Easy Pasta Primavera Recipe
An easy Pasta Primavera is a light pasta recipe loaded with vegetables and tossed in a fresh lemon and garlic sauce. This vegetarian pasta dish is a great way to incorporate seasonal spring and summer veggies and it’s so satisfying.
You’ll love how it feels like more veggies than pasta and it’s so colorful and pretty like our Baked Feta Pasta and Italian Pasta Salad.
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What is Pasta Primavera?
Because of its naming, many people think Pasta Primavera is an Italian dish when in fact it is a popular American pasta dish that was invented in the 1970s. It is made with pasta and lightly cooked fresh vegetables. Rather than using a creamy sauce, it’s tossed in light garlic and lemon sauce. The pasta is often called summer or spring pasta, it’s such a light dish and does truly feel like summer.
How to Make Pasta Primavera
- Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and cover to keep warm.
- Sautee vegetables in a large skillet or dutch oven until crisp-tender. Season to taste.
- Make it saucy – Add butter and garlic to the veggies and cook until fragrant.
- Combine – Add cooked pasta, lemon juice, and parmesan cheese to your veggie skillet and toss to combine.
Variations
- Protein – You can add meat to the pasta; shrimp and chicken would work great.
- Vegetables – you can change up the veggies depending on what is seasonal or what you have on hand. Broccoli, French green beans, snap peas, scallions or asparagus would all be great substitutes or add-ins.
- Pasta – you could change up the pasta for a different bite-sized pasta shape such as Cavatappi, ziti, fusilli, or your favorite variety.
- Sauce – If you are looking for a richer sauce, add Homemade Pesto or Alfredo Sauce to the dish.
Tips for the Best Pasta Primavera
- Cut the vegetables to even thickness so they have a uniform look and cook at the same rate (note: if using root vegetables such as carrots, cut those to finer julienne slices since they take longer to cook).
- Generously salt the water for cooking pasta. For 4 quarts, I add about 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp of fine sea salt.
- Cook pasta to al dente which means tender but slightly firm to the bite. The package instructions will usually result in perfectly cooked al-dente pasta.
- Cook veggies until crisp-tender. They will retain more flavor and will look more colorful and vibrant in the finished dish.
Serve pasta with
This pasta recipe is a meal in itself and doesn’t really need anything else as a vegetarian dinner. However, if you like a good side, here are some great options:
- Roasted Cauliflower
- Easy Garlic Bread Recipe
- Pan-Seared Steak
- Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad
- Caesar Salad
Make-Ahead
- Storing Leftovers – Keep leftover pasta refrigerated in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
- Reheating – To reheat, add to a skillet with a dash of olive oil and cook until warmed through.
- Freezing – We do not recommend freezing this dish because the veggies get mushy and dull when thawed.
More Pasta Recipes
Easy Pasta Primavera Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 1 bell pepper, any color, sliced into strips
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced into rings
- 6 oz brown or white mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 medium red onion, sliced
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt, or to taste, plus more for boiling pasta
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper, or to taste
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more to serve
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, to serve
Instructions
- Cook pasta in salted water according to package instructions until al'dente or to your desired doneness, drain water and cover to keep warm.
- While the pasta cooks, cook the vegetables: place a large deep skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat and add oil. Add bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and red onion and saute tossing and stirring frequently until vegetables are crisp-tender, 6-8 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste.
- Reduce heat to medium and add the butter and garlic and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the pasta, lemon juice, and parmesan cheese to the skillet. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Once pasta is heated through, remove from heat.
- Garnish with more freshly grated parmesan if desired and sprinkle on parsley.
Nutrition Per Serving
Valentina Ablaev
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Why do I have to walk a mile to get to the recipe? It drives me bonkers but the recipe looks luscious. I look forward to making it. 🫠
Hi Stewball! At the top of the page, there is a shortcut button. Click on “jump to recipe” and it will take you directly to the recipe card. I also recommend reading the blog post completely before attempting the recipe because I go in depth to provide other information and helpful tips.
Hi
Your sweet potato recipe
Is awesome delicious easy
Thanks for sharing your awesome
Recipes there easy superbly
Delicious
Five stars two thumbs up
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Aeil!
I’d like to make this for the family of my friend who is ill. How well would it transport and not become dry and all stuck together? Would it reheat okay? Maybe tossed with some olive oil? Appreciate any suggestions. Even–Try another recipe!
Hi Jo! Yes, this reheats well. See my “make-ahead” notes above.
We love this recipe! We add Italian sausage and always make extra for leftovers! So delicious!
That’s great, Bren! So glad you love it.
Loved this dish! I used the entire red onion. I waste if I don’t use the whole one. It was amazing, easy to make and looks great too. I’ll make this for mom on Mother’s Day. Thank you!
That’s a great idea! I hope it becomes a hit, thanks for the review too!
Made this recipe for the first time tonight with shrimp and it was a hit. My daughter doesn’t like mushrooms so we used cauliflower and added. We did zest the lemon for that extra lemon flavor that we love. will do this again
That’s wonderful, Barbara! It sounds delicious. So glad you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Just made this for dinner & added grilled chicken. It was delicious. Thank you.
