Easy Pesto Pasta with Roasted Veggies (Kid-Friendly, 28 Minutes)
Need a quick, veggie-packed dinner that your kids will actually eat? This easy pesto pasta with roasted vegetables comes together in under 28 minutes using simple ingredients and minimal prep. It’s flexible, flavorful, and easy to adjust for picky eaters—making it a go-to weeknight dinner when you need something fast but still homemade.
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You can totally use store bought pesto, but we highly recommend making our homemade spinach pesto recipe instead. Making our pesto from scratch doesn’t even add extra time to the recipe. You just whip up the pesto in the time it takes for the veggies to roast!
FYI, I’m not gonna lie – I have never met a person who didn’t fall in love with our homemade pesto. It’s killer. Even my kids are obsessed! Try it with our amazing Caprese kabobs! Note: If you love veggie pastas, be sure to try our Light & Simple Bow Tie Pasta Salad and Creamy Vegetable Pasta.
Why We Love this Pesto Pasta with Vegetables
- Ready in under 28 minutes. Simple steps and minimal prep make this perfect for busy weeknights—just like all our meals built around the 28-minute approach.
- Kid-approved. Familiar flavors and easy to adjust for picky eaters. If you’re working on more consistent dinners, check out our approach to feeding picky eaters.
- Veggie-packed. Roasted vegetables + fresh pesto = lots of flavor without extra effort.
- Flexible and customizable. Swap veggies, change pasta, use store-bought pesto, or add chicken to make it your own—one of our favorite ways to simplify dinner planning.
🛒 Ingredients
Notes on key ingredients are provided below. Please see the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and quantities.
- Pasta – we like any corkscrew shaped pasta (fusilli & rotini). Pasta with ridges are great for holding the pesto sauce. But penne is a popular choice, as well. Really, use whatever pasta you love! If you eat gluten free [GF], some good pastas to try are: Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta, Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Rice & Quinoa Fusilli Pasta, Barilla’s GF pastas and Ronzoni’s GF pastas.
- Veggies – this is super flexible. Other great veggie options: steamed broccoli, pan fried zucchini and mushrooms, etc.
✅ How to Make Pesto Pasta with Roasted Vegetables
Step 1: Roast veggies. Roasting Tip: Cut your tomatoes length-wise so they hold their juices in better while being roasted. Make sure they lie cut-side-up on your sheet pan.
Step 2: Cook pasta.
Step 3: Make Pesto (optional). Check out our Spinach Pesto Recipe for some serious deliciousness! I’m telling ya, it’s our pesto that really *makes* this dish!
Step 4: Toss everything together. We included enough pesto in the recipe (~ 1 2/3 cups) to really coat the pasta. However, feel free to increase or decrease the amount as you see fit.
💡 Variations and Substitutions
There is almost no wrong way to make this simple kid-friendly pesto pasta! Here are some variations and options for you:
- Veggies: super flexible! Aside from our recipe’s ingredients, you could do steamed broccoli, pan fried zucchini and mushrooms, roasted cauliflower and bell peppers, sundried tomatoes, peas, or add in some greens (i.e. spinach, chard, kale).
- Pasta: pick your fave! Our faves are fusilli & rotini (basically any pasta with ridges to hold the pesto sauce). Penne is great too, and angel hair is fun. Really, whatever pasta you want! Some pretty good GF pastas are: Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta, Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Rice & Quinoa Fusilli Pasta, Barilla’s GF pastas and Ronzoni’s GF pastas.
- Add a protein: this pasta is great with chicken, salmon and shrimp. You could also mix in some bacon.
🍽️ How to Serve this Pesto Pasta
This pesto pasta is super flexible, which makes it easy to serve a few different ways depending on what your night looks like:
- Serve with garlic bread for a simple, crowd-pleasing dinner.
- Pair with grilled chicken or salmon to turn it into a more filling meal.
- Mix in shredded or grilled chicken for added protein (our original version with chicken, roasted tomatoes, and sugar snap peas was a favorite!).
- Pack leftovers for lunch—it holds up well and tastes great the next day.
- Serve it cold as a pasta salad—just let everything cool and toss before serving.
We also recommend topping each bowl with plenty of parmesan for maximum flavor—this is usually a big win with kids, too!
❓ FAQs
I like pasta with ridges that can hold the delicious pesto sauce. For instance, any corkscrew shaped pasta like fusilli & rotini.
Zucchini, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and broccoli are our favorites — they roast quickly and pair beautifully with the bright, herby pesto flavor. The key is cutting them small so they roast in the same time the pasta cooks.
Absolutely — store-bought pesto works great and keeps this recipe to under 28 minutes. That said, our homemade spinach pesto takes just 10 minutes to prepare and tastes significantly better. Either way, dinner is on the table fast.
Yes! You can make this veggie pesto pasta ahead by cooking the pasta and roasting the vegetables in advance, then tossing everything with pesto just before serving for the best flavor.
To be honest, pesto is best when it’s fresh. I would actually mix the pesto in with the pasta per bowl / individual serving. Then keep all the leftover pesto and pasta in separate sealed containers in fridge for a few days. The pesto keeps better that way.
It’s one of our most reliable picky eater wins! The mild, herby flavor tends to appeal to kids, and you can easily serve the roasted vegetables on the side for kids who prefer their food separated.
Tips for Picky Eaters
- Set aside some raw tomatoes. My kids prefer some of their veggies raw, so I set some aside before cooking.
- Set aside some cooked plain pasta & veggies. Just in case your kids don’t like the pesto.
- Serve with a surefire side. None of us ever know if our kids will dig a new dish we’re trying out. So, on the side we had baby carrots, salami, and sliced cucumbers, which are always a hit. Steamed broccoli is another option.
- Garlic Bread! My kids will eat almost any bread. Who knows why, but I remember being like that as a kid too. Their favorite is Pepperidge Farm’s frozen garlic bread. It’s super easy. I always try to have two loaves in the freezer at a time.
Plan dinners more easily with our Platein28 Picky Eater Dinner Planner.
Craft For This Recipe
Play Food Olive Oil
Play Food Olive Oil Bottle! If your kids like to play restaurant or chef, this is the perfect craft. Take an empty glue bottle and turn into an adorable olive oil bottle! You’ll feel better recycling the bottle and your kid will have a new item for the play pretend kitchen time!
Learn why we use crafts during dinner prep.
Want more than just this craft? See our full list of what kids can do while you cook dinner.
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🌱 Easy Pesto Pasta with Roasted Veggies (Kid-Friendly, 28 Minutes)
Equipment
- Vitamix or blender
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. [And take a second to start heating water for pasta]. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, toss together veggies, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the veggies on the parchment paper (tomatoes cut side up). Roast for 10-15 minutes. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta according to instructions on package. Drain pasta, rinse with cold water, and pour into a large bowl.
- Optional: if you are making our homemade spinach pesto, assemble all ingredients into your Vitamix/food processor/blender while you wait for the veggies and pasta. Once the pasta is done, reserve a cup or so of its water for the pesto. Then you can blend the pesto!
- Add the pesto to the pasta, stir together, and then add in the veggies. Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled atop, as desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
