One Pot Zucchini Mushroom Pasta
An incredibly creamy, hearty pasta dish that you can make in just 20 minutes. Even the pasta gets cooked right in the pot!
Ever since I made that one pot pasta several weeks back, I’ve been on the hunt for more recipes like this – easy, effortless and sure to be a hit with the entire family. And this zucchini mushroom pasta is exactly that.
There is absolute no pre-cooking or sauteeing of any kind here. Simply throw everything into the pot, including the uncooked pasta and that is it.
The water will be completely soaked by the pasta and once the noodles are cooked through, you can toss in a little bit of heavy cream (or milk, if you’re watching your calories) for a thin, creamy pasta sauce. Easy peasy.
And don’t be too shocked when everyone just raves about how amazing this pasta is. Jason said this was the best pasta he’s ever had! I obviously didn’t tell him how easy it was. Hey, he did the dishes so it’s an even trade, right?
One Pot Zucchini Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound spaghetti
- 1 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 zucchini, thinly sliced and quartered
- ⅔ cup peas
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 sprigs thyme
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat, combine spaghetti, mushrooms, zucchini, peas, garlic, thyme and 4 1/2 cups water; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until pasta is cooked through and liquid has reduced, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and heavy cream.
- Serve immediately.
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Making this tonight – looks SO good and SO easy! My favorite combo.
My husband decided to go vegetarian so I’m looking to make food for his new life style. I love all these ingredients. I thought this would be a winner, unfortunately the flavors were so bland I’m not a fan. Any ideas on how to put some flavor into it? It did cook perfect and I would loved to make it again if you have suggestions to boost up the flavor.
Thank you
A little bit of seasoning of salt and pepper go a long way! 🙂
Please delete my last comment.. My husband made a good point that it could be the type of pasta we used (a derum wheat pasta), so i felt badly for my comment-was just disappointed that i wrecked dinner! 🙁
If i were to write another comment I would say ‘Next time I cook this I would make sure to cook the pasta and veggies separately as it seemed to turn out a little to soggy for our liking’
A bit more positive! (never comment in the heat of the moment I guess!) Sorry about that, your recipes truly are fabulous!
Amanda, thank you for your feedback. Yes, using a different kind of pasta, like the derum wheat pasta you used, can significantly alter results in a one pot meal. I do hope you get to try this again with better results! 🙂
I’ve absolutely loved all your recipes so far, so this one must be a one off… but this turned out to be an absolute disaster tonight! 🙁 for how easy it is to boil and cook the pasta in one pan and sauté all the other ingredients in another I see no benefits to shoving it all in one pot. I should have known better… makes for soggy pasta, soggy mushrooms and zucchini and an overall starchy flavour… actually don’t think we can even eat this one 🙁 sorry for the negative feedback… but really disappointed in this one… *and yes we tried to eat it and we couldn’t, pure smush 🙁
What if we wanted to add chicken to this? I’m thinking sauté cubed chicken first then add in the water and the rest of the ingredients. Or would that overcook the chicken? Should I wait until the end to add the chicken?
Sherin, the addition of chicken sounds amazing. But I recommend sautéing first, setting it aside, and then adding it back in at the very end to avoid overcooking it.
I made this using whole wheat spaghettini and it was awful. I guess I need to stick with white pasta.
Yes! If you sift through the comments here, a lot of readers have reported unsuccessful results with pasta substitutions.
can this be frozen after for another time?? I made way to much for 2 people.
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I have successfully frozen this dish. As with all mushrooms though, they lose their consistency a bit when freezing, but still taste great.
That looks very yummy and easy! <3
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This was fabulous! We have a family of seven and it fed us all! What a great, healthy meal and a wonderful way to use all the zucchini from my garden. Thank you!
Any suggestions on what I could use instead of mushrooms as I am allergic?
I made this last night and it was better than I even expected. I think I could use about half pasta next time, and still get a great creamy result. The combination of flavors is just genius. I wondered about some chopped red bell peppers mainly for color contrast, Thoughts?
I will make this again and again.
KUDOS!
That sounds like a great addition!
Do I use the dry powder cheese or the fresh grated Parm cheese?
I always recommend using freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
I’ve tried several of your recipes before, and all of them have been great. This one was no exception. Fabulous! Thanks for the great recipe, which turned in to a great dinner!
Help! I’ve tried this twice. TWICE in one night and I messed it up both times. {I swear I’m not that bad of a cook!{ The first time I was trying to half the recipe and I don’t think I had my portions of water to noodles right. It turned out really, really goopy and just gooed together. So I threw it out and tried again ( I really wanted this for dinner!!) I followed the recipe exactly. Again, it just got gooey and sorta stuck together, though not as bad as the first time – still edible. What am I doing wrong? Is the water taking too long to heat up? Do you heat your water to a boil before you put the noodles and veggies in? (that’s what I do when making plain pasta) Help! This meal sounds amazing.
The water should not be brought to a boil first. I’m also not entirely sure why it’s turning into a gooey mess – I worry that your heat source was set too high.
Since I noticed that you don’t drain the water for this recipe, how much water should be used?
The amount of water used is listed in the recipe.
What could you put in place of the half and half? Could you use regular milk? I’m just trying to avoid going to the grocery store haha.
Milk should be fine but it would be best to use heavy cream.
Great recipe! But do you think I can use other types of mushroom for this? Cremini mushrooms are not always available where I live.
Yes, absolutely.
I love trying new things and this is definitely one that my husband and I loved. The only thing I changed up was i didn’t use peas they would get too soft in my opinioname and I made garlic chicken in a separate pan and added it on top. Amazing. Can’t wait to share with others at a dinner party 🙂
what a wonderful recipe.I was skeptical at first but had to give it a chance. soooo good and so easy and so beautiful on the plate. I’ve already passed the word to so many friends and all of them blessed me!!!! I used olive oil instead of heavy cream, substituted brocomini for mushrooms. bottom line – a winning recipe! thanks for sharing.
Looks fantastic! Can’t wait to make it!