A super delicious no-cook green pasta sauce that can be made in just seven minutes! Perfect for a quick light pasta meal that everyone can enjoy, including vegans and vegetarians. Make the sauce ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for a quick midweek meal.
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⭐Why you’ll love it
- It’s delicious.
- It’s incredibly easy to make and requires no cooking.
- It’s suitable for both vegans and vegetarians.
- It’s keto-friendly depending on what you pair it with.
- It’s a very low-carb sauce.
- It’s packed with plant-based fats, vitamins, and minerals.
- Even kids love it (I think it’s the color)!
- You can add in your protein of choice for an extra-filling meal.
- Serve it with your preferred pasta, I love using spaghetti or penne pasta. Spinach pasta or vegetable pasta is also a great choice.
- The lemon juice keeps the colors nice and bright so it can be made ahead of time.
If quick tasty pasta dishes are your thing you might also want to try my 10-minute vegan roasted red pepper sauce for pasta, or my 20-minute vegan pumpkin pasta.
🛒Ingredients
Cilantro: You can try swapping out the cilantro for basil for a more Italian-style taste. Thai basil is wonderful in this sauce with its bold flavors.
Parsley: If you don’t have any fresh parsley just increase cilantro to three-quarters of a cup. Note that I don’t recommend using dried herbs.
Baby spinach: If you don’t have any baby spinach you can replace it with regular fresh spinach, just remove any large tough stems. I don’t recommend using frozen spinach.
Cayenne pepper: This adds a very mild kick that complements the ground nutmeg. This isn’t a spicy sauce but you can leave it out if you prefer, or increase the amount used.
See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact quantities.
➕Additions
This sauce is delicious on its own but you can also add some of my following recommendations to make it a more nutritionally complete meal, or to stretch it further:
- Cooked chickpeas, crumbled goat cheese or feta (or vegan goat cheese), and halved cherry tomatoes.
- Cooked green beans and cubed potatoes.
- Leftover roasted vegetables.
- Fried cubed tofu, or paneer if you’re vegetarian.
- If substituting the cilantro with basil, for an Italian twist add some chopped sundried tomatoes (the kind stored in oil), stoned halved olives, and roasted red peppers.
- For a Tex-Mex style pasta dish, replace the parsley with more cilantro and add a green chili pepper, and lime juice instead of lemon juice before blending. Then mix in fresh chopped tomatoes and onions to the pasta and sprinkle with cotija cheese or crumbled queso fresco (or soft white vegan cheese to keep it dairy-free).
👩🍳How to make it
Step 1: Pop the spinach, cilantro, and parsley in a microwave-safe container. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of water over the leaves, cover, and microwave on high for one minute.
The leaves should have reduced wilted slightly and still have a bright green color.
Step 2: Peel the garlic, remove the stone from the avocado, and add to a food processor or high-powered blender bowl.
Add all the other ingredients except the lemon juice and coconut milk.
Step 3: Process at a high speed for about two minutes until it’s as smooth as possible. It will still be a little chunky. Don’t worry, it will get smoother in the next step
Step 4: Add in the coconut milk and one and a half tablespoons of the lemon juice and process for another two minutes until smooth. Taste and add the remaining lemon juice little by little according to your preference, and adjust the salt if needed. Mix into freshly cooked hot pasta.
💡Expert tips
- If you don’t have a microwave, you can pop your greens in a sieve or steamer and place them above the pasta while it’s cooking. Cover with a lid and let them steam for one to two minutes until slightly wilted.
- If you don’t have a microwave and are making this pasta sauce ahead of time, you can dry fry the greens in a non-stick pan over medium heat for one to two minutes to wilt them.
- The more lemon juice you add, the longer your green sauce will stay green.
- Well-salt the water when cooking the pasta, but do not add oil. Adding oil to pasta water will make sauces like this slide right off the noodles instead of “clinging” to them.
- Leftover sauce? This green sauce is even amazing when stirred through cooked rice or used as a zesty salad dressing.
- This sauce will thicken as it sits. Reserve a little of the pasta cooking water to thin it to your preferred consistency, or just whisk in a little water.
🍽️Serving suggestions
Pasta in green sauce is amazing by itself or with a few of my suggested add-ins, but I highly recommend topping it with lashings of cracked black pepper and vegan (or vegetarian) parmesan for an even more delicious dish.
It’s also absolutely wonderful with hot crusty vegan garlic bread or served as a side dish for this tasty easy honey halloumi.
For side salads, I recommend moving away from leafy ones and pairing this dish with something chunkier. Think Greek salad, this Mediterranean white bean salad recipe, or a tasty Spanish tomato salad.
❓Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
I’d advise storing the sauce separately from the pasta whenever possible. This sauce will keep for up to four days in the refrigerator (it will darken slightly) or can be frozen for up to three months. It will thicken the longer it cools so just thin with a little water to get it to the right consistency.
This vegan version uses tahini and avocado to make the sauce nice and creamy, with spinach, cilantro, and parsley for color and nutrition, along with garlic and spices. Other green pasta sauces can include spinach or herbs, and usually some cheese, like pesto.
Salsa would be a literal translation. Note that Italian salsa verde is normally associated with a different sauce made with capers, olive oil, and anchovies.
🍝More quick pasta recipes
Did you make this dish? Let me know how much you loved it with a star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐and a comment below.
Take a picture of your finished dish and tag me on Instagram (@the_fiery_vegetarian), follow me on Pinterest, or connect with me on Facebook, I love seeing all your creations!
📖 Recipe
7 Minute Green Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup parsley
- ½ cup cilantro
- 5 cups baby spinach (5.3oz)
- 1 avocado
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup tahini
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ – 2½ tablespoon lemon juice to taste
- 1 cup coconut milk
Instructions
- Add the parsley, cilantro, and spinach to a microwave-safe bowl or container with a tablespoon of water sprinkled over. Cover and zap on high for one minute until slightly wilted but still green.
- Remove the stone and skin from the avocado and peel the garlic.
- Add the wilted greens to the bowl of a food processor or high-powered blender. Add the avocado, garlic cloves, ground onion, ground garlic, cayenne, nutmeg, tahini, and salt. Process until as smooth as possible.
- Add in the coconut milk and 1.5 tablespoon of the lemon juice and blend for one-two minutes until smooth. Taste for lemon juice and add the remaining lemon juice as needed. Taste and adjust salt if needed.
- Cover and refrigerate until needed or stir into hot drained pasta straight away and sprinkle with vegan or vegetarian parmesan, and cracked black pepper.
Sandy Payne
I just made this and I love it! I’m going on a candida diet and needed some alternatives for nightshade vegetables and this is great! I would like to know if it can be frozen. Thanks
Deirdre Gilna
Hey Sandy! So happy you liked it! Good question, You can definitely freeze the sauce separately once made – sometimes the coconut milk might separate a little when defrosted but whisking it while reheating should solve the issue.