I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you.
Instant favorite! I now always double the recipe as everyone in my family goes back for seconds and thirds. The ingredients are simple, and yet this dish is so flavorful. I love this delicious, warm, vegetarian option – no one misses the meat with this dish. Thank you, Natasha!
That’s wonderful, Monica! So glad it’s a hit. 🙂
Made this for the first time tonight it was wonderful substituted asparagus for the zucchini and added grilled boneless chicken (for my husband) so much flavor. Thank you
Hi Donna! Thank you for trying my recipe, I’m so glad it was a hit!
What would be a couple of good replacement options for mushrooms in this dish? I’m not a fan of them. Thank you in advance!
Hi Jessica, we prefer it with mushrooms, but you can omit the mushrooms altogether or substitute for a vegetable of choice. Peas may be an option.
Another great recipe. I recommend using a little less oil/butter, but other than that it turns out amazing.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Keegan!
This recipe ticks ALL the boxes! Fresh wholesome ingredients,
Easy and quick,
Economical and DELICIOUS and it looks gorgeous too!
And as an Australian (Aussie) I really appreciate the option of selecting metric measurements.
Thanks Natasha – I love your recipes, and your great videos.
Bless you 🙂
You’re very welcome. I’m so glad you to hear that, Lou! 🙂
This is one of my favorite recipes! It’s always a hit when I make it! It makes my lighter eaters get second and third helpings! The last time I made this, a friend asked for the recipe because it reminded him of a pasta dish he ate in Italy! This is one of my go-to recipes when I want an easy crowd pleaser! Thank y’all for this recipe!!
Aaaw love this! Thank you so much for your great comments and feedback, Lara. We appreciate you!
Made this tonight with veggies I had on hand. Really delicious although I realized I was VERY low on parm (like about 2 tbsp ugh) I imagine it would be even more amazing with all that cheesy goodness…but for anyone who is trying to do less cheese/dairy – this is still delicious. I added a little crushed red pepper too. This was SO lemony which I love!
That’s wonderful! Thank you for sharing. I’m glad you loved this recipe.
Truly a simple pasta dish that you can prepare in a few minutes. Simple ingredients that gives a yummy flavor to the pasta. I used a GF brown rice ziti noodles. I love your recipes Natasha.
Thank you for the review, My!
Another great quick and easy dinner from Natasha’s website. I used chick pea pasta and the flavors of dish helped make the pasta taste better 😋 even my 9 year old ate it.
That’s wonderful, Karina! Thank you for the review.
This recipe is easy and delicious! I increased the amounts to make 8 servings but then followed the recipe exactly. We all loved it and my family keeps asking when I can make it again. Thank you!
You’re welcome! Thank you too for following the recipe exactly as written, so glad you loved it!
Hi, I am from Australia and just found your wonderful recipes.
Tried Easy Pasta Primavera tonight and found the recipe so light and tasty.
Thanks for the recipe
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Lee! Thank you so much for sharing that great review with me!
This looks good, I like leftovers for lunch. Should I double all ingredients for 1lb of pasta?
Hi Erin! I hope you love this recipe! I recommend clicking “Jump to recipe” at the top of the post, it will take you to our printable recipe where you’ll have the option to change the number of servings. Hover over the number of servings highlighted in red and slide it to how many servings you would like to make. I hope that helps!
I wonder if everyone knows how much difference fresh lemon juice and fresh Parm make. Lemon juice out of a bottle just isn’t the same.
Fresh is always best! But the bottled one is a get alternative if you don’t have the option of fresh.
I make it with spaghetti squash instead of pasta. Sometimes add ground chicken to the mix and it is great!
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing.
So delicious! My husband loved this dish and after he had seconds he said he didn’t want to stop eating it! I loved it too! Didn’t have bell pepper, used broccoli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas and zucchini with the red onion. Also added a few chicken tenderloins sautéd in olive oil on the side. We try to eat clean and healthy and this recipe fills the bill! Thank you! I will be making it again and again!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Pam!
I just loved this recipe!! It was so good & so easy! Can’t wait to make again!
Glad you enjoyed it, Jennifer!
this pasta is colorful and super tasty! This is one of my favorite dishes for the spring!
Thanks for the good comments and feedback, Shannon. Good to hear that you liked it!
This turned out absolutely PERFECT! I followed it exactly and now I think it’s my new go-to!
Love it! I’m happy to hear that, thank you for the review.
Hi Natasha, this new pasta recipe looks so fancy. It’s very cool how you like put different varieties of vegetables in it to make it healthy. I love to eat penne pastas with marinara sauce and cheese.
I hope this becomes your new favorite!
Hi Natasha, this new pasta recipe looks so fancy. It’s very cool how you like put different varieties of vegetables in it to make it healthy. I love penne pastas with marinara sauce and cheese.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I hope you try this recipe soon!
Hi Natasha, this is a fancy new pasta recipe. I love how there are different varieties of vegetables you put in there. They truly make them healthy. I love cheesy penne pasta with marinara sauce.