Avocado Pesto Pasta is full of nutritious Spring vegetables and makes a healthy vegan recipe that can be ready in under 30 minutes! The sauce is a super simple pesto sauce recipe that can be made in a blender, food processor, or Vitamix.
Basil is such a fresh and flavorful herb to use in recipes like this avocado pesto pasta. A few other recipes you might like to try include this Basil + Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing, Roasted Tomato Basil Soup (Vegan + Whole30), and a Pasta Pomodoro Sauce recipe.
Avocado Pesto Pasta Loyalty
When Cohl and I find a restaurant we love we fall hard and fast and are loyal for a VERY long time.
One of our most recent restaurant loves is a quaint little Italian spot on the East side of Austin. If you did not know it was there, you would surely miss it since the Bufalina writing is barely visible from the street.
Not only are we loyal to the restaurant, but we also end up ordering the EXACT same dishes every time we go… their margherita pizza and seasonal gnocchi.
Recreating at Home
About every 3-4 months they rotate through different sauces and variations of their gnocchi. My all-time favorite is their Spring rendition. It’s made from a delightful pesto sauce and has bursts of sweetness from petite peas and corn.
So like every other restaurant dish I have tried and LOVED, I took this one to the Evolving Table kitchen to recreate a vegan pasta recipe with an avocado sauce.
And the results?… A delightful avocado pesto pasta that is gluten-free, dairy-free, can easily be made vegan, and was devoured by my girls at the most recent girls’ night.
How to Make
This dish is an easy gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian pasta recipe that can be made in under 30 minutes.
Recipe Steps:
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- Sauté broccoli in a touch of olive oil, add water, and then steam until the broccoli turns a bright green.
- Remove broccoli from skillet and add additional olive oil and sweet onions. Sauté until onions become translucent.
- While onions and broccoli are cooking, add sauce ingredients into a high-speed blender or food processor. (See below for more information.)
- Once pasta and vegetables are done cooking, combine pasta, sauce, broccoli, peas, and corn into the skillet and heat up for 3-4 minutes.
- Serve with additional toasted pine nuts and Parmesan cheese or vegan Parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Ingredients
There are a few ingredients you will ABSOLUTELY need to get in order to make this avocado pasta recipe taste incredible, and a few substitutions you can make.
- Avocado – Of course!
- Pasta – linguine, tagliatelle, or spaghetti can all be used with similar results.
- Basil – Absolutely necessary and gives the large majority of the flavor to this dish.
- Pine Nuts – Yes, these can be a bit pricey, but trust me when I say these play a HUGE role in the incredible flavor of this recipe.
- Broccoli – While this is my personal preference, you can also substitute asparagus or cauliflower.
- Peas – Frozen peas work extremely well, but canned peas can also be used.
- Corn – Try not to leave this out since it gives the recipe a subtle sweetness.
Sauce
This avocado pasta sauce is a rendition of the Vegan Avocado Pesto Recipe that was previously posted here on the site. The primary difference is the use of coconut milk in place of the olive oil to make a sauce instead of a pesto.
Ingredients:
- Avocado – Use a small, ripe avocado. You can also use half of a large avocado instead.
- Basil – One ounce of basil is the absolute minimum. I would not suggest trying to substitute any other fresh herb in this recipe.
- Pine Nuts – Toasted pine nuts give the sauce a nice and nutty flavor. Please don’t rush and skip this step!
- Lemon Juice and Zest – The citrus helps to brighten up the sauce.
- Coconut Milk – Lite coconut milk is used in this recipe but full-fat coconut milk may also be used. I would not recommend substituting regular, soy, almond, or cashew milk in this recipe.
- Garlic – If you do not have fresh garlic, feel free to use ¼ teaspoon garlic powder instead.
Blending it Up
Now that you have all of your ingredients ready to go, it’s time to blend it up into a sauce. There are a few pieces of kitchen equipment you can use to make it:
- Vitamix – This is my personal preference since it does such an incredible job of blending up the ingredients into a super creamy pesto pasta sauce.
- Food Processor – Another great choice but it may take a little longer and a few times of scraping the ingredients off the side of the bowl to get the job done.
- High-Speed Blender (i.e. Nutribullet) – If using a personal-sized high speed blender make sure you use the larger cup so all of the ingredients will fit.
Is Pasta Vegan?
While most packaged pasta is considered vegan, not all of it is and you should be sure to read the label carefully. The large majority of pastas only contain flour and water, but eggs are the primary culprit that prevent a particular brand from being vegan.
Vegan Pastas:
- Jovial Spaghetti Pasta (gluten-free and vegan)
- Ancient Harvest Linguine Pasta (gluten-free and vegan)
- Barilla Fettuccine Pasta (gluten-free and vegan)
Please note: The tagliatelle pasta pictured in the ingredients image above does contain eggs and is not considered vegan.
Other Recipes:
- Pasta Pomodoro Sauce
- Fresh Tomato Basil Zucchini Noodles
- Salsa + Ranch Pasta Salad | Gluten-Free
- Vegan One Pot Pasta
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Ingredients
- 8 oz. tagliatelle pasta* gluten-free
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil divided
- 1 ½ cups broccoli cut into florets
- 1 Tbsp. water
- ½ sweet onion finely chopped
- ½ cup peas frozen
- ½ cup corn frozen or canned
- ¼ tsp. salt to taste
- ¼ cup pine nuts toasted
- Parmesan cheese* optional
Avocado Pesto Sauce:
- 1 small avocado ripe
- 1 oz. basil fresh
- ¼ cup pine nuts toasted
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- ¾ cup coconut milk lite
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 garlic clove crushed
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- In a large sauce pan or skillet sauté broccoli with 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add water, cover, and let steam for 6-7 minutes or until broccoli turns a bright green.
- Remove broccoli from skillet and set aside on a plate. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and onions. Sauté for 4-5 minutes over medium heat.
Avocado Pesto Sauce:
- Add all pesto sauce ingredients into a high-speed blender, such as a Vitamix, or a food processor.
- Blend for 1-2 minutes or until sauce is completely smooth.
- Add pasta, sauce, broccoli, peas, corn, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt to the saucepan with the onions. Toss to combine and warm up over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Serve avocado pesto pasta with ¼ cup toasted pine nuts and Parmesan cheese and enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
