Green Pasta Sauce: Creamy Plant-Based Heaven
Easy-to-make, striking in colour and packed with flavour, this green pasta sauce is a quick and nutritious choice for a midweek meal. The recipe is completely plant-based, but so delicious you won’t miss the cheese. It’s made with olive oil, poached garlic, nutritional yeast and lemon for depth of flavour. Kale adds a boost of vitamins, minerals and fibre whilst cashew nuts provide protein and a luxurious creamy texture.
Kale is one of our staple greens in the winter. This is because it’s one of the easiest crops to grow in the allotment and we have a plentiful supply. So as not to get bored, I like to eat it in different ways. Kale pasta sauce is one of my favourite recipes and I’m hoping it might become one of yours too.
Dive Right In
- Why Make Green Pasta Sauce?
- Vegan Kale Pasta Sauce
- Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
- How To Make Kale Pasta Sauce
- Why Soak Nuts?
- Other Kale Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- Pin It
- The Recipe
Why Make Green Pasta Sauce?
Green pasta sauce is not only delicious and nutritious, but it’s fairly quick and easy to make. Perfect for when time is at a premium.
- Bright and Fresh – The lemon juice enhances the flavour and keeps the sauce vibrant and fresh-tasting. As for that gorgeous green colour, well you either love it or hate it.
- Creamy but Dairy-Free – Thanks to blended cashew nuts, it has a silky, indulgent texture without the need of cream or cheese.
- Diet-Friendly – Both plant-based and gluten-free, kale pasta sauce is suitable to virtually anyone who doesn’t have a nut allergy.
- Nutrient-Packed – Kale is rich in vitamins A, C and K, whilst cashews provide healthy fats and protein. This makes the sauce both nourishing and satisfying.
- Quick and Easy – This recipe comes together in less than half an hour, making it ideal for busy weeknights or just when you need something that doesn’t require much effort.
- Umami-Rich – Nutritional yeast adds a savoury, cheesy depth and is just the thing if you’re looking for a dairy-free alternative.
Vegan Kale Pasta Sauce
There are lots of kale sauce recipes out there that include cheese. And as delicious as that is, many of us either can’t or don’t want to eat cheese all the time, or indeed any of the time. This six ingredient green sauce tastes so good, you won’t even miss the cheese anyway.
There’s nothing quite as comforting as tucking into a bowl of delicious pasta. When you know it’s nourishing too, it’s even more satisfying. This sauce is particularly fun due to its vivid green colour.
I like to top mine with some crispy fried tofu or tempeh. I usually fry pieces in a hot spice mix in the air fryer, but will sometimes do it in a frying pan. The key is to chop the pieces small so that they crisp up.
You don’t have to add anything, but a scattering of chopped fresh herbs will never go amiss. Parsley or chives are particularly good. Vegan parmesan, is also a good topping option as it adds more of the same flavours.
Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
If you don’t include salt and pepper you only need six ingredients to make this green pasta sauce. I’ve highlighted the key ones below.
Cashew Nuts
Cashew nuts are rich in various nutrients and a good source of plant-based protein. In this recipe they also provide a wonderful creamy consistency. You do have to soak them first though.
Kale
Kale is a veritable powerhouse of nutritious goodness. It’s rich in various vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, specifically vitamins C and K, beta carotene, manganese and riboflavin. It also contains plenty of fibre which we need for gut health. (Ref: Healthline)
You can use any kind of kale you like. Curly kale, purple kale, Russian kale, cavolo nero, it’s all good. I’ve used our homegrown perennial kale. If you’re looking for one to grow yourself, I can highly recommend it.
Instead of kale you can use spring greens, chard, spinach or broccoli. There are probably plenty of other greens you could try too, but that’s a few to be getting on with. If using soft green leaves such as spinach, you’ll only need to blanch them for a minute or so.
Nutritional Yeast
Nutritional yeast, sometimes called nooch is a really useful source of plant-based protein. It’s also extremely high in various B vitamins, including vitamin B12. (Ref: Healthline)
As well as various trace elements, antioxidants and vitamins , nutritional yeast provides a cheesy umami flavour which works brilliantly with this green pasta sauce.
Pasta
You can use whichever pasta you like with this recipe. As a whole food advocate, I of course think whole grain pasta is best. This is not only because it’s more nutritious, but it has a nuttier taste too. Personally, I like fusilli or similar as it holds the sauce really well. I used wholegrain spelt fusilli this time.
If you fancy a go at making your own, I have a post on how to make whole wheat pasta without a pasta machine.
