A quick and easy ravioli dinner with creamy broccoli and walnut sauce, which all cooks in one pan and is ready in 20 minutes! You can use your favorite premade cheese or spinach ravioli and adapt the recipe to add extra ingredients if you wish.

Life feels pretty easy when you’ve got this dinner on the meal plan…

As much I love to cook and I create recipes for a living, there’s no denying how much lighter my day feels when I know I have a really easy one pot recipe planned for dinner. If that’s something you can relate to, this one’s for you!

This is the kind of simple meal you can make when you’re tired and not up for any kind of project, but still want (and deserve!) something tasty and comforting that you will look forward to eating. It’s a tough balance to strike but I think this dish gets us there. With a package of premade ravioli, a small head of broccoli and handful of walnuts, we can create a vegetarian ravioli dish that feels varied and rounded in about 20 minutes.

The ravioli cooks directly in the pan, which gives the sauce a lovely texture – extra silky and creamy, and it sticks to the ravioli perfectly.

On its own, you’ll get two large servings, but you can stretch it further if you have side dishes. Feel free also to scale up the recipe IF, and only if, you have a super-sized saute pan.

The Best Cookware for the Job

You want a large nonstick saute pan with a lid for this recipe. Ideally you want a silicone spatula too. The combo of a nonstick pan and a slippery silicone spatula is helpful because when the ravioli is cooking, we need to be able to stir things around reeeeally gently so we don’t break any open. If you need to use a wooden spoon, go ahead, just be a little more careful.

I used my standard size (10.5 inch / 25cm) Always pan which is pretty much perfect for this dish. If, however, you wanted to double the recipe or scale it up, you would need something closer to 12.5 inches / 32cm diameter (and very deep!) to make that workable.

What you need, what you can add, what you can swap

  • This recipe is designed to work with a package of premade refrigerated ravioli, in a 250g or 9oz package. I like to use straight cheese or cheese + spinach but you can use butternut, pumpkin, mushroom, anything you like. If you want to use frozen ravioli, you’ll need to cook it separately and add it at the end. If you want to use tortellini, that’s fine too. In either scenario, just refer to the notes in the recipe card because we will need to adjust our liquid ratios.
  • Walnuts could be swapped for pine nuts or pistachios if you like, but use less, more like 1/4 cup or 1/3rd of a cup, because those nuts are denser.
  • I like to include fresh chives, but basil or parsley will work.
  • Don’t hesitate to use half of a red onion instead of the shallot.
  • Feel free to add more veggies. Saute some asparagus, mushrooms or green beans alongside the broccoli, throw in some spinach or peas at the end, there’s plenty of room here.
  • You want parmesan, pecorino or another Italian hard cheese. If you need this recipe to be vegetarian, note that real Italian DOP parmesan uses calf rennet in its processing so is not technically vegetarian friendly. Depending on where you live in the world, you have options! In the UK, plenty of cheeses which mimic parmesan but go by the name of “Italian hard cheese” will do the job. Look for the V sign on the packaging! In the US, the name “parmesan” is not protected the way it is in the EU so some parmesan cheeses will be American made and use vegetarian rennet. Check out the ingredients list and always avoid the “DOP parmesan”.

Easy Side Dishes

Chickpea Salad with Avocado, Mozzarella & Tomato

Chopped Caprese Salad with Pesto

Air Fryer Garlic Bread

Spicy Air Fryer Eggplant (Aubergine)

One Pot Broccoli Walnut Ravioli

A quick and easy ravioli dinner with creamy broccoli and walnut sauce, which all cooks in one pan and is ready in 20 minutes! You can use your favorite premade cheese or spinach ravioli and adapt the recipe to add extra ingredients if you wish.
2 large servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
5 from 2 ratings
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Ingredients

  • olive oil, for cooking
  • ½ head (180 g) broccoli florets, chopped into small bite sized pieces
  • 1 large shallot, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed or sliced
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ⅓ cup (40 g) walnuts, roughly chopped
  • 1 lemon, for zesting and wedges
  • 9 oz (250 g) package of premade large ravioli from the refrigerated section, see notes if you want to use something different
  • 1 cup (240 ml) vegetable stock
  • ½ cup (120 ml) heavy (double) cream
  • ⅔ cup (70 g) parmesan, pecorino or Italian hard cheese, grated
  • 1 handful basil, chives or parsley

Instructions 

  • Heat a glug of olive oil in a large saute pan (choose a nonstick pan with a lid). Saute the broccoli and shallots over a medium heat until the shallots are soft and the broccoli is bright green in color and softening. Add the garlic and thyme and mix through for just a few moments until the scent hits the air.
    1/2 head broccoli florets, 1 large shallot, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, olive oil
  • Push the ingredients to the sides of the pan and add the walnuts in the middle. Toast for a couple of minutes, then mix them in with the other ingredients. Add lots of salt and pepper to taste.
    1/3 cup walnuts
  • Remove from the heat. Add the ravioli and the zest of half of the lemon to the pan. Carefully pull apart any raviolis that are stuck together, but if you can't it that without breaking them, leave them stuck for now.
    1 lemon, 9 oz package of premade large ravioli from the refrigerated section
  • Pour the veggie stock and cream into the pan. Put the pan back on the burner, on a medium heat. Bring the sauce to a bubble, gently mix the ingredients, then cover and cook at a low heat for 2-3 minutes until the ravioli is soft.
    1 cup vegetable stock, 1/2 cup heavy (double) cream
  • Uncover, add the chives and most of the cheese (save a little for topping) to the pan. Mix through as best you can (it's OK if some cheese stays stuck to the individual raviolis). Let bubble for another minute. The sauce will thicken up a bit.
    2/3 cup parmesan, pecorino or Italian hard cheese, 1 handful basil, chives or parsley
  • Remove from the heat. You can serve immediately or, if the sauce seems too runny, you can let it sit for about 5 minutes to thicken up first.
  • Serve with the remaining cheese on top, plus lemon wedges for squeezing.

Notes

Swapping in frozen ravioli: If you want to use frozen ravioli, don’t cook it in the same pan as the sauce (it will leach extra moisture and the ratios will be off). Cook the ravioli separately according to package instructions. Follow my recipe to cook the broccoli walnut sauce with just 1/2 cup of veggie stock (we don’t need as much liquid if we aren’t cooking the pasta in the sauce too) but otherwise the exact same ingredients and method, then once it is done you can add the ravioli.
Swapping in tortellini or mini raviolis: Feel free to use either of these instead of large raviolis, but use 1.5 cups of veggie stock in the sauce. There will be a higher pasta-filling ratio with these shapes and so you will need more liquid. 
Cuisine: Italian
Course: Dinner
Calories: 831kcal, Carbohydrates: 47g, Protein: 30g, Fat: 60g, Saturated Fat: 25g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g, Monounsaturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 136mg, Sodium: 1548mg, Potassium: 256mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 1489IU, Vitamin C: 10mg, Calcium: 490mg, Iron: 10mg