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.
This pasta sauce is incredible!! I have made it at least a dozen times since first trying it a few months ago. I absolutely love it and can’t get enough! I tend to use a little extra of each ingredient and it is just sublime. Always make with whole wheat/grain spaghetti and it tastes delicious. May try this weekend with a different shape pasta (bowties or fusilli?) as I have a friend coming for lunch and I feel like spaghetti is more of a dinner time pasta shape! Since I add extra ingredients, I always seem to have leftover sauce and for me it works well to just put it into small glass tupperware and it stays green for 1-2 days! I think the lemon juice helps to preserve the color :-) Thank you for sharing this recipe- it truly is one of my all-time favorite meals!!
This is such a great quick and tasty dinner! I had zucchini and avocados to use up so it was perfect. We like adding a few kalamata olives on top. I wish I had some Oh She Glows parmesan on hand for the top – next time!
While I appreciate your sharing this recipe, we found it to be good in theory but not in practice. We’re not vegan, and I actually didn’t realize this was a vegan recipe when I pulled it — I was simply looking for a new way to use a huge crop of fresh basil from my garden.
The first problem was that there simply wasn’t enough flavor. We like avocado, we like basil…but it was just too blah. It really, REALLY needed a lashing of fresh parmesan or something to add a good, salty kick.
Furthermore — and this was the real problem– there just wasn’t enough to fill us up. We’d been working hard outside all day, and not only was this not terribly appetizing, it just didn’t do the job. I could have made more pasta, I suppose, but I limit the amount of starch I eat for medical reasons, so that just wasn’t an option, and besides, a meal of so much starch is simply not healthy. Proteins are much better and would have given this some decent substance. Sauteéd fresh shrimp or chicken might have filled it out and given it some decent flavor. I am unable to use soy in any form and my husband has nut allergies, so those were not options for us.
We forced ourselves to finish because we were hungry, but that’s not a good recommendation for a dish. I will not be trying this again.
Please go somewhere else with your insane review.
it’s not insane to say they didn’t like it lol… that’s just their opinion. do others people opinion on food recipes usually offend you?
I hope no one gets the idea that this is all plant-based people eat for dinner. It’s my go-to dish, but it’s quite obvious that it’s more of a side dish. It won’t be enough for lunch, let alone dinner. And this is not about plant-based: If you have nothing but pesto pasta for dinner, you’re not going to feel satiated, even if you use loads of parmesan.
This was awesome! My husband loved it! Thanks so much and keep posting great recipes! We’ve got a few more on here we want to try!
Absolutely loved this dish, I used some pasta made from red beans. Super simple healthy and felt decadent. This will definitely be coming in as one of my regular meals.
I didnt think pasta was vegan though ?
On the next day, I used the leftover avocado sauce and mixed some crushed chickpeas in it to make à sandwich! It was delish ?
This knocked my socks off.. This is now my new comfort food.
I’m a gardener so I just go outside pick fresh basil and herbs and blend with the avocado, oil and lemon juice and toss with some spinach pasta. Absolutely delicious and healthy. About to make some more now :)
We were excited to try this, but the end result was underwhelming. The garlic flavour was overpowering, despite using a medium-small garlic clove. Served warm, the sauce also had a strange aftertaste. This might taste better cold, but we’ve found better avocado pasta recipes.
My 11yo som and I loved this. So creamy and delicious!!! Using my Vitamix I ended up needing about 6 tablespoons of water to get it to blend, but otherwise followed instructions. YUM!!!!
Made this in a pinch on a lunch break at home with an avocado about to go bad on the bench. I used fresh basil from our garden and used 3 small-med sized garlic cloves (yes I like garlic) and was surprised at how well all the flavours melded together. Would be great with some crispy pancetta or prosciutto on top as well to add an element of salty to the dish. Overall, would make again and potentially add some things to make it a full meal
Amazing recipe! Came out very good and is very filling!
This was amazing! I switched the lemon juice for like and added a little red onion and a heaped handful of coriander and it is the perfect summer pasta dish! Thank you :)
i really went rouge with this one without adding much time. I toasted pine nuts in a pan added pancetta chopped small and gently cooked it then added this to the sauce. It gave some texture and a bit more of a flavor profile and my family loved it!
This is so delicious! I used edemame pasta. Thanks so much for sharing.
I LOVE this recipe! My girlfriend’s sister made it for us way back in 2010 and I’ve been making it regularly ever since. Just thought I’d let you know. Thanks, Angela!
I made this with a zucchini noodle pasta with chicken and vegetables for dinner. It has amazing flavour! I doubled the recipe as I was making a fair amount of pasta, but overall it was delicious, you get the citrus from the lemon juice balanced with the oil and garlic, and the basil really helps tie in the creaminess of the avocado!! Will definitely recommend this to others and keep using it myself!
Hi Angela!
I am so glad that I stumbled upon this recipe. Pasta turned out to be amazing. Although, I changed the recipe just slightly, after boiling the pasta, I added a spoonful of four-cheese pasta sauce because I love a little bit of extra cheese. All in all, I’m in love with this recipe and I’m adding it to my favourites.
Really quick, healthy and easy. I should have used less lemon, but still delicious. Thanks!
This is my daughter’s FAVORITE dish OF ALL TIME. I love the smile on her face every time I bring basil home from the market…she knows what’s coming 🤩 Thank you!