Vegan Pesto Pasta | Cathy’s Vegan Kitchen


Welcome spring with it Vegan Pesto Pasta Recipe This nut-free and oil-free pesto is tossed with whole-grain pasta and vibrant vegetables that taste so fresh and delicious. Eat the rainbow!

Vegan Pesto Pasta Recipe in a Bowl.  I am eating with a fork.

Spring is in the air; What better way to welcome it than with vegan pesto pasta? While pesto often contains cheese and oil, my pesto doesn’t either. So instead, I created a healthy vegan pesto pasta recipe with vegetables in an oil-free, nut-free pesto sauce.

Jump:

When I think of comfort food, I automatically think of creamy pasta. But, just because it’s creamy doesn’t mean it has to be thick.

My family loves pasta; However, I try to prepare pasta with more vegetables than pasta and vegetable-based sauces. Yes, I also make a pesto with nuts, but when I try to balance my diet, I try to make it as healthy as possible. And if I can make a delicious sauce that doesn’t include nuts, I’m all about it!

Pesto ingredients

I'm adding pesto sauce to noodles cooked in a pan.

Of course, fresh basil is essential in a pesto sauce, but the beans provide creaminess to this vegan pesto pasta recipe. Nutritional ScreamFor example, provides cheesiness.

  • Fresh Mint: There’s no such thing as too much basil… more fun.
  • Garlic: I like to use fresh garlic whenever possible.
  • Navy Beans: Navy beans have a soft, velvety texture and a slightly nutty flavor, and like other legumes, they’re an excellent source of fiber. They are a good source of folate, manganese and copper.
  • Water: Water emulsifies the mixture in the absence of oil.
  • Nutrition Facts: Nutritional Scream Vegan cheese for pesto sauce.
  • Lemon: Again, I love fresh lemon juice. Lemon juice gives pesto a fresh citrus flavor and keeps it fresh and from turning brown.
  • Sea Salt: Sea salt enhances the other flavors of the pesto.

Substitute pesto ingredients

  • If basil isn’t your thing, use mint, spinach, kale, broccoli, and any type of green to make a delicious pesto sauce.
  • Cannellini beans are similar to navy beans. Or try lima beans.
  • Use vegetable broth instead of water.
  • Replace nutritional yeast with miso or soy sauce, which also has an umami flavor
  • Bottled lemon juice is great in a pinch.
  • Garlic salt is a great way to add flavor instead of sea salt.

How to Make Pesto

Then, it’s just a matter of using a high-speed blender Mix all the ingredients. Vegan pesto sauce takes 5 minutes from start to finish.

  • Place all ingredients in a high speed blender.
  • Blend until smooth.
  • Pour pesto over hot pasta.
  • Then, serve in bowls and add fried or steamed vegetables.
  • Add basil as a garnish.
  • Sprinkle with Vegan Parmesan (optional)

Vegan Pesto Pasta Ingredients

Chop the broccoli, mushrooms, white onion, zucchini and carrots.

To get perfectly cooked vegetables, I like to fry them in stages; They are not cooked or overcooked.

  • Garlic: I like to use fresh garlic cloves.
  • White Onion: White onion is sharp in taste but it caramelizes and sweetens when cooked.
  • Broccoli: I love broccoli in everything. Be sure to cut the florets to the same size so they cook evenly.
  • Carrots: I cut the carrots into coins, which are the same size, so they cook evenly.
  • Zucchini: Zucchini is cooked last because it needs very little cooking to soften. You want it heated and nothing more.

Vegan pesto substitutes pasta ingredients

Although I chose this vegetable for my pesto pasta, any vegetable you like works for this dish.

  • Garlic mince and garlic powder will usually be the easiest, most common options, but other options do exist. Garlic salt can also work when you’re in a bind – use ¾ tsp. Salt for one clove of garlic.
  • Yellow onions are an excellent alternative to white onions.
  • Cauliflower is an excellent alternative to broccoli.
  • Replaces carrots in any parsnip recipe.
  • Try summer squash as an alternative to zucchini.

How to Make Pesto Pasta

However, I think you should cook vegetables based on their density.

For example, I first cook the garlic, onions and mushrooms together.

I'm cooking garlic, onions and mushrooms in the oven.

Then, I add my heartier veggies, like broccoli and carrots, which take longer to cook.

I added broccoli and carrots to a skillet on the stove for a vegan pesto pasta recipe.

Last but certainly not least, I add zucchini because it is delicate and cooks quickly. As a result, the zucchini cooks al dente and is soggy and mushy. Who likes impressive zucchini? Yak!