How To Make Kale Pasta Sauce
You need to get slightly ahead with this recipe, for although it’s a quick and easy one, you do need to soak the nuts before blending the kale sauce.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions, timings and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Soak Nuts
If you’re planning on eating this in the evening, get the nuts soaking before work in the morning. However, if it’s more of a spur of the moment idea, you can soak the nuts in hot water for thirty minutes instead. See section on why soak nuts for more info on this.
Place the nuts in a small bowl then cover them with lukewarm water. Cover the bowl with a small plate or lid and leave to soak for at least a couple of hours
When ready to use, drain the nuts, give them a quick rinse and drain again.
Step 2. Poach Garlic
Unusually, I poach the garlic in the oil before adding it to the other ingredients. You can omit this step, but it does mellow the pungency of raw garlic and deepens the overall flavour of the sauce. It’s the sort of chefy trick that turns a good sauce into an excellent one.
Heat the oil in a pan over a moderate heat, add the garlic then turn down to low. Cook the garlic in the oil gently for ten minutes until soft. You should just see a few bubbles around the garlic cloves, but be careful sizzling will burn them. Give an occasional swirl of the pan so that the garlic imparts its flavour to the oil.
Step 3. Blanch Kale
Whilst the garlic is infusing the oil, bring a large pan of slightly salted water to the boil. Remove any large thick stems with no attached leaves from the kale stalks. Rinse the leaves and drain briefly in a colander.
Add the kale to the boiling water, place a lid on the pan, turn down the heat and blanch for approximately five minutes. The leaves should be slightly softened, but still bright green.
Using a pair of tongs, transfer the kale to a blender, but keep the water in situ. Any water clinging to the kale is fine, you’ll probably need to add water to the sauce anyway.
Step 4. Cook Pasta
Pour the pasta into the hot kale water and cook as per pack instructions. This imbues the pasta with some of the kale’s flavour and nutrients. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it but reserve a cup of the water.
Step 5. Blend Sauce
Whilst the pasta is cooking, add the drained nuts to the kale in the blender. Squeeze in a tablespoon of lemon juice, you can add more later if you think it needs it. Add the nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and garlic along with all of the oil in the pan.
Blend on a medium setting until you have a smooth sauce. You may need to scrape the sides down half way through.
Thin the sauce out with some of the pasta water, if needed. This serves a double function of heating the sauce up.
Taste test at this point. Add more salt, pepper or lemon juice if required, then mix the sauce into the hot pasta and serve.
Why Soak Nuts?
There are a couple of reasons as to why it’s a good reason to soak nuts before making this recipe. First of all, soaking softens nuts means you get a smoother sauce once blended. The other reason commonly given is to activate the nuts thereby reducing enzyme inhibitors which thus makes them easier to digest.
However, there is much debate these days as to how much difference soaking really makes when it comes to gut health. This Healthline article about soaking almonds pretty much applies to other tree nuts.
Other Kale Recipes You Might Like
- Crispy kale (air fryer) (vegan)
- Kale apple cake
- Kefir kale pancakes
- Lentil curry with kale and red peppers (vegan)
- Miso muffins with kale, carrot & courgette
- Pumpkin stew with borlotti beans and cavolo nero (vegan)
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this gorgeously nutritious and vibrant kale sauce, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for using kale?
Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, tag me @choclette8 so I can see them.
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If you’d like more pasta recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Green Pasta Sauce. PIN IT.
Green Pasta Sauce: Creamy Plant-Based Heaven
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 clove garlic
- 160 g kale not including any large fibrous stalks
- 50 g cashew nuts soaked in water for 2-24 hours, then drained
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp sea or rock salt
- good grinding of black pepper
- 180 g pasta of your choice
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pan over a moderate heat, add the garlic then turn down to low. Cook the garlic in the oil gently for ten minutes until soft. You should just see a few bubbles around the garlic cloves, but be careful not to sizzle them or they'll burn. Give an occasional swirl of the pan so that the garlic imparts its flavour to the oil. (You can omit this step and just blend the raw garlic and oil with the kale. However, it does mellow the garlic's pungency and deepens the overall flavour of the sauce.)2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 clove garlic
- Whilst the garlic is infusing, blanch the kale in a large pan of slightly boiling water for approximately five minutes. Using a pair of tongs, transfer the kale to a blender, but keep the water in situ.160 g kale
- Pour the pasta into the water and cook as per pack instructions.180 g pasta of your choice
- Add the nuts, garlic (along with all of the oil) and remaining sauce ingredients to the kale in the blender. Blend on a medium setting until you have a smooth sauce.50 g cashew nuts, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, 1-2 tbsp lemon juice, ¼ tsp sea or rock salt, good grinding of black pepper
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain it but reserve a cup of the water. Thin the sauce out with some of the pasta water, if needed. I used 100ml.
- Taste test, add more salt, pepper or lemon juice if required, then mix the sauce into the pasta and serve.