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.
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 looks so good! And super easy! I wonder how different the taste would be if you roasted the garlic first! MMM!
Thanks for this recipe — I made it tonight. I don’t have a true food processor, so the avocado sauce was a little chunky, but still so good! I used organic edamame “spaghetti” instead of pasta. Looking forward to finishing it for lunch tomorrow!
THIS IS SO GOOD! I’m eating it right now and I’m so happy I had to leave a comment and say thank you in the middle of eating it!!!
Love this recipe! I’m starting a strict meal plan in September so I’m going to try this with the zoodles option. This is my first visit to your page, too. I love how light and bright it is with great organization. :)
I tried this today! It was sooooo delicious and my whole family loved it!
This was SO GOOD! Literally takes almost no time at all to make and has so much flavor! I cut the recipe in half and, even though I definitely overdid it on the garlic (1 clove,) I was so impressed. This is probably going to be a once a week recipe for me now!
So easy and so tasty!
This is really delicious. We have made it 3 times in the last two weeks. Elegant, fresh, creamy and luxurious. Thank you from Scotland! xxx
I made this tonight, it was delicious! And kept me from making a less healthy dinner choice – thanks for this ;-) Quick and simple, easy to modify for 1!
Oh my gosh, yum. Super easy, super delicious. I added some spinach and sundried tomatoes for a little added veggie kick, but made the sauce per the recipe. Absolutely divine!
Wow! This recipe is AMAZING. It has become a new staple for me. :) Thanks so much for introducing me to avocado pasta!
If I don’t have basil leaves can I just make it without it ? Will it be nice.?
OMG I’M WRITING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I JUST MADE THIS AND WOW IT IS SO SO SO SO GOOD! IT TASTES SO CREAMY AND YUM OMFG MAKE THIS! NOW BACK TO EATING
Great pesto, super creamy, easy to make, good use of natural ingredients. It took me longer than 15 minutes, more like 30, or i would rate it a 5.
Definitely needed to add the water, or it wouldn’t have melded together well enough. Great on some leftover pasta from the fridge and the lemon zest is a great touch. Thank you Angela!
I made this for dinner tonight, and it was amazingly delicious and easy peasy! Thank you so much!
Brilliant :) It`s so easy and so amazingly tasty. Thank you
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Just made it and didn’t like it.
It is very creamy, but in my opinion it does not have much taste.
Have a good day
My daughter in Melbourne recommended your avocado pasta. She just said goodbye to a friend from Germany who has been staying with her for two weeks and liked your avocado pasta so much that she pestered my daughter to make it for her – had it for dinner four or five times! So I’m trying it tonight here in Sydney, in sunny Australia. Love your recipes and your stories. The kitten and crow video reminded me of a crow that used to visit our garden every afternoon for nine months or so when our children were little. She used to peck on the window of our family room to get our attention when the kids came home from school and she’d walk around with us in the garden. We called her Pica and she seemed very smart for a bird. Then she suddenly stopped coming. We all grieved a little when she failed to return. She was a friend to us. Maybe there’s more to crows than we realise. Have a wonderful Christmas with your little family, Angela!
O-M-G. Two of my most loved things together and I have never thought of this combo before!
Thank you, thank you, and more thank you
http://anotherfreakyblog.blogspot.com.es/
AMAZING!!
I added a little more olive oil and 1/4 of raw cashews to the blend, and I’ve had it twice this week.
This is one of my all-time favorite recipes! I’ve made it too many times to count! Thank you SO much!
Oh my Goooooooodddddd, this was delicious! Lovely recipe. Zingy flavour, garlicky and filling.
Hi Matt, glad you enjoyed it!
Even kids I know have really enjoyed this one! Healthy too!
hi! great recipe. i just wd like to say, i think it is not gluten free, it shouldnt be billed so. spelt and kamut are not wheat but they are cereals that contin gluten, i believe. they shd not be billed as gluten free or wheat alternatives. other than that, tasty and healthy. thanx
This post made my day, five years after it was posted. Avocado pasta to animals friends: what else could I want to stumble upon on the web on a cold April day in Canada?
Thanks for posting!
Aw, thanks for the comment, Rose! Knowing I made your day helped make MY day. :)
Made this multiple times and added some of my own ingredients to the sauce: kale (taste and extra vegetable), nutritional yeast (extra protein), and oregano (taste and to make it a bit spicy and to smell good).
