Vegan Spinach Pasta Recipe is a delicious twist on the classic Italian dish, perfect for those following a plant-based or vegan lifestyle. Instead of traditional pesto made with cheese and pine nuts, this vegan version of pasta features a vibrant and flavorful combination of fresh spinach leaves, garlic, black pepper, and olive oil.
This Vegan Spinach Pasta features a delightful twist using fresh spinach leaves as the base instead of usual basil leaves. The spinach pesto sauce is made by blending blanched and yet tender spinach leaves, aromatic garlic, whole black pepper corns. The result is a luscious and creamy green sauce that beautifully coats spaghetti noodles.
This Vegan Spinach pasta recipe offers a healthy and flavorful alternative, packed with the goodness of nutrient-rich spinach will surely tantalize your taste buds.
Indulge in savory and healthy treat with this spaghetti pasta drizzled with olive oil and fresh spinach green sauce. You may also like popular pasta recipes from my blog: Vegan Arrabiata Pasta and Cashew Cream Vegan Pasta.
Why Would You Love This Recipe?
- Bursting with rich and savory flavors of Spinach.
- A Healthy and a quick Recipe.
- Few parts can be made ahead of time.
- Show stealer Recipe
- Kids Friendly.
- Simple Ingredients.
- The Best Creamy Vegan Spaghetti Spinach Pasta Ever!
Ingredients
- Spaghetti- I love pesto made with spaghetti. Feel free to use any shape of pasta. This recipe of pasta works well with any shape. Make sure to boil spaghetti till it's almost done or else it would be too mushy. I have used Del Monte brand available locally. You may use any good quality brand of your choice. If you wish to make it gf, use gf pasta.
- Olive Oil- Olive oil adds the depth and perfect aroma to the flavor of this pasta. I would recommend using a good quality brand for extra virgin olive oil.
- Garlic-Freshly minced or grounded garlic works best for this recipe. You may use garlic powder/ paste as well.
- Spinach- Spinach is the star ingredient of this pesto pasta. Pesto made using spinach adds savory and umami flavor. The same recipe would work with basil leaves. I have used fresh and sorted spinach leaves. Blanched them only for few seconds and cool off to blend.
- Black Pepper- adds a spicy kick to this otherwise bland pasta. Feel free to adjust the heat. I have used whole black pepper. You may use black pepper powder or red chili flakes as well.
- Salt- Normal table salt works well.
Variations
- Add Vegetable- You may add chopped onion, broccoli and tomato. I have skipped any veggies as I wished to enjoy unique flavor that spinach pesto adds to the pasta.
- Add Nuts- You may top this pasta by adding nuts of your choice.
- Make It cheesy-This healthy version of pesto pasta skips cheese. If you love cheese, feel free to add vegan/ dairy cheese of your choice.
- Baked Pasta- As much as I love stove-top pasta, I relish the baked casserole pasta dish too. To make this pasta more creamy, you may add vegan cream or milk.
Expert Tips
- I recommend using high-quality ingredients. Pesto sauce relies on fresh and flavorful ingredients. Opt for fresh spinach leaves and high-quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Blanch the spinach leaves carefully. To preserve the vibrant green color of the basil and prevent it from turning brown, blanch the basil leaves in boiling water for about 10-15 seconds. Then transfer them to an ice bath to cool down quickly. This step helps retain the freshness of the basil and keeps your pesto bright green.
- I haven't used pasta water in this recipe and trust me the pasta had perfect texture without it.
- Make sure to pour the spinach pesto sauce over the cooked pasta in a different pan gently. Keep tossing and top with olive oil.
Storage Suggestions
It's always best to consume freshly prepared pasta for the optimal taste and texture. However, if you need to store it, you may preserve this Spinach Pesto Spaghetti-
- Refrigerator storage: Transfer the pasta to an airtight container. Make sure the container is properly sealed to prevent air exposure. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 days. However, keep in mind that the pasta may become runny as it absorbs moisture from the sauce.
