One-Pan Spanish Garlic Pasta | Easy Recipe & Done in 30 Minutes
This One-Pan Spanish Garlic Pasta is seriously delicious. It´s packed with so many great flavors, super easy to make and comes together in about 30 minutes. The perfect dish for a busy weeknight or a relaxed weekend lunch.

The beauty of this dish? It´s a true one-pan pasta dish. Where the pasta is cooked with the rest of the ingredients. This means the starch in the pasta stays in the dish, which gives the pasta the most incredible texture & flavor.

To make this pasta dish, I used vegetable broth instead of water. Which really elevates the flavors. I also added in some saffron, to give it that Spanish touch. But the best part? I added in a whole head of garlic! Hello garlic heaven 🙂 .

TIPS & TRICKS to Make this Recipe: I used uncooked penne pasta to make this dish. But you can use any pasta you like. However, the amount of broth I used might be less if you use a thinner pasta. Basically, add in enough broth to just cover the ingredients, but don´t drown the pan with the broth.

Key Ingredients & Cookware I used in this Recipe:
MY NONSTICK FRYING PAN
EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
SAFFRON I USED
SPANISH SEA SALT
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Watch the Video Below on How to Make this One-Pan Spanish Garlic Pasta
One-Pan Spanish Garlic Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 60 ml
- 1 head garlic
- 1/2 onion
- 1 orange bell pepper
- 1/2 zucchini
- 15 oz canned diced tomatoes 400 grams
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth 590 ml
- 1/4 tsp saffron threads .17 grams
- 2 cups uncooked penne pasta 200 grams
- Manchego cheese
- handful freshly chopped parsley
- sea salt & black pepper
Instructions
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Roughly mince the cloves from 1 head of garlic, roughly dice 1/2 onion, roughly chop 1 orange bell pepper and cut 1/2 zucchini into 1/4 inch (.635 cm) thick half moons
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Heat a large fry pan with a medium-high heat and add in 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, after 1 minute add in the diced onion, chopped bell pepper and the zucchini, mix with the olive oil, after 5 minutes and the onion & zucchini is translucent, add in the minced garlic and continue to mix, after 1 minute add in a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, 2 tbsp (8 grams) finely chopped parsley and season generously with sea salt & black pepper, mix together, then add in 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth and 1/4 tsp saffron threads, mix and bring to a boil, then add in 2 cups penne pasta and give it one final mix
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After simmering for about 10 minutes and the broth has reduced by at least half, place a lid on the pan and lower the fire to a low-medium heat, simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat, finely shred in some Manchego cheese over the pasta and sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley, enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Get the Saffron Threads I used to make this recipe
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This recipe is amazing, I picked this one because I had a Spanish project, and all the reviews were great just like the food, keep up the amazing work!
-suki
Happy to hear that! Much love 🙂
I had all the ingredients except the saffron so I put in a 1/2 teaspoon of hot Spanish paprika, it was delicious, my wife loved it too. Thankyou.
Sounds great! Glad you all enjoyed it 🙂 Much love
So delicious!! I’ve made this twice and it is so fresh and tasty!! Thank you so much for sharing your talent!
So happy to hear that! Thanks for the comment 🙂 Much love
Michas gracias for sharing and I have been re-sharing as it is a yummy quick fix dish. I don’t mind having this even twice a week.
I have a question: Can I substitute Manchego cheese with pecorino tuscano?
Yes, Pecorino would be a great sub for Manchego! Much love 🙂
Delicious.
Happy to hear that! Thanks for the comment 🙂 Much love
This was easy and absolutely delicious. Used Comté cheese because it was all that was left in the fridge – and it turned out to be an excellent choice! Doubled the recipe and it was enough for four with leftovers for a lucky someone tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your talent…. 🙂
So happy to hear that! Thanks for the comment 🙂 much love
I don’t have fresh parsley, I have lots sweet basil would that work
Absolutely 🙂 much love
I love the recipe but I left out the saffron as some people I was eating with objected to it. Is there a good way to add a little heat to this dish? thanks its awesome.
You can add a 1/4 tsp (.70 grams) chili powder for heat 🙂 much love!
So yummy! We have made several of your recipes, and they are all delicious! What’s also nice is that your recipes are very clear and easy to follow. Everything has come out exactly as it should. Thank you!
So happy to hear that! thanks for the comment 🙂 much love
Yum even though I used cucumber rather than zucchini -oops. I added some spicy Italian sausage and thought it went well with all that garlic.!! I will make this again.
Sounds great! much love 🙂
I had this recipe for dinner and it taste fantastic. It so simple, yet so healthy. It’s soothing to taste the blended fresh vegetables. I added mushrooms because I love to include mushrooms with vegetables. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I have tried 4 of your recipes already and they’re wonderful, I will try some more!
I am so happy to hear that! much love 🙂
Excellent ! I live not far from Spain.! A great pleasure to test your recipes. it taste really good spanish food ! Bien hecho !
So happy to hear that! much love 🙂
Made it and it was fabulous and easy. Making this much more often
So happy to hear that! much love 🙂
We had already planned another meal for dinner, but then we watched your video on Youtube and it looked so good that we immediately changed our plans and cooked this pasta dish.
It tasted so great, full of flavours and so aromatic! We will soon make it again.
Muchas gracias para esta receta. Muy, muy, muy sabrosa 🙂
Saludos de Alemania
Sonja
I am so happy to hear that Sonja! Un saludo desde España 🙂
Just made it. Excellent dish and flavor.
So happy to hear that! Much love 🙂
Looks fantastic! Going to make it next week! Bravo!
I look forward to trying this! What would be another good cheese to try? I have a hard time finding Manchego cheese where I live.
You can use any cheese that you like 🙂 hope you enjoy! much love
I like this recipe thank you.
Thanks for the comment 🙂 much love!
Do you have the nutritional facts on your Spanish Garlic pasta dish?
Calories, fat, protein,sodium?
Great looking recipe, I look forward to making. My question is regarding the pan used in video. I clicked on ‘My pan’ link, which routed me to a different pan on Amazon. The one shown in video has black and white speckled interior, copper bottom, and metallic handle. Can you please tell me the brand used in video? Thanks.
The one I used I bought from a local store here in Spain, tried to find the exact replica on amazon, the one on the link is the closest thing 🙂 much love
Great recipe. I made if for our “vegetarian Thursday” and everybody loved it. Thank you from Southern California :).
So happy to hear that! much love to So Cal from España 🙂
will be making this soon can i use vegan cheese as am a vegan can i skip orange bell pepper as am not a big fan of it i love pasta soooooooooooooo much perfect for my after office meals will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
You can totally use vegan cheese here, just sub the bell pepper for eggplant or omit 🙂 much love