or making it as a ‘clean out the fridge’ meal, make this dish your own!
- To make this extra creamy, try adding a dollop of plain/greek yogurt + a pinch more salt!
- For some crunch, try adding roasted or slivered almonds or maybe even breadcrumbs (?!) on top. Either would add great texture to the creaminess of the pasta.
- Use a jar sauce of your choice or if you’re feeling a bit fancy, make homemade! Sometimes I like to make a special dinner of this by making the sauce homemade using my Italian Roma Tomato Sauce Recipe. It can be a fun kitchen experiment too.
- Keep this vegan/dairy free by omitting the meat and swapping the crumbled feta for a dairy free cheese alternative.
- Try different vegetables for different textures in this pasta dish. Some favorites of mine are mushrooms, red pepper slices, roasted cauliflower, or chopped broccoli.
How to Make This Recipe
- Add olive oil to a large (4 or 6 quart) sauce pot and turn on the stove to medium/high heat.
- Add ground meat and the minced garlic to the pot once oil is heated.
- While the meat starts to brown, dice the onion, tomatoes, and spinach. Then add to the pot.
- Once the meat is cooked (after 6-10 minutes), pour in pasta sauce of your choice. Then fill the almost emptied pasta jar up with ½ cup cold filtered water. Cap the jar and swish it around, getting all of the sauce off the sides of the jar. Pour the liquid into the sauce pot.
- Pour a box of noodles into the pot. Using a spatula, stir the dry noodles into the meat sauce mixture.
- Turn the heat down to medium and cover the sauce pot and let cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring 2-3 times throughout.
- Once the noodles are cooked, add in ½ cup of crumbled feta and stir.
- Serve with fresh basil, additional cheese, and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
This One Pot Pasta stores GREAT as leftovers. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 days and reheat in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each to avoid any cold pockets.
It’s likely your heat is too high. Be sure your on medium-low and don’t forget to stir the pasta every five minutes or so. And give it a GOOD stir so what’s on the bottom of the pot makes it to the top
The sauce alone is not enough moisture to cook the noodles. Adding water to the dish keeps the pasta from drying out and gets the pasta soft. Adding the water to the jar also ensures you get ALL of the sauce out.
More Recipes You’ll Love
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Healthy One Pot Pasta
Equipment
- 6 quart sauce pan
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Meat Chopper
Ingredients
- 16 oz ground chicken or turkey
- 8 oz dry chickpea pasta, 1 box
- 16 oz pasta sauce
- ½ cup spinach, chopped
- ½ cup tomatoes, fresh or canned
- ½ cup red onion
- ½ cup filtered water
- ½ cup crumbled feta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons italian seasoning, optional
- 1 tsp minced garlic, optional
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a large (4 or 6 quart) sauce pot and turn on the stove to medium/high heat.
- Add ground meat and the minced garlic to the pot once oil is heated.
- While the meat starts to brown, dice the onion, tomatoes, and spinach. Then add to the pot.
- Once the meat is cooked (after 6-10 minutes), pour in pasta sauce of your choice. Then fill the almost emptied pasta jar up with ½ cup cold filtered water. Cap the jar and swish it around, getting all of the sauce off the sides of the jar. Pour the liquid into the sauce pot.
- Pour a box of noodles into the pot. Using a spatula, stir the dry noodles into the meat sauce mixture.
- Turn the heat down to medium and cover the sauce pot and let cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring 2-3 times throughout.
- Once the noodles are cooked, add in ½ cup of crumbled feta and stir.
- Serve with fresh basil, additional cheese, and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you’re using MyFitnessPal, search ‘A Paige Of Positivity’ and find HEALTHY ONE POT PASTA calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
This recipe is amazing!!!! Some of my friends and I got to see apaigeofpositvity make this dish on a little college Zoom cooking show a few weeks back. I haven’t been the best with meal prep at school but this made it so easy. I literally have made it 3 or 4 times since the class because of how yummy and easy this recipe is. I am going to make it for my family now that I’m at home! Thank you for this recipe it tastes delicious and I love how versatile it is!
