Oh…my….gosh.
Alert the grocery store because there is going to be an avocado shortage in my town. Well, more than usual that is.
[And yes, I said ‘store’. As in singular…We’re small town folk.]
You can whip up this pasta dish in under 15 minutes flat! I know I will be making it again and again, especially for those dinners when we are strapped for time…or just plain old tired after a long day.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
15-Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta
Yield
3 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Creamy, thick, and rich with lots of garlic flavour and a hint of lemon, this is one of my favourite pasta dishes. The avocado works wonderfully in this recipe to create a sauce so creamy and thick you will think there is cream hiding in there.
Ingredients
- 9 ounces (255 g) uncooked pasta
- 1 medium garlic clove
- 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, plus more for serving
- 1 to 2 tablespoons (5 to 10mL) fresh lemon juice, to taste
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
- 1 ripe medium avocado, pitted
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) water
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Lemon zest, for serving
Directions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. For a lighter option, serve the avocado sauce with zucchini noodles.
- While the pasta cooks, make the sauce: In a food processor, combine the garlic and basil and pulse to mince. Add the lemon juice, oil, avocado, and 1 tablespoon water and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed. If the sauce is too thick, add a bit more oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Drain the pasta and place it back in the pot. Add all of the avocado sauce and stir until combined. You can gently rewarm the pasta if it has cooled slightly, or simply serve it at room temperature.
- Top with pepper, lemon zest, and fresh basil leaves, if desired.
Tip:
- Because avocados oxidize quickly after you slice them, this sauce is best served immediately.
- Make it grain-free: Serve this avocado sauce with spiralized or julienned zucchini or on a bed of spaghetti squash.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
I used some fun pasta to increase the nutrition factor- first, 1 serving (3oz) of spelt pasta.
Spelt pasta has a great nutritional profile with 12 grams of protein and 3 grams of fibre per serving.
I also used one 3oz serving of Kamut pasta.
Kamut pasta has 13 grams of protein and 8 grams of fibre per serving. Niiiiice.
They both taste AMAZING and are very easy on the digestive system. I purchased both of them in the natural food section of Loblaws/Superstore. Regular white spaghetti has only 1.7 grams of fibre and 4 grams of protein per serving. Eric and I actually prefer the nutty flavour of the ancient grains over the white pasta so it is an easy switch.
If you don’t have a scale or pasta measuring device, one serving of pasta (3oz) is about the diameter of a quarter!
PS- That picture above took me 6 tries to get in focus! lol
A couple of the out of focus ones…
Whoops!
Oh the joys of amateur photography. ;)
While the pasta is cooking away, prepare the ‘cream’ sauce in a food processor. I use and love my Cuisinart 14 Cup Food Processor and Cuisinart Mini Prep 3 Cup Processor, which is great for smaller jobs. I used 3 cloves of garlic and it was quite garlicky, so if you are not a big fan of garlic I would suggest using 1-2 cloves.
I love that avocado can be used as a substitute for cream in this recipe. The healthy fats in avocado make our skin glow and hair shine as an added bonus. :)
Strain and rinse the cooked pasta.
Add the sauce and mix well.
Garnish with lemon zest and freshly ground black pepper.
I fell in love.
So did Eric.
We are now married to this pasta.
And I’m actually going through withdrawal just looking at these pictures.
Looking for other pasta recipes that I enjoy? Try these recipes below:
* Lightened Up Sundried Tomato Pasta
In other news, it’s Monday and I woke up in a haze today. That is, until I watched this video below! It made my entire day, so I thought I would spread the joy. Animals are just the most fascinating and intelligent creatures and I’m always blown away by stories like this.
I can’t decide what I like more about the video:
1) It has a date of ‘1999’, but it is clearly circa 1980’s, 2) the old married couple that I want to adopt, 3) The crow scaring the cat (minute 3:44), 4) The cat scaring the crow (minute 5:00), 5) The crow squawking at the cat to ‘get off the road’ (minute 4:40), or 6) Is that ALAN THICKE from Growing Pains?!
It kills me, it really does.
Oh. My. Goodness!!! I made this a for dinner. Then for dinner the next night. And I would have made it a third night, but I ran out of basil. This is going to be a weekly staple at our house! Thanks for a winning recipe!
I made last week – very delicious stuff! It kept all week in the fridge and I didn’t notice much of a taste difference after reheating it.
Angela, I have been following your website for a long but have never wrote anything. I have made multiple recipes of yours and just love them! This is my favorite pasta dish. I added sweet onion to it once too but think i prefer it this way. You are the one who opened my oatmeal world, i now make carrot cake oatmeal, pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin gingerbread, i love all of them and proudly eat oatmeal and green monsters everyday. You have changed my life when it comes to food and how i eat and i am forever thankful for stumbling across this website. Thanks! =) I have a few questions i wanted to ask you about some of the nut butters, is there another way to contact you?
