This Creamy Broccoli Tortellini Pasta Bake makes an tasty weeknight dinner any day of the week. My whole family loves this easy vegetarian meal!
I’m LOVING this creamy broccoli tortellini pasta bake!
It channels all the goodness of a hearty broccoli pasta dish with the added bonus of being blanketed in a luscious Alfredo-like cream sauce.
You could actually use your favorite store-bought Alfredo sauce as a speedy shortcut in this dish, but honestly the homemade cream sauce in this recipe is quick, easy, and totally affordable to make.
It’s actually a super similar to the sauce I use in my Creamy Cauliflower and Brussels Sprout Casserole and is spoon-licking good!
Spoon… bowl… fingers… I’ll do whatever it takes to get every drop of this sauce into my face. SO GOOD!
What type of tortellini should I use for this pasta bake?
For this recipe I like to use fresh refrigerated tortellini since it cooks up crazy fast and has the best flavor.
You can also keep this type of tortellini in the freezerand simply thaw the frozen tortellini in advance.
I like to use the classic three cheese tortellini pasta to keep things gloriously vegetarian, but there are so many tasty varieties to choose from!
You could use spinach tortellini, mushroom tortellini, and, if you’re enjoying an omnivore diet, there are even sausage and chicken varieties that can be used in place of plain cheese tortellini.
Creamy Broccoli Tortellini Pasta Bake
Feeding a crowd? Feel free to double or triple the recipe below as needed. As written it yields 4 servings, perfect for pairing with a side dish or salad, or 2 large portions.
side dish and serving suggestions
My Broccoli Kale Salad or a simple side salad with Homemade Italian Dressing would be a healthy and delicious counterpart to this tasty pasta bake.
You could also serve it with a side of roasted broccoli, asparagus, or some tasty cheddar bay biscuits.
Creamy Broccoli Tortellini Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 9 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 3 cups chopped broccoli florets
- 3 TBSP butter
- 3 TBSP all-purpose flour
- 1.5 cups warm milk (warmed via stovetop or microwave)
- ½ tsp dried basil
- 1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp black pepper plus extra, to taste
- ¼ tsp salt (season to taste)
- 1 cup freshly grated Gruyere cheese
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 4-8 Ritz crackers, crushed
- crushed red pepper flakes to taste, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Measure out all your ingredients and set aside.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a light boil. Reduce heat to medium and add your fresh tortellini. After 1 minute, add your broccoli to the pot. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until broccoli is bright green and al dente and pasta is tender. Drain and set aside.
- Using the same (now empty) pot, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour in slowly, whisking with a metal whisk constantly for 2 minutes while it bubbles and darkens in color. This roux will thicken our sauce.
- Pour heated milk into the butter-flour mixture and whisk well. Bring to a light boil, whisking constantly for 1 minute or until the mixture has thickened.
- Remove from heat and add salt, pepper, basil, and garlic powder. Working in 2-3 batches, add half the gruyere cheese and all of the parmesan cheese, whisking in between each batch to gently melt the cheese. Add pasta and broccoli and mix to coat.
- Transfer mixture to a medium baking dish and sprinkle with remaining gruyere cheese. Top with foil and bake at 375°F on the center rack for 15 minutes.
- Uncover and top with crushed crackers. Bake an additonal 5 minutes to crisp the cracker coating and serve right away while hot and bubbly!
- Any additonal salt and pepper may be added to taste as well as an optional topping of crusehed red peper flakes for a kick!
Notes
Nutrition
If you get a chance to try this dreamy, creamy broccoli tortellini pasta bake, let me know!
Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
More Tasty Tortellini Recipes
Tortellini FTW! There are quite a few tasty tortellini recipes here on Peas and Crayons, so be sure to stock your fridge or freezer with some for easy weeknight meals!
First up is my beloved Instant Pot Tortellini recipe – it’s a must make if you have a pressure cooker!
Need to warm up on a cold snowy/rainy day? Whip up a bowl of healthy vegetarian tortellini soup or you can try my Creamy Tuscan Tortellini Soup for a little indulgence!
If you’re reading this in the Spring or Summertime then you’ve GOT to try my Caprese Tortellini Pasta Salad <– it’s always a crowd pleaser at parties and potlucks!
I got stuck with making a vegetarian potluck meal for a banquet and found your recipe. I tripled it, added gruyere and fontina to the sauce, used white pepper not black. Now the kicker is I ice bathed pasta and broccoli after cooking so that the sauce would not be absorbed till I was ready to cook. I then made the sauce mixed all the ingredients in. I placed aluminium on top of pan and set aside for several hours. I heated it up at 375 for 20 minutes and served. When I say it went, it was on everyone’s plate. Yummy. Making it again tonight for my actual family.
Delicious!!!
Tasty dish that’s very easy to make. I used spinach and ricotta tortellini and added a handful of spinach when mixing the sauce with the pasta and brocolli. I also used cheddar cheese in place of gruyere as I didn’t have any on hand. Thank you for the recipe.. I will definitely be using it again.
Delicious with a capital D. And oh so easy. Your recipes are food for my mothering soul. Thank you.
Thanks Meghan! I’ll try to keep the easy stuff coming b/c this tired momma needs them too! Love ya!
When you list milk as an ingredient are you meaining whole milk, 2%, skim?
I used 2% but whole will work as well. Skim may be a bit thin. Happy Thanksgiving! xo
This is one of my weeknight favorites! It’s so easy and delicious with tons of flavor! Yum!
So glad you’re loving the recipe Taylor!
Can I make this earlier in day, refrigerate and bake at dinner time?
Hi Carol! Pasta by nature likes to soak up sauces, so it might try to drink up some of the sauce while it chills in the fridge. It’s still totally worth a try though! If you test it out before I have a chance to, keep me posted! xoxo