Zucchini noodles tossed together in a creamy avocado pesto for a delicious healthy weeknight dinner that is gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan and can be easily made in under 20 minutes!
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Happy Meatless Monday!
No I’m not a vegetarian, but sometimes I just love having a day where the only thing I fill my body with are fresh fruits and veggies, especially after a big Super Bowl weekend! Yup. My diet yesterday pretty much consisted of beer, chicken wings, cheesy dips and pizza…..uh I think my body is screaming for a serious detox, but you know what, I enjoyed every second of it! Especially the commercials. And Beyonce. I mean the Super Bowl only comes once a year so I totally welcome the little, err BIG splurge that comes with it!
This recipe is perfect because it’s super filling, crazy healthy and the best part is you feel like you’re eating a big bowl of pasta! It’s also incredibly quick and easy to make too (literally under 20 minutes), especially the creamy avocado pesto that’s gets drizzled over the top. No need to heat up either!
See how easy that is??
Just throw everything into your food processor
I also love zucchini noodles because they don’t take that long to cook either. Now zucchinis are made up of 95% water – crazy right?! – so it’s important to try and get out any excess water so you don’t have soggy noodles. The easiest way for me to do this is by putting them in a colander in the sink, sprinkling them with a little salt and letting the water drain out. Then I just pat them dry with a paper towel and they’re crisp and ready to go!
Now this dish honestly tastes just as good cold too, especially if you like crisp raw veggies, but since I prefer my zoodles having that “pasta-like” feel, I simply sauteed mine for a few minutes on the stove and then just tossed them with the pesto sauce. Super simple!
Just a quick note: avocado tends to brown easily so if you do want to enjoy any leftovers, make sure to wrap tightly with plastic wrap (making sure the plastic wrap is pressed up against the pesto sauce) to prevent from browning. This tastes best served immediately though – enjoy!
Zucchini Noodles with Creamy Avocado Pesto
Ingredients
- 6 large zucchini, spiralized
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
For the Sauce:
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- Cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Spiralize your zucchini and set aside on paper towels so that any excess water is soaked up.
- In a food processor, add avocados, basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, lemon juice and sea salt and pulse until finely chopped. Then with the motor still running, add olive oil in a slow stream until emulsified and creamy.
- Drizzle olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat then add zucchini noodles, cooking for about 1 to 2 minutes until tender.
- Add zucchini noodles to a large bowl and toss with avocado pesto. Season with cracked pepper and a little Parmesan, serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was a huge hit last night! Definitely could have used another zucchini, I used 7 but could have used one more. The sauce really goes a long way. Great dish for our vegan kiddo and tasty with shrimp for the non-vegans. I would recommend cutting the zoodles into shorter pieces, mine came out super long using the spiralizer.
I have summer squash noodles ready made. Will that work?
Absolutely! 🙂
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. We tested it today and are so happy. It was absolutely delicious!
Greetings from
Kerstin
Turned out I didn’t have any avocado because mine had gone bad so I used a can of peas instead and they worked great! Also my noodles seemed to be a bit crunchy could that have been because I squeezed too much water out or used too much salt? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I will try it next time with the avocado, this would have been my first attempt at using it. So perhaps I don’t know what I was missing but I’ve saved the extra pesto and will use it in something. I froze the leftover pesto.
Did you sauté the noodles in a skillet before adding the sauce? This definitely helps make them less crunchy, but I only cook mine for about 2 minutes because they tend to get soggy quickly AND I do enjoy a little crunch 🙂 I would suggest cooking yours an extra 30 seconds to a minute next time!
What if I don’t use the pine nuts? Will it make a huge difference?
Not at all, they just add some texture and a nutty flavor 🙂
Can you use spaghetti squash instead of zucchini?
You definitely could try, but the sauce is a bit thick for the thin spaghetti squash so I wouldn’t use as much sauce 🙂
Made this last night. I zested the lemon for garnish and extra lemony flavor. I used avocado oil and ended up using 1/4 cup. Subbed walnuts for pine nuts. We served on a mix of zoodles and “boodles” (golden beet noodles) and it was excellent. Threw in a little chicken as well. Definitely worth the weird burps later in the evening, ha!
Thanks for share this recipe my husband love this dish.
http://jquell.com/
I’m so glad Olivia! 🙂
Is the basil taste mellowed by the avocado? Im not a huge fan of basil but love avocado
Basil has a pretty distinct taste so I would either use less or try spinach leaves 🙂
I was given a Veggetti for Christmas from a secret Santa coworker who knew I wanted to start the New Year on the right foot. Man, I’m happy this was the first recipe I tried with my zoodles!
Made this over the weekend and it was super delicious! I bought a rotisserie chicken and shredded it to add some protein and the avocado pesto tasted great with it. I had plenty of left overs, so to keep it looking fresh I squeezed a little lemon into the tubberware and, using foil (all I had on hand) sealed it, making sure to push down so that no air could get in. Stayed super fresh and I made it again for dinner last night, using the same sauce (3 days later) Didn’t even miss the pasta!
YAY I’m so glad you enjoyed this Aubrey! The added rotisserie chicken sounds delicious!! 🙂