Vegan Pesto Pasta

This easy vegan pesto pasta is a healthy dinner recipe that is ready in under 30 minutes. It’s full of flavor, packed with vegetables and even kid friendly!

How to make vegan pesto pasta

Step 1: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions.

Step 2: Add all pesto ingredients to a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Taste and adjust flavor as desired. You can opt to not blend the sauce fully if you like it a bit more chunky, some pestos are like that!

Step 3: When the pasta is done cooking, add in the sauce. Toss to combine.

Step 4: Toss in the peas and let them defrost.

Step 5: Toss in the veggies and mix well. Serve with more parmesan and fresh chopped basil. Enjoy!

Key ingredients & swaps

This vegan pesto pasta is made with very simple ingredients you most likely have on hand. All you need is 30 minutes for this delicious recipe.

It’s packed with veggies, healthy fats, and can be high in protein by using a chickpea based pasta or serving it alongside my lemon pepper salmon!

Pine Nuts. I love using pine nuts as the base of pesto sauce because they have a subtly nutty flavor, but you can really use any kind of nut here. Almonds, cashews etc. are all delicious.

Basil. You need a generous two cups of basil for the sauce which will give it lots of flavor!

Arugula. We’ll be adding arugula right into the sauce, which will get blended in with the other ingredients and I promise you won’t even notice it’s there. You can sub for kale if you prefer, but I love the flavor of arugula!

Cashew Parmesan. This will keep the pesto vegan and dairy free. If you are not vegan, regular parmesan will work just fine! Most pesto sauces are not vegan since they have parmesan cheese in them, but this recipe uses cashew parmesan instead to make it completely dairy free!

Lemon. Some fresh lemon juice helps to balance out the salty and savory flavors in the sauce.

Garlic. I’m a big fan of garlic and it’s absolutely essential in pesto!

What noodles are best?

I love using rotini or fusilli for pesto because it clings to the sauce really well, but anything will work! Spaghetti, penne etc. For this recipe I use mafalda.

I used brown rice pasta to keep it gluten free, but whatever you like works great. Using a bean or legume based pasta will up the protein content a bit as well if you plan on keeping it vegan and not serving with any meat or fish.

Other veggies to add

I used peas in this recipe, but I also love adding sauteed zucchini, asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, bell peppers or any combination of the above. Feel free to get creative here!

As far as serving goes, you can serve this vegan pesto pasta as a meal all on its own or serve alongside my lemon pepper salmon or a simple chicken breast.

How to store

Once prepared, this vegan pesto pasta will keep for about 3-5 days in the fridge. The sauce can turn a bit more brown as it sits, but the lemon juice should act as a natural preservative.

You can definitely freeze it, but if you used gluten free pasta like I did, keep in mind it may fall apart a bit as it defrosts. The flavor will still be great, but the pasta may just be a bit cut up.

Can I make oil free pesto?

I do not recommend for this particular recipe that as olive oil is a key ingredients for the overall flavor and texture of the sauce.

You can sub half of the oil for water or vegetable broth if you prefer, but I do not recommend leaving it out or subbing entirely as it is necessary to help the sauce blend.

Try these pasta recipes next!

• Nut Free Pesto
• Red Pepper Pasta
• Avocado Pesto Pasta
• Red Pesto Pasta

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