Green Vegan Pasta Primavera
Looking to mix up your go-to pasta? Aiming to eat more WHOLE foods? And minimize dishes with a one pot meal to boot? Look no further than this green vegan pasta primavera: flavorful, nutritious, and ready in less than 30 minutes.
While I Love this Recipe
This meal is light, nutrient-dense, and GREEN: the shape of the zucchini ribbons and long fresh spinach leaves lend themselves perfectly to spaghetti, for a beautiful bright green swirl in every bite. And the edamame is an unexpected pasta ingredient that is packed with protein and big enough to grab with a fork if it doesn’t make it in the swirl.
Plus, the recipe is so versatile: you can easily swap out ingredients to better suit your palate.
How to make Vegan Pasta Primavera: Step by Step
Saute onions in 1 tbsp. olive oil or water (adding more water as necessary) until translucent:
Add in the garlic and saute for another minute. Then add other veggies and spices, and saute for 2 minutes:
Mix in broth and bring to boil:
Simmer covered for 2-3 minutes. Stir in spinach, and cover until wilted:
Mix in nutritional yeast and lemon. Then mix in pasta using tongs.
Top you dairy free pasta primavera with homemade or store-bought plant-based Parmesan.
Modifications for Vegan Green Pasta
Here a few variations for this vegan green pasta, especially if you are aiming to serve one family meal:
- Use you kiddos’ favorite pasta shape of choice and/or regular (white flour) pasta.
- Add adult-only veggies after plating kid servings. For example, if the kids don’t dig spinach, add it in at the very last step (after the pasta is mixed in). The spinach will still wilt on low heat with lid on.
- Swap out any veggies/beans to better suit your family’s taste. Examples include peas, yellow squash, chickpeas, broccoli, cauliflower, and cherry tomatoes.
For more summer-inspired recipes, check out:
And for another uberhealthy dinner idea, try:
Green Vegan Pasta Primavera
Ingredients
- 1 lb. spaghetti of choice (I prefer brown rice spaghetti)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (or 2 tbsp water if omitting oil)
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 2 medium zucchinis, ribboned with peeler or mandolin (optional to use remaining inside of zucchini, if using, finely chop) can use zoodles if available
- 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped (or 2 1/2 tsp dried basil)
- 1 1/2 cup shelled edamame (frozen or fresh) can sub peas if unavailable or preferred
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste optional
- 2- 2 1/2 cups veggie broth divided, 2 cups plus optional 1/2 cup
- 3 cups fresh spinach sub frozen if necessary
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast optional, adds cheesiness/richness
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- vegan Parmesan to top optional, store-bought or homemade
Instructions
- Boil water for pasta and follow package instructions to cook.
- Meanwhile, heat oil (or water) in large pan over medium heat. Add onions and saute until translucent.
- Add in garlic to onions and saute for 1 minute.
- Add in zucchini, edamame, salt, black pepper, and red pepper. Saute for 2 minutes.
- Add in 2 cups broth and bring to boil.
- Once boiling, bring to simmer and cover for 2-3 minutes. Add spinach and cover until wilted.
- Add nutritional yeast and lemon juice.
- Taste and adjust flavor as necessary: salt for savoriness, lemon for brightness, nutritional yeast for cheesiness/richness, red pepper for heat.
- Mix in pasta (tongs are helpful). Add additional 1/2 cup broth if more liquid is desired. Serve.
- Option toppings: red pepper flakes, vegan Parmesan, fresh basil
Notes
- Can sub peas for edamame if unavailable or preferred.
- Can sub out any type/shape of pasta if desired.
- Additional modification details in blog post below recipe.
I hope you enjoy this easy, 30-minute green vegan pasta primavera! And please, let me know what you think by rating and reviewing below!
Cheers!
-Jenn
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Whole family lived this. Very tasty and obviously healthy and easy to adjust for personal taste preferences and ingredient substitutions (left out red pepper bc too spicy for my kids; used defrosted zucchini rounds bc we didn’t have fresh etc). I happened to have bought fresh noodles earlier in the day and that made it especially slurpalicious (I just made that word up) but would definitely make again with any ol’ box pasta. My recipe book is getting too full so I only keep family winners now and this one is definitely a keeper!
Thanks Susan! Fresh noodles are a fabulous idea!
Love this pasta! Turned out absolutely delicious and love all the garlic in it! yum!
Thank you Rachel for commenting and rating!