Those sound like delicious modifications, Maaliyah! Thanks for sharing. :)
I tried this and added almond milk to make it a little creamier, worked great:)
Oh yes! I used to hate avocado taste, but now I love it. Especially as a pasta sauce. I also love it on rye bread with some hard boiled eggs. Yumm…
Been looking for some healthy pasta option and who knew avos make awesome pesto! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I didn’t have any basil, so I put in corriander instead…I love corriander in everything. Thank you for sharing such a simple and tasty recipe! x
Although I liked this recipe, it was a little bland for me. I added a little soy sauce (would use tamari but can’t find it in Ecuador, where I live), roasted tomatoes, and a tiny bit of olive juice to enhance the flavor, and it helped a lot!
Those sound like delicious recipe additions, Kay! :)
Newbie here – I’d heard of “Oh She Glows” from a friend (who loves you, btw, and has your recipe book) and I’m glad I checked you out. What my friend forgot to mention is that not only are you Canadian, but you live in ONTARIO, which I am SO happy about (also a fellow Ontarian here, from a small town). I get frustrated because some of the recipe blogs I read are from the states and sometimes you just can’t get the same ingredients up here. I’m a PC supporter, and am thrilled that I will be able to find things at the Superstore. Finally a recipe blog that speaks my language. Keep up the amazing work!
Hi there, Katie! Thanks for the lovely hello–it’s always great to hear from a fellow Ontarian. :) I hope you’ve been enjoying the recipes on the blog so far!!
I have been trying to find a good pesto alternative ever since I became vegan last year. I am sure I have read the labels of each of the pesto glasses in the store a dusin times.
This one looks good, and I will certainly try it! All the best!
I hope you like it when you try it, Julie!
Easy and delicious! I’d go easy on the lemon juice next time I make it (maybe add half to start, then some more to taste) as I found it quite citrus-y; but such a simple and tasty recipe, so will definitely do again.
I’m really late to the party here, but I wanted to say I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of years and loved everything I’ve made but this is my new favorite! I only made enough for one so I used the blender and it wasn’t quite as smooth as yours, but it was really good and I’m looking forward to making a full batch next time! Thanks for this wonderful corner of the Internet! I don’t comment much, but I always enjoy reading.
Hey Taylor, thanks so much for the lovely comment! It’s great to hear from you, and I’m so happy you’ve discovered a new fave here. :)
You say the avocado pasta dish is gluten free. Pasta is not gluten free. Please ammend this by stating you need to find a gluten free form of pasta!!
Can I make this without basil I don’t care for basil but really want to make this
I made it with spinach and it turned out great :)
I was looking for a pasta and avocado recipe and found this! The result looks delicious, I will try this soon as possible :D
I hope you enjoy it, Sheila!
Can’t wait to try this!
hi just wondering if you can freeze the sauce and re-heat it ?
Hey! Really looking forward to trying this recipe!, however there is one issue. I do not own a food processor. Is there any other equipments or something I could use in the absence of it? Thanks! (Ps. I don’t own a blender either. Tsk tsk, I know. I’m poor.)
Kayleigh.
You should invest in a NutriBullet! It can do (almost) the same things as an expensive food processor.
try this topped with sundried tomatoes!
Made it tonight for two of my (meat-eating) roommates and myself. Very tasty and satisfying while still being light. Also quick and easy to make.
Wow, what a well-loved recipe! This has become part of my weekly rotation index for the past year or so. I always add some vegan cashew parmesan on top. SO easy, filling and delicious. Thanks to another commenter for the idea, I will be trying it with some peas next time.
I saved this recipe a while ago but finally got a chance to try it tonight. Yum!! I’m trying to be healthier (but of course giving up pasta is out of the question) and this was a great, easy, fairly healthy meal even I could make. I was amazed how flavorful it is. Absolutely love avocado and garlic so this is definitely a new go-to meal. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Bee!
I’ve been serving this delicious and easy avocado pasta sauce for a few years and failed to write down the source when I jotted it down. Today, when I happened upon this recipe on your site, it dawned on me that it had come from you! Sorry it took so long to thank you. I serve this at least every other week, and my family and I love it.
Aw, it’s so lovely to hear this recipe has become such a staple for you!
Hello, thanks for the recipe!
I made way too much, and I’m trying to save it as leftovers for tomorrow.
Is it safe to eat if the avocado turns brown?
Delicious simple recipe! I added 1 cup of halved cherry tomatoes with a bit of Mrs. Dash and we pretty much went to town on the whole pot!
Simple ingredients and simple steps! I was so happy to eat this yummy and pretty dish sooner rather than later. :D
Wowee! What a great recipe. Cooked this for my omnivore mum and she loved it. Can’t believe how easy / satisfying it was. I added some pine nuts and sundried tomatoes on top, with some rocket and violife ‘parmesan’. Delicious! But the sauce was amazing on its own too.
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to let me know–I always appreciate it!
Awesome recipe, I added extra of everything because I put some vegan sausage (field roast) in it. =P