3 Easy and Healthy One-Pot Pasta Dinners for Busy Weeknights

This post was written in partnership with my friends at Catelli Pasta. As always, opinions are always my own! 

Is it just me, or does it seem like Summer turned to Fall in the blink of an eye?! All of a sudden we went from beach days and cabin trips to early mornings, endless activities and lunchbox packing! Well now that we’re in the thick of it, and I have not one but TWO kids in school, I’m reminded of just how important it is to have easy weeknight dinner recipes on hand for those crazy weeknights. And what’s easier than a good one-pot meal, right?! Who’s with me?!

Parents everywhere feel pressure to feed their families well. In fact, Catelli conducted a survey and found out that more than a third (37%) of Canadian parents feel overwhelmed by the sense of responsibility to raise their children with healthy eating habits; 43% stressing about their children’s eating habits at least once a day. Familiar?

 

Because we love love love pasta in our house, we decided to experiment with a few new quick and easy pasta recipes that are perfect for those chaotic weeknights when you only have half an hour to whip something up for your crew. No fancy ingredients here — just nutritious whole-food ingredients that you’d have in your fridge and pantry anyways. We chose to use Catelli’s new Smart Veggie pasta for all three, because it tastes just like regular white pasta (which my kids love) but unbeknownst to them,  boasts 8 grams of fibre per serving and includes real whole-food ingredients like oats, cauliflower and carrots! This makes momma very happy 🙂

And in honour of keeping it real…

Along with the regularly busyness of life with young kids (and the fact that novice hockey and gymnastics has taken over my life), we’re going through some fairly significant transitions in our house and within our family (more on this to come), that has added some complexity and stress to our days, so having easy, go-to meals that are nourishing and tasty, for chaotic weeknights is key. And I know I’m not alone in this!

So, without further ado, here they are. Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli One-Pot Pasta

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients: 

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp butter
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup sundried tomato (I used jarred sundried tomatoes)
• 1 package Catelli Smart Pasta (I used bows)
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• 2-3 cups broccoli, washed and cut into small florets
• 1/2 cup half and half cream
• 1/2 cup fresh parmesan, grated

One-Pot Vegetarian Mexican Mac and Cheese

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4-5 mini carrots, diced
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• salt to taste
• 2-14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
• 1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1-15 oz can lentils, rinsed and drained
• green onion
• 2.5 cups cheese
• 1 package of Catelli Smart Veggie Macaroni
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup green onion, diced

*adapted from: https://kristineskitchenblog.com/one-pot-vegetarian-chili-mac/

Simple One-Pot Mediterranean Pasta

• 3 cups grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 cups mild italian Sausage (pre-cooked), cut into coins and halved
• 20-30 Basil leaves
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 package Catelli Smart Veggie Linguini
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup pesto sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used a combo of parmesan and mozzarella)

INSTRUCTIONS