I might be getting ahead of myself here, but this just happens to be my new favourite vegan pasta dish. This Dairy Free Pesto Pasta is zesty, filled with greens, garlic and lemon. The combination of the pesto ingredients is mouthwatering and covers a big bowl of pasta perfectly. This vegan pesto sauce is a great way to use up your fresh basil plant! It only takes 30 minutes to make this pasta(yay!) and it’s the perfect way to add a little extra green to your mid-week meals.
Why You’ll Love This Pesto Pasta
- This dairy free pesto only takes 30 minutes to make. It’s loaded with healthy ingredients that will help fuel you throughout the week. You always have the option to add in extra roasted veggies top this pesto pasta off nicely.
- This vegan pasta dish is a great way to use up the basil in your garden. And for winter...Did you know you could freeze your herbs?! This is a life-changing practice that will allow you to have delicious basil (and other herbs) in the dead of winter! Pesto all year round, baby!
- Make this dairy free pesto easily gluten free by using your favourite noodles. This vegan pesto sauce will make gluten free, or wheat noodles AMAZING.
How To Make Vegan Pesto Sauce
Making dairy free pesto is actually quite simple. This pesto pasta includes pine nuts, garlic, nutritional yeast, oil, lemon juice, basil, spinach and miso paste. Blending the ingredients all together in a food processor creates a smooth, creamy and thin pasta sauce.
The vegan pesto sauce is naturally gluten free. If you aren’t gluten free, you can sub any regular pasta to go with this dish and follow the package’s instructions. I typically use Barilla Gluten Free Spagetti or Chickapea noodles as the pasta doesn’t get gooey or stick together. Cooking gluten free pasta can sometimes end in tears so Barilla or Chickapea are brands I like to stick with. I also love the Tru Roots blend of ancient grains. But this only comes in a penne shape at my local grocery store and I wanted a long noodle for this dish. Any type of pasta will work with this dairy free pesto, I just prefer a spaghetti or fettuccine noodle.
Try These Other Vegan Pasta Dishes
I could truly eat this simple vegan pesto sauce by the spoonful, it’s that magical. It’s loaded with the traditional flavours of pesto with a vegan twist on it. This dairy free pesto coats the pasta beautifully and fragrantly. But the real bonus of this meal is that it can be made in 30 minutes. This dairy free pesto pasta is a great dinner for those workdays or when you are short on time. Take a big forkful of this vegan pasta dish because the comforting taste of the pesto will fill your belly with nutrients and love.
Dairy Free Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
roasted broccoli
- 3 heads broccoli (chopped)
- 1 tsp avocado oil
- pinch of salt
dairy free pesto
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup olive/avocado oil
- 1/2 lemon (juiced) (~2 Tbsps)
- 1 tbsp brown rice miso paste
- 1 heaping cup basil
- 1 heaping cup spinach
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- pinch sea salt
- 3-4 tbsp pasta water (added at end, to thin sauce)
Other
- 340 g pasta of choice
- 1 cup cremini mushrooms (optional)
vegan parmesan (optional)
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
roasted broccoli
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Chop the broccoli into small florets and toss in 1 tsp of oil and a pinch of sea salt. Place on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
pesto
- While the broccoli is roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling add your desired amount of pasta.
- OPTIONAL: Heat a small saucepan over medium heat, add 1-2 tsp of oil. Finely chop the mushrooms and sauté until browned. Set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, the broccoli roasting and the mushrooms sautéing, prepare the pesto. Add all of the pesto ingredients, except the pasta water into a food processor. Blend until smooth. Scrape down the sides as you go.
- Once the pasta is done, add 3-4 tbsp of the pasta water to the pesto, to thin the sauce out. Pesto should be thin yet creamy.
- Drain the water from the noodles and add the noodles back to the pot. Add in the mushrooms and broccoli to the pasta and pour in the pesto sauce. Toss to combine.
vegan parmesan
- Add all ingredients together in a clean food processor. Blend until grainy texture (similar to real parmesan) has formed.
- Top pesto pasta with the parmesan. Pasta is best enjoyed when fresh.
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Well, I can say with great confidence that this pesto pasta is D I V I N E!! One of my favourites to share with you.
it’s a super tasty dish that’s for sure. Glad you love it mama:)
It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you as well! Keep it up great post.
great to hear!