Roasted vegetable option

If you don’t have time to stand over the stove, by all means roast your vegetables.

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  • Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  • Arrange mixed vegetables in single layer on baking sheet
  • Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes

How to Serve Vegan Pesto Pasta Recipe

Vegan Pesto Pasta Recipe in a Bowl on the Counter

Once the noodles are cooked, I recommend adding the sauce to the noodles and tossing well to coat the noodles.

Next, I spoon the vegan pesto pasta into separate bowls before adding the vegetables. Since I love fresh vegetables, I like to eat pasta with fresh vegetables mixed with a light sauce.

Of course, you can mix it in a pan and serve it together. As a bonus, I made my vegan parmesan cheese to sprinkle over the pasta.

I'm holding a bowl of vegan parmesan cheese.

Recipe FAQs

What pasta goes with pesto?

Pesto is best served with long pasta cuts like the corkscrew shape of fusilli. Pesto works best with bucatini, capellini, thin spaghettini and fettuccine.

Do you heat the pesto before adding the pasta?

If you cook the pesto sauce, you change the makeup of the fresh basil and make it darker in color. Therefore, it is better to heat it and use it at room temperature. If it needs to be diluted, add a little water, vegetable stock, plant milk, or white wine.

Do I wash the pasta for the pesto?

Pasta should never be washed for warm food. The starch in the water helps the sauce stick to your pasta.

advice

  • Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with vegan lasagna, potato dumplings, Or as a topping for a bowl of minestrone. It can be mixed with tomato sauce to enhance the taste of pasta dishes or used with vegetables to make it more palatable.
  • Pesto is designed as a raw sauce. Cooks and manufacturers go to great lengths to preserve the freshness of ingredients, so heating up your pesto ruins all that hard work. This goes without saying that pesto must be eaten cold.
  • For extra cheesy flavor, add vegan Parmesan cheese.
  • Using a high-speed blender Helps make smooth pesto from beans.
  • Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Pesto freezes well. Freeze in ice cube trays, and then store frozen pesto cubes in plastic freezer bags in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. Pesto can also be frozen in small soup cubes or in plastic containers for 9-12 months.

Welcome spring with this delicious vegan pesto pasta with oil-free, nut-free pesto sauce, vegetables and pasta.

Vegan recipes to enjoy

If you like this vegan pesto pasta recipe, give us a 5-star review and comment below. We would love to hear from you.

📖 Recipe

Vegan Pesto Pasta

Cathy Carmichael

Welcome spring with this vegan pesto pasta recipe. This nut-free and oil-free pesto is tossed with whole-grain pasta and vibrant vegetables that taste so fresh and delicious. Eat the rainbow!

Q. Time 10 minutes

cooking time 30 minutes

total time 40 minutes

course entrance

cuisine italian

serving 6 serving

calories 295 kcal

material

Grilled or Roasted Vegetables:

instructions

Roasted/or Grilled Vegetables:

  • In a medium-sized skillet, sauté the garlic, onion, and mushrooms.

  • Add vegetable broth to cover the vegetables.

  • Next, add the broccoli and carrots and continue cooking for about 10 minutes.

  • Then, lastly add the zucchini and cook for only 5 minutes so that the zucchini is not overcooked.

Oil-Free/Nut-Free Pesto:

  • Place all ingredients in a high speed blender.
  • Blend until smooth.

  • Pour pesto over hot pasta.

  • Then, serve in bowls and add fried vegetables.

  • Add basil as a garnish.

  • Sprinkle with Vegan Parmesan (optional)

Comment

  • Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with vegan lasagna, As a topping for a bowl of potato gnocchi, or minestrone. It can be mixed with tomato sauce to enhance the taste of pasta dishes or used with vegetables to make it more palatable.
  • Pesto is designed as a raw sauce. Cooks and manufacturers go to great lengths to preserve the freshness of ingredients, so heating up your pesto ruins all that hard work. This goes without saying that pesto must be eaten cold.
  • For extra cheesy flavor, add vegan Parmesan cheese.
  • Using a high-speed blender Helps make smooth pesto from beans.
  • Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Pesto freezes well. Freeze in ice cube trays, and then store frozen pesto cubes in plastic freezer bags in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. Pesto can also be frozen in small soup cubes or in plastic containers for 9-12 months.

nutrition

Worship: 6gCalories: 295kcalSugars: 57gProtein: 16gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0.4gPolyunsaturated Fats: 1gMonounsaturated fats: 0.1gSodium: 468mgPotassium: 986mgFiber: 10gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 6109IUVitamin C: 102mgCalcium: 121mgIron: 3mg


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