Guaca-yummy! What a great no-cream creamy sauce. And, I just discovered with the addition of some water, apple cider vinegar, and agave this sauce turns into a wonderful salad dressing. Bring on the greens!
I have no words! My mouth is so happy right now. This was one of the most heavenly dishes I have ever had and so easy to make it’s ridiculous. Thank you so much for sharing.
I finally made this last night and it’s incredible!
I also love how this is really a basic recipe that I can adjust to add different spices depending on the season.
I had no basil leaves so I added some lovely dry parsley (courtesy of mum’s garden) and some raw (unsalted, unroasted) cashews. Perfection!
OMG!!! I made this tonight and it was AMAZING. I added chicken breast (I’m not vegan), some steamed broccoli (which was a lovely additions) and used Miracle Noodles. I was in heaven. Thanks for the great recipe.
Hi Angela,
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and love your recipes. You’re story is incredibly inspiring.
My boyfriend and I recently started the Clean 21-day cleanse and I’ve been searching hi and low for recipes that meet the requirements. You’re creamy avocado pasta fit the bill when I subbed brown rice pasta. I tried it and loved it, and posted it on the Clean forum. People have been going crazy about this amazing pasta.
Just wanted to say thank you so much! This creamy delicious pasta has made the cleanse so much more bearable for a lot of people!!
Wow that is so cool! Thank you so much for letting me know and for passing the recipe along. :)
i just made this for lunch and can’t believe how strongly the sauce resembles a traditional cream sauce. i love the added hint of lemon. i added portobello mushroom and wilted spinach and garnished it with crushed red pepper for a little heat – it’s delicious! thanks so much for yet another winning recipe. you have yet to steer me wrong!
I have just made this and it is AWESOME! I added crushed red pepper flakes and it is so good.
I have a friend who is always sharing your yummy recipes on FB….this sounds relish and like just the side for my margarita chicken tonight (not vegetarian here). Think I will sub cilantro for basil tonight and maybe throw some cumin in the mix for a more Mexican flare, but am sure to make the original version all summer long!
So simple, and delicious. I omitted the basil since it looked kind of sad at the store, but I have a feeling I’ll make this again over the summer when we have our OVER abundance of basil from our CSA. I can’t wait to make this pasta for my breast-feeding sis-in-law, for those good fats for my little nephew’s brain! :) Thanks!
I’ve been a Baby Nurse for over 25 yrs + just have 1 question. Has the baby already drank Mothers Milk with garlic in it? If you don’t know, you might want to ask before you add the garlic. Some babies have a problem digesting it + others don’t. Also if the baby has any type of digestive problems, you might want to go lightly on the basil.
i just made this. its so creamy and deeeeliciouso! :) oh and i love that its fast and easy too.
I’ve made this with pasta and it was delicious…but, what my husband and I LOVE, is this sauce (with twice as much fresh basil added), spread on a pizzza crust, in place of pizza sauce, topped with nutritional yeast and sauteed peppers, onions and mushrooms. Once that is all cooked, we garnish with fresh tomatoes and I will tell you, it’s the best pizza ever!!! :) THANK YOU for this recipe. With recipes like this, it makes it easier to transition my husband from vegetarian to vegan. I never thought he would go for a pizza without cheese…but he asks for this at least twice a week ;)
love this idea! Will try it out :)
Silly question but do you put the pizza with the avo sauce base in the oven?
I did. I cook it for about 14 minutes with the fresh veggies on top and nutritional yeast in between the veggies and sauce.
This recipe is how I found your website. Searching for something to make with avocados getting too ripe, and found this. I love this recipe because I had everything I needed in my cupboards and it was done by the time my noodles were ready. Yum!
Made this last night for dinner, it was incredible!! So incredible in fact that I ate 2 servings!! I will definitely be making this again on a weekly basis, and will bore everyone I know by repeating how good it is and how their mouths will love them forever when they too make and eat this recipe. Thankyou for bringing it into my life :-)
Sounds fabulous! Do you think it work on rice or quinoa also?
Im not sure if the sauce would make enough to coat the rice or quinoa, so you might have to use a smaller portion if swapping. Enjoy!
Angela, you are hilarious! My good girlfriend just shared your blog with me today and I’m absolutely over joyed and in love with it! You make me laugh out loud! I cannot wait to make this delicious avocado pasta Sunday night for my friend and I! :)
I can’t wait to tell my husband this…he never laughs at my jokes! ;)
Thanks for your kind words!
Tried it and loved it! Made it with corn pasta to make it GF. Think it would be great with buckwheat noodles.
great idea :)
I just made this recipe really quickly on my way to work with veggie pasta and nixed the garlic but added a bit of almond cream. it was really good and i will try again with garlic and nix the cream.
Thanks Angela