This vegan spinach pesto pasta is a delightful way to eat more veggies! It’s always easy to find fresh spinach at the store and if there’s no basil, you can leave it out of or substitute cilantro. Finely chopped parsley works well too if you can’t find fresh basil or you can simply up the spinach to replace herbs in the pesto altogether.
You can opt for store-bought pesto but I don’t recommend it because you can’t control the oil or flavor and store bought always has more fat. This pasta with spinach pesto is such a light and satisfying dish. It’s perfect for lunch with the girls, weeknight meal for the family or even for a dinner party with guests.
There is some wiggle room to get creative with this recipe. You can change up the shape of the pasta but be sure you keep it whole-grain or gluten free. You can try bowtie, fusilli, elbows or shells. If you want to make this over and over again and want to try something other than green beans, here are some great swaps: asparagus tips, fava beans, English peas, yellow squash and even snap peas.
Be sure to try these other plant-based pasta dishes:
- Creamy Noodle-less Zucchini, Tomato Lasagna
- Vegan Oil-Free Basil Pesto with Pasta
- Pasta Primavera
- Vegan Tetrazzini with Soy Curls
If you want to save yourself some time or don’t want the calories from the cashew topping you could make some simple toppings that are full of flavor but lower in fat. Try crisping up some shallots and sprinkle on top or a few toasted pine nuts will work well too.
I'd love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Pasta with Spinach Pesto recipe! If you have a photo, post it on my Facebook page, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking
| Prep Time | 25 minutes |
| Cook Time | 0 minutes |
Servings | people |
- 1 package whole grain or gluten-free penne pasta
- 1 package green beans stems removed and cut into thirds
- 1 carton cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 cups packed baby spinach leaves
- 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
- 1 handful fresh mint
- 2 tsp light miso
- 2 cloves garlic rough chopped
- 1 shallot rough chopped
- 1/4-1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth
- 1/3 cup toasted almonds
- 3/4 cup cashews
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Ingredients
Cashew Topping
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- Heat a large pot of salted water to boiling and add pasta. Cook according to directions on the package, drain and reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
- Steam the green beans until crisp tender. Add them to a large bowl along with the halved tomatoes.
- In the meantime, make the pesto by adding the vegetable broth to the bowl of a food processor along with the spinach, mint, miso, garlic, shallot, and toasted almonds. Salt and pepper to taste. Process until combined, scraping the sides as needed. Add more vegetable broth if too thick.
- Add pasta and the pesto to the bowl with the green beans and tomatoes along with enough pasta water to loosen the sauce to the consistency you like.
- If topping with cashew crumble, put cashews, nutritional yeast and salt into a small food processor and pulse until finely chopped and crumbly.
- Don’t over process or you’ll have cashew butter.
- If using, sprinkle each dish with ground cashews for a beautiful, delicious topping.
I’m sorry I’m really new at this and I’m still unfamiliar with so many new ingredients I find listed on plant based recipes. I have purchased a lot of them and found a lot are too salty and cause me to swell. I have purchased tamarind, braggs amino acids, nutritional yeast, and I have found all variations of recipes disguised as traditional cheese sauce a few I have tried and a few I wasn’t impressed with and I have seen a lot of recipes with “miso” in them but I haven’t purchased any miso yet. Is there a good substitute for miso?
I understand your frustration with all these new ingredients. Hopefully, once you become familiar it will get easier! In this recipe, the miso helps replace the flavor of salty, strong cheese, like a parmesan, that is traditionally used in pesto recipes. If you find that salt affects you, you can leave it out as it is salty. There’s nothing that really replaces it, and there’s so little anyway, I think it’ll be fine. Pesto is meant to be a strong flavor and a little goes a long way. Hope that helps.
Everyone in my family loved this! Easy and quick. Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome and thanks for letting me know! ???? I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it.
How did you make that Nutrition Facts list?
I use an online app called Nutrifox, https://nutrifox.com/.