This Kale Pasta with kale sauce is packed with nutrition. The best way to enjoy a comforting pasta meal loaded with fresh kale and you wouldn't even know it.
Jump to:
Why you will love this recipe
- Quick and Easy Recipe: This delicious Kale Pasta with kale sauce comes together in less than 30 minutes, needing only 10 ingredients that you may already have on hand.
- Taste: Refreshing zucchini, red pepper, kale and cashews gives this pasta a good texture. The garlic gives a nice kick of flavor, giving you a perfect lunch or dinner.
- Customizable: This Kale Pasta dish is easily adaptable, feel free to add other veggies you like.
- Vegan and Gluten-Free: This pasta sauce with kale is vegan and can easily be gluten free if you use a gluten free pasta such as chickpea or lentil pasta. You'll also want to be sure to follow the package directions as gluten-free pasta cooking times often vary.
Want more pasta recipes? Check out our Vegan Sloppy Joe's, Broccoli Lemon Pasta, Creamy Vegan Pasta, Curry Pasta or our Spinach Pesto Pasta. Don't forget to check out this Easy Spinach Pesto used in this pasta.
Ingredients
For a full list and quantities of how to make this Kale Pasta Sauce check out the recipe card below.
- Pasta: I chose spaghetti pasta but really any pasta shape you like will work great.
- Baby Red Pepper: Adds bulk and nutrition to the pasta sauce.
- Zucchini: Adds bulk to the kale sauce.
- Cashews: Provides a nice texture and base for this kale sauce.
- Nutritional Yeast: Gives the kale sauce more flavor and added nutrients.
- Water: I used water to thin the sauce but you can use a non-dairy milk if you prefer.
- Dino Kale: I like dino kale because it keeps the kale pasta sauce more smooth but you can swap it for curly kale it just won't be a smooth. I don't use the stems.
- Salt and Pepper: I like adding this because it helps to enhance the flavors but it is optional.
Variations
- Change the Nuts: If you like other nuts feel free to change the cashews to pine nuts, sunflower, pistachios or walnuts though this will change the taste.
- Additional Vegetables: Feel free to add other veggies to this Kale Pasta recipe like carrots (cook them longer, until tender), broccoli, yellow squash if you like the veggies it will be a good addition.
- Make it Spicy: If you like spice feel free to add chili flakes or half of a jalapeño it will definitely give this pasta a kick.
Prep: Soak cashews in a small bowl of water while preparing everything else.
How to make
Step 1: Boil salted water to cook the pasta. Cook according to box directions.
Step 2: Wash and chop the zucchini and red baby bell pepper. In a separate medium pot add the bell pepper, zucchini, garlic and just enough water to cover them, cook for 15 minutes. (While pasta is also cooking in a separate pot) Strain the water from the veggies.
Step 3: Add the veggies to a high speed blender, drain the water from the cashews and add those to the blender along with the kale, nutritional yeast, ½ cup water and a pinch of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
Blended Kale Sauce.
Step 4: Add sauce to drained cooked pasta and enjoy.
Sauce mixed in with the pasta.
Expert Tips
- Salt your pasta water: Salting the water before boiling both seasons the pasta and helps to reduce stickiness.
- Don't overcook the pasta: Overcooking can lead to mushy or sticky pasta and can also cause the pasta to lose some of its flavor.
- Serve for lunch or dinner: This pasta dish pairs perfectly with an extra side of veggies, sautéed tofu or tempeh.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, salads and smoothies often have kale added to them. It is also enjoyed in recipes that are baked, boiled, steamed or sautéed.
Many people add the stems to there salad or smoothies. But if you consume too much you may get an upset stomach. I personally chose to remove the stems for this kale pasta sauce recipe.
Cooking kale definitely takes away a lot of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants but it does retain fiber and some of the fat soluble vitamins such as vitamin K which is said to increase when cooked. Cooking it does make it less bitter though.
Nope! This kale sauce does not require boiling the kale.
Boiling kale will soften it and give it a more mild flavor. If you've avoided kale due to the strong flavor try boiling it first.
More Pasta Recipes
Kale Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz. pasta (gluten free if desired)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 baby red bell pepper
- 1 large zucchini (chopped)
- ½ cup raw cashews (soaked for 30 minutes in water)
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ cup water (reserved from cooking the pasta)
- 2 cups dino kale loosely packed and stems removed (spinach would be fine also)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 pinch of pepper
Instructions
- Boil salted water to cook the pasta. Cook according to box directions.
- Soak cashews in a small bowl of water while preparing everything else.
- Wash and chop the zucchini and red baby bell pepper.
- In a separate medium pot add the bell pepper, zucchini, garlic and cook for 15 minutes. (While pasta is also cooking in a separate pot)
- Strain the water from the veggies.
- Add the veggies to a high speed blender, drain the water from the cashews and add those to the blender along with the kale (I don't use the stems), nutritional yeast, ½ cup water and a pinch of salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
- Add sauce to drained cooked pasta and enjoy. Serve immediately or store in the fridge 2 days (see notes).
Leave a Reply