I’ll be the first to admit, I am not a pasta girl. However, my mom made this one night for dinner and WOW! So flavorful and pretty cool that you do not have to drain the pasta! We used the mighty spark meat and it was a game changer- will definitely be petitioning my mother to make this again.
Made this tonight for my fam and it was a HUGE hit for everyone (including my two kids who are 5 & 7 – I was bracing for the worst but they loved it!). Will definitely be making again!
SO happy to hear it was kiddo approved – Thanks Michelle 🙂
This was SO easy to make and honestly delicious. I was nervous how it would turn out at first but definitely trusted in the process and it didn’t disappoint! I added feta and parmesan for the cheese and it was the perfect combination. Will definitely be making this again.
Thanks for trying!! I love how you added parmesan too – I think goat cheese would also be delicious!
This was so so so good!!!! The entire fam loved it!!
Makes me so happy to hear!! Thanks Adele – xo!
Absolutely UNREAL!! Made this recipe, and added Kale, Mushrooms, Carrots & Celery for some added veggies and it’s seriously so good. Protein ratio is great and my whole fam loved it! Couldn’t recommend more
I love the variety of vegetables you added in!!! Amazing – thanks for sharing, Brooke 🙂
Can’t believe how easily this came together, and in one pot no less!! (hallelujah!!) So delicious, this is for sure going to be become a weeknight staple.
The is by far one of my favorite recipes for winter time!! So much comfort in one pot! LOVE all of your awesome recipes!!
SO good and easy to make!! It’s so creamy and my new go-to pasta dish
Only one word needed… YUM! I rarely ever cook dinner for myself, but this has changed me! So easy yet so yummy. The perfect bite and makes for a great re-heat! 10/10 would recommend!!
Stop reading and get cooking! You will not be disappointed. This one pot pasta is too easy and only one pot to clean. Say less!!!!! Making this pasta on repeat and with the simple recipe that makes swapping ingredients trouble-free I can make so many versions that I never get sick of. Thank you, Courtney!!
Couldn’t agree more! Part of my weekly meal prep.
I am OBSESSED with this recipe! I made it a couple weeks ago with just what I had on hand and it was so easy, creamy and heavenly. My boyfriend and I were obsessed. And now I’m making it again this week while in a cut thanks to all of your recommendations on different pasta types, etc. to make it work for what you want/need. I love that I can eat this whenever and that it requires minimal dishwashing at the end. 10/10 🙂
Loved it! So easy and tastes great!
So delicious!!! It made my kitchen smell amazing. It was all so easy to make and I felt so good eating it. Such an amazing comfort food.
I love the comfort it offers!!
I really like that this meal is easy to make with food you probably already have. It’s also yummy and tastes like it requires more effort than it does! I also appreciate that this has a lot of the same ingredients as the Ranch Feta Turkey Burgers also on this blog!! I highly recommend planning both into your weekly meal plans!! Thank you for these great recipes Paige!!
This is the best recipe for any college student. I can pre cut the veggies then just throw it all in a pot and take a shower while I wait for it to cook. This recipe is a weekly staple now and I just use my leftover veggies. Sometimes I use mushrooms and zucchini, but tonight I used red pepper and peas in addition to the veggies in the recipe.
MY NEW FAVORITE RECIPE !! So so sooo easy. So delicious! Loved using the healthy macro friendly options!
I mean…. OK!!! This recipe is bursting with flavor & only one pan?!! say.no.more. Absolutely, delicious & such a crowd favorite. Made this for a bachelor night with my girlfriends & EVERYONE approved (no doubts!) could not recommend more.
This is such a GREAT recipe for weekly meal preps!! Its quick and easy, and SO FLAVORFUL!! I love to sub ground turkey for Italian style turkey sausage and add Parmesan instead of feta! I also love to use this as a basic base for a bunch of different one pot pastas!
We loved this recipe!! It was extremely easy to follow and was DELICIOUS!! My fiancé said it was “the best pasta dish I’ve ever made”!!! You won’t regret making this!