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.
I’ve tried this recipe twice. The first time I used two garlic cloves and it was okay. I could taste the potential for a great recipe, but as you said, it was a little too much garlic. The second time, I used only one clove and it was soooo delicious. I also used zucchini noodles both times. I sauteed the noodles for just a few minutes and then tossed them in the sauce. Absolutely amazing! I felt like I was having a cheat meal! This will definitely be added to my go to recipes.
I just made this! Oh my word… Absolutely gorgeous. It’s always a good day when you find a new way to eat avocados, right?! Had no basil so used marjoram from the garden. Delish, and a perfect way to use up almost over-ripe avos. As if I needed another excuse to make this. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi, I wanted to thank you for this delicious recipe. It’s really the best avocado recipe i tasted. Today I also added in a handful of baby spinach leaves and chopped tomatoes, also topped it with Some nutritional yeast and hemp seeds, which was also good.
OMG! like seriously! I drove 1/2 hour to find ancient grain pasta, and to my delight, they had both you had listed here, so I bought them both. Almost ran out of gas, but boy… this was SO worth it! I would not add any extra salt next time (I have to watch my sodium intake), as the flavors from everything else is just like fireworks in your mouth! DEFINITELY re-doing this one, (I’d have had 2 more bowls, but I was smart, only cooked ONE portion ;) now, we wait and see if the ingredients trigger (for me) migraines/fibro/ibs … if not. oh baby you are MINE! :) thank YOU SO MUCH!
Absolutely delicious! And so creamy.
This has become one of my absolute favorite, I could eat this every day…:)
At first I wasn’t sure about basil and avocado but Oh my! This is great! I eat the left over avocado sauce on toast next morning or even with tortilla chips. Absolutely delicious!!!
Hi Angela, just to let you know I wrote a post on my newly born blog about this recipe. Thanks again!
And the link of course: atasteofpure.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/my-favourite-dinner-of-the-moment/
I turned Vegan (all at once) right after Christmas 2013. I bought the Oh She Glows cookbook and WOW! why haven’t I been Vegan all my life? I have new eyes when it comes to food – big, googly eyes. This avocado pasta was one of the first recipes I made and yum yum oh yummy in my tummy! I have read how many people may find being Vegan difficult and limiting – I cannot imagine. There is a whole new world here! And it includes creamy avocado pasta so jump for joy!
This is the second recipe I tried after finding your website and has stayed in the regular rotation about once every month or two. I’d have it more often if pasta didn’t bloat me. I always add mushrooms and spinach to mine! I’d like to try some sun-dried tomatoes in there too! Love this creamy sauce!
Just finished eating this delicious meal. I added a small white onion and some green peas and it was extremely tasty! Loved the fresh flavours and the creaminess of the avocado. Will definitely be having this again!
I cannot even express how delicious this is. And it’s so quick and easy to make! It blows my mind. It’s a favorite to make for friends when they’re coming over cause I can just double the recipe and make a bunch of it for super cheap. I’ve made it three times now.
It’s exploding with light, crisp, refreshing flavors and it leaves me feeling way more full than I was expecting. It doesn’t even matter if there are leftovers the next day because the citrus keeps the avocado from turning brown. I just freaking love this recipe.
P.S. Now that I know what spelt spaghetti is (available at Sprouts) and I’ll never be going back! Wee!
this meal was fantastic! i didnt follow the recipe to a T, but it was delicious and i would have never thought to combine avacado with a past dish, touche’…. :)
Just made this for lunch today and It was really delicious and so creamy! Finished with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast on top too :)
I just made this for lunch with raw zucchini noodles!! I needed an extra tbsp of EVOO for my blender to pull everything together, but this recipe is PHENOMENAL!!
Made this for dinner this evening. Husband and I both loved it. Will definitely be making again!
I just made this pasta instead of a box of mac and cheese and was soooo much more satisfied! And it took the same amount of time! I didn’t have basil or olive oil so I make it with kale and grape seed oil instead. SO GOOD!
Yay – loved this… yum yum yum! :)
p.s writing Avocado ‘flesh’ kind freaked me out… :D
Making this for dinner AGAIN tonight… We simply cannot get enough of this dish. We’ve been making it for about 18 months now and it’s in regular rotation, so maybe once every 10-14 days. Love, love, love it!!! (We use Delallo fusilli pasta instead of spaghetti. It clings to the noodles better.) :) ENJOY!!
So bummed! Was really excited for this recipe but I added too much lemon juice. Should have followed the recipe more closely and tasted as I went along :/. I will try it again. Loved that it was so simple and quick.
A huge, massive thank you from the uk for this recipe! It was a lovely quick and easy comfort food diner! Yum!