Vegan Spinach Avocado Pesto Pasta

I’ve been drooling over this new vegan pesto recipe. This one is for all you vegan pasta lovers! Here’s a little bit about this recipe. 

Pesto sauce has always been a favorite of mine, whether it is from a jar or eating a pesto pasta at a restaurant. Sometimes it makes me feel like I’m eating healthy because it’s green, but usually that’s not the case. When I have leftover pesto pasta, the oil gets separated out and my noodles are swimming in oil. Not the prettiest and most appetizing sight. Oil is an important element to pesto sauce, and olive oil is at the front of the line. Many grocery store pesto sauces do use olive oil which is great, but many times it is laced with a cheaper alternative oil such as canola oil. Always be on the lookout for brands sneaking in some cheap oils in addition to healthy oils such as olive oil and avocado oil. You want your ingredients label to have only clean oils! I love making this recipe because I have control over what goes in it. There are so many variations to pesto, but I make sure to put the best and cleanest ingredients in the pesto I eat.

This recipe uses standard pesto ingredients such as basil, spinach, and walnuts, but adds in some non-typical ingredients such as avocado and nutritional yeast to lighten it up and add a little nutritional boost. Nutritional yeast also serves as the cheesy element replacement in your typical pesto sauce and makes this recipe completely vegan! 

Key ingredients you need for this vegan pesto:

• Spinach
  • This is a non-traditional ingredient to pesto! Usually all the green-age comes from the basil leaves, but the spinach add some more nutrients!
• Walnuts
  • I love adding walnuts to my pesto, but the traditional nuts used in pesto are pine nuts.
• Basil
  • Now this is the star of the show, Basil is by far my favorite herb, it will lighten up any dish.
• Olive Oil!
  • This is a no brainer when it comes to pesto sauce and any Italian dish. If you are unable to use olive oil, the next best oil you can use is avocado oil.
• Avocados
  • This helps make your pesto creamy, and it’s always good to have more vegetables!
• Nutritional Yeast
  • This guy is so under-appreciated in pasta sauces, but this gives the pesto a little cheesy flavor.
• Pasta
  • Pick your favorite pasta! I used Banza chickpea pasta for a little extra protein, and its gluten free!

Vegan Spinach Avocado Pesto Pasta

Lindsey Jin

This recipe is made all in one pot and takes a total of 20 minutes to make! The sauce is extra creamy because of the avocado!

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4

Equipment

• High speed blender

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup spinach
• ⅓ cup walnuts
• ½ avocado
• ⅓ cup basil leaves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ cup water
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp oregano
• 8 oz your favorite pasta I used Banza chickpea pasta

Instructions

 

• Start by bringing a pot of water up to a boil.
• While the water is boiling, combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend it until the pesto is creamy. This takes roughly 3-4 minutes. Additional water maybe needed to thin out the pesto.
• Cook your favorite pasta, while the pesto is blending.
• Finally top your pasta with your pesto!

Video

Notes

You can serve this pesto pasta with a choice of protein. Chicken, tofu, or chickpeas work great!

Keyword Easy dinner, one pot meal, pasta, Pesto, Vegan pasta, Vegan pesto