Savor the rest of summer with this vegan pesto pasta recipe. This nut-free and oil-free pesto is tossed with whole-grain pasta and vibrant vegetables that taste so fresh and delicious. Eat the rainbow!
What better way to say goodbye than with a quick and easy vegan pesto pasta recipe made with fresh garden vegetables? Although pesto often contains cheese and oil, my pesto doesn't have either. So, instead, I made a healthy vegan pesto pasta recipe with vegetables in an oil-free, nut-free pesto sauce.
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When I think about comfort food, I automatically think of creamy pasta. But just because it's creamy doesn't mean it has to be fattening.
My family loves pasta; however, I try to prepare pasta with more vegetables than pasta and a vegetable-based sauce. Yes, I also make a pesto with nuts, but when I try to balance my diet, I try to make it as healthy as possible. And if I can make a tasty sauce that doesn't include nuts, I'm all about it!
Oil-Free Pesto Ingredients
Of course, fresh basil is essential in a pesto sauce, but beans provide the creaminess in this vegan pesto pasta recipe. Nutritional yeast, for example, provides cheesiness.
- Fresh Basil: There's no such thing as too much basil...the more the merrier.
- Garlic: I prefer to use fresh garlic whenever possible.
- Navy Beans: Navy beans have a soft, velvety texture and a slightly nutty taste, and like other legumes, they are a fantastic source of fiber. They are also a good source of folate, manganese, and copper.
- Water: The water emulsifies the mixture in the absence of oil.
- Nutritional Yeast: Nutritional yeast is the vegan cheese for the pesto sauce.
- Lemons: Again, I prefer fresh lemon juice. Lemon juice gives the pesto a fresh citrus flavor, and it keeps it fresh and from turning brown.
- Sea Salt: Sea salt enhances the other flavors in the pesto.
Pesto Ingredient Substitutions
- If basil isn't your thing, use mint, spinach, kale, broccoli, and any type of green to make a delicious pesto sauce.
- Cannellini beans are similar to Navy beans. Or try lima beans.
- Use vegetable broth instead of water.
- Substitute nutritional yeast with miso or soy sauce, which also has an umami flavor
- Bottled lemon juice is excellent in a pinch.
- Garlic salt is a great way to add flavor instead if sea salt.
How to Make Oil-Free Vegan Pesto
Then, it is just a matter of using a high-speed blender to blend all the ingredients. Making vegan pesto sauce takes 5 minutes from start to finish.
- Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour the pesto over the hot pasta.
- Then, serve in bowls and add sauteed or steamed vegetables.
- Add basil as a garnish.
- Sprinkle with vegan parmesan (optional)
Vegan Pesto Pasta Ingredients
To get perfectly cooked vegetables, I prefer to saute them in stages so; they don't uncook or overcook.
- Garlic: I prefer using fresh garlic cloves.
- White Onion: White onion is sharp in flavor but sweetens as it caramelizes and cooks.
- Broccoli: I love broccoli in everything. Make sure to cut the florets into similar sizes so they cook evenly.
- Carrots: I cut the carrots into coins, which are the same size, so they also cook evenly.
- Zucchini: The zucchini is cooked last since it requires very little cooking to soften. You want it heated through and not much more.
Vegan Pesto Pasta Ingredient Substitutions
Even though I chose these vegetables for my pesto pasta, any of your favorite vegetables work for this dish.
- Jarred minced garlic and garlic powder will usually be the easiest, most common substitutes, but other options exist. Garlic salt can also work when you're in a bind—use ¾ tsp. Garlic salt for one clove of garlic.
- Yellow onion is an excellent substitute for white onion.
- Cauliflower is an excellent substitute for broccoli.
- Any parsnip replaces carrots in recipes.
- Try summer squash as a substitute for zucchini.
How to Make Pesto Pasta
However, I suggest cooking the vegetables based on their density.
- For instance, I first saute the garlic, onions, and mushrooms together.
- Then, I add my more hearty vegetables, such as broccoli and carrots, which take longer to cook.
- Last but certainly not least, I add the zucchini because it is delicate and cooks quickly.
- As a result, the zucchini cooks al dente versus being soggy and mushy. Who likes mushy zucchini? Yuck!
Roasted Vegetable Option
If you don't have the time to stand over the stove, by all means, roast your vegetables.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Make a single layer of mixed vegetables on the baking sheet
- Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes
How to Serve Vegan Pesto Pasta Recipe
- Once the noodles are cooked and drained, I suggest adding the sauce to the noodles and stirring well, coating the noodles.
- Next, I spoon the vegan pesto pasta into individual bowls before adding the vegetables.
- Because I love fresh vegetables, I prefer to taste pasta with light sauce mixed with fresh vegetables.
- Of course, you can mix it all in one pan and serve it together.
- As a bonus, I made my vegan parmesan cheese to sprinkle on the pasta.
Recipe FAQs
Pesto is served best with longer pasta cuts, like the corkscrew shape of Fusilli. Pesto works best with Bucatini, Capellini, thinner Spaghettini, and Fettuccine.
If you cook Pesto Sauce, you change the makeup of the fresh basil and cause it to turn darker in color. Therefore, it is best to warm it up and use it at room temperature. If it needs to be thinned out, add a little water, vegetable stock, plant milk, or white wine.