- Freshen it up: Sometimes, pasta can become dry or lose its sauciness when stored. To freshen up the spinach pesto pasta, you can add a drizzle of olive oil or a little more pesto sauce to restore moisture and flavor. Toss the pasta gently to distribute the added ingredients evenly.
I don't recommend freezing the left-over pasta.
FAQs
To make pesto spaghetti pasta more creamy, you may add dairy-free milks like-cashew, coconut or rice milk.
Well, the classical pesto has the cheese which is not vegan. I haven't used any cheese in this recipe, though you may use Tofu or nutritional yeast as vegan substitutes for cheese.
This pesto pasta is made of spinach leaves, though one may use basil leaves as well.
Detailed Recipe with Steps
Step 1. Blanch Spinach Leaves
Blanch sorted spinach fresh leaves for 10 seconds and cool off to blend with black pepper and garlic.
Step 2. Boil Spaghetti Pasta
While spinach is blanching, you may boil the pasta in another pan.
Step 3. Mix it.
In a large pan, pour the spinach pesto sauce over the boiled (drained spaghetti pasta) and add salt and olive oil. Give it a gentle mix.
Step 4. Serve It.
The mouth-watering Creamy Vegan Spinach Spaghetti is ready. Top it with olive oil and serve it.
If you make this recipe, share the image of it on our instagram account @veg.buffet or twitter account @vegbuffet
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Vegan Spinach Pasta Recipe {Healthy Spaghetti Pesto Pasta}
Equipment
- 1 Pan boiling spaghetti
- 1 Pan for blanching spinach leaves
- 1 large colander
- 1 large pan mixing both spaghetti and pesto sauce
- 1 Blender making spinach pesto
Ingredients
- 1 pack spaghetti Del Monte
- 6-8 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 250 gm Spinach leaves
- 5-6 whole black pepper
- 5 cups water
- salt as per taste
- 1 teaspoon Chilli flakes optional
Instructions
- Take the Bunch of Spinach and chop it in large uneven chunks. Wash them under tap thoroughly.
- Take a large pan and boil water in it. Add the washed Spinach leaves to boiling water for 10-15 sec. Any more than that time might give a dark tone to our pesto sauce which we don't wish.
- Sieve it.
- Let it cool completely before you blend it. I have added whole black pepper, garlic and salt along with olive oil 1 teaspoon in it.
- Blend it to make a smooth paste. If you have mortar pestle, you may try your hand on it.
- While we prepare pesto, you may boil spaghetti. It takes around 10 min to boil it.
- Once its boiled, you may sieve it.
- Take a large utensil as we have to mix the spaghetti in pesto sauce and we don't have to do it on flame.
- Pour the freshly made spinach pesto sauce over the boiled spaghetti.
- I had generously added the olive oil.
- Mix well.
- The Spaghetti Pesto is ready!! Enjoy!!
Notes
- I recommend using high-quality ingredients. Pesto sauce relies on fresh and flavorful ingredients. Opt for fresh spinach leaves and high-quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Blanch the spinach leaves carefully. To preserve the vibrant green color of the basil and prevent it from turning brown, blanch the basil leaves in boiling water for about 10-15 seconds. Then transfer them to an ice bath to cool down quickly. This step helps retain the freshness of the basil and keeps your pesto bright green.
- I haven't used pasta water in this recipe and trust me the pasta had perfect texture without it.
- Make sure to pour the spinach pesto sauce over the cooked pasta in a different pan gently. Keep tossing and top with olive oil.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1 bowl | |
| Servings: 4 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 201 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 7.7g | 10% |
| Saturated Fat 1.1g | 6% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 35mg | 2% |
| Total Carbohydrate 29.6g | 11% |
| Dietary Fiber 5.8g | 21% |
| Total Sugars 1g | |
| Protein 6.9g | |
| Vitamin D 0mcg | 0% |
| Calcium 77mg | 6% |
| Iron 3mg | 15% |
| Potassium 256mg | 5% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
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