Pasta should never, ever be rinsed for a warm dish. The starch in the water helps the sauce adhere to your pasta.
Tips
- Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with vegan lasagna, potato gnocchi, or as a topping for a bowl of minestrone. It can be mixed into tomato sauce to enhance the flavor of pasta dishes or used with vegetables to make them more flavorful.
- Pesto is designed to be a raw sauce. Cooks and manufacturers go to great lengths to preserve the freshness of the ingredients, so heating up your pesto destroys all that hard work. This is not to say pesto must be eaten cold.
- For additional cheesy flavor, add vegan parmesan cheese.
- Using a quality high-speed blender helps to make smooth pesto from beans.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. Pesto freezes well. Freeze in ice cube trays, and then store frozen pesto cubes in plastic freezer bags in the freezer for up to 6 months. Pesto may also be frozen in small Souper Cubes or plastic containers for 9-12 months.
Welcome spring with this delicious vegan pesto pasta with oil-free, nut-free pesto sauce, vegetables, and pasta.
More Vegan Recipes to Enjoy
If you love this vegan pesto pasta recipe, give us a 5-star review and comment below. We would love to hear from you.
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Vegan Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
Pasta:
- 8 ounces pasta of choice gluten-free works as well
Oil-Free Pesto:
- 1 ½ cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves. The more the merrier.
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 15 ounces navy/cannellini beans 1.5 cups; rinsed and drained
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- The juice of 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Sautéed or Roasted Vegetables:
- ½ large white onion 1 cup sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 broccoli crown cut into florets
- 3 carrots sliced thin
- 8 ounces mushrooms of choice sliced
- 1 zucchini slice into thin coins
Other Ingredients:
- Basil for garnish
- Vegan parmesan cheese
Instructions
Pasta:
- Cook pasta according to box/bag directions.
- Drain and rinse noodles.
- Return to the pan.
Sauteed/or Roasted Vegetables:
- In a medium-sized skillet, saute garlic, onion, and mushrooms.
- Add vegetable broth to prevent vegetables from sticking.
- Next, add the broccoli and carrots, and continue cooking for about 10 minutes.
- Then, add zucchini last and only cook for 5 minutes so as not to overcook the zucchini.
Oil-Free/Nut-Free Pesto:
- Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour the pesto over the hot pasta.
- Then, serve in bowls and add sauteed vegetables.
- Add basil as a garnish.
Notes
- Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with vegan lasagna, potato gnocchi, or as a topping for a bowl of minestrone. It can be mixed into tomato sauce to enhance the flavor of pasta dishes or used with vegetables to make them more flavorful.
- Pesto is designed to be a raw sauce. Cooks and manufacturers go to great lengths to preserve the freshness of the ingredients, so heating up your pesto destroys all that hard work. This is not to say pesto must be eaten cold.
- For additional cheesy flavor, add vegan parmesan cheese.
- Using a quality high-speed blender helps to make smooth pesto from beans.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. Pesto freezes well. Freeze in ice cube trays, and then store frozen pesto cubes in plastic freezer bags in the freezer for up to 6 months. Pesto may also be frozen in small Souper Cubes or plastic containers for 9-12 months.
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Kathryn
Love the vegan pesto pasta. I roasted the vegetables in the oven and I used rice pasta and it was great. The pesto was wonderful. Thank you very much. Will be making it again.
Kathy Carmichael
Kathryn, yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I love pesto, anything! Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.
Ruma Dak
Kathy, can this pesto be stored in fridge for a few days!!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Ruma, yes, this pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days, or you can freeze it for up to three months. I even double the recipe and freeze it in small batches. However, I do suggest that you thaw it completely before heating it.
cknirr
Thank you for this oil free bean based recipe. I used to love pasta, but I used so much oil on it that I gave it up for a while. I suspect that it would work equally well as kale or arugula pesto or a mix of greens and herbs. Happy to have another way to include beans in my quick and easy go to's.
Kathy Carmichael
I hope you enjoy the recipe. Just blend well, and it tastes fabulous. Thanks for reaching out. Let me know how it turns out.
Lisa
you didn't mention how much zucchini or garlic to use or how long to saute/cook the broccoli and carrots
Kathy Carmichael
Lisa, I am so sorry. The isolation must be getting to me :/ 1 zucchini, sliced into coins, and 2 cloves of garlic. I also saute the broccoli and carrots about 10 minutes before adding the zucchini. Thank you so much for asking! I didn't even notice. You should be my editor 🙂
Victoria
Thought this was a great recipe. Not the best basil pesto sauce I've made but the only one that is both nut free and vegan so I thought that was very interesting. Opted out of using artichokes because they're so annoying to work with but chose to put in other vegetables like fresh broccoli and cauliflower. I prefer this dish warm but if you're in a pinch it's not bad cold.
Thanks
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Victoria, I use artichoke hearts canned it water. Thanks for the comments.
Victoria
Thought this was a great recipe. Not the best basil pesto sauce I've made but the only one that is both nut free and vegan so I thought that was very interesting. Opted out of using artichokes because they're so annoying to work with but chose to put in other vegetables like fresh broccoli and cauliflower. I prefer this dish warm but if you're in a pinch it's not bad cold.
Thanks