This vibrant spinach, avocado, and parsley pasta is a delicious way to get your greens in. Quick, versatile, and easy to make. Ready in 20 minutes or less.

This is a wonderful meal for late summer evenings – with such a short cooking time, optionally virtually instant, and using ingredients that are widely available this time of the year. Green pasta sauce is a delicious alternative to marinara. Filled with nutrients from spinach with a touch of creaminess. 

Sometimes a simple bowl of pasta is all we want for dinner. That’s why I love this fresh green sauce for pasta. A great alternative to pesto, but most important, our whole family likes it. 

Spinach Avocado Pasta Ingredients:

Here’s a list of every ingredient you need to make this recipe.

• Pasta: I have used LInguine but feel free to use any pasta if your choice, i.e. regular pasta, gluten-free or grain-free. For low-carbs option, you could use zucccini noodles.
• Spinach: I love spinach but you can use kale or collard greens instead.
• Seasonings – Salt, Pepper and Red Chili flakes
• Nuts: Use pine nuts instead of cashews if you’d like.
• Avocado: This will add a rech-creaminess to the pasta sauce.
• Garlic: Feel free to adjust the amount the garlic as per your preference.
• Olive oil: This is optional. Skip if you want to.
• Parmesan Cheese
• Milk: Use any dairy-free milk such as oat milk, soy milk, almond milk, cocunut milk etc.
• Herbs: Add basil or mint instead of parsley.
• Lemon/Lime Juice: This will add a touch of brighness to your sauce.

How to make spinach avocado pasta

Step 1: Cook the pasta and spinach

• Blanch spinach and parsley in salted boiling water for 30 secs. Remove using tongs or a slotted spoon, and immediately put the blanched greens in an ice bath.
• Cook your favorite pasta in the same salted water until al dente (as per the package instructions). Drain the pasta and put into bowls.
• Roast garlic and cashews in a non-stick pan or in olive oil.

Step 2: Blend the ingredients to make the green sauce

• Add blanched spinach and parsley, garlic and oil, avocado, cocunut milk, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to a food processor, and blend until smooth.

if you want the creamy sauce to be thinner then add in a few tablespoons of pasta water while blending. The starches in the pasta water help the sauce stick to the noodles and coat them evenly.

• Taste the sauce and adjust any seasonings, if desired.

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Step 3: Assemble the pasta

• Toss the sauce with cooked pasta. Sprinkle with more parmesan cheese or red chili flakes, if desired.

Tips & Variations:

• Quickly blanch the spinach and basil before blending them into the sauce. Blanching brightens the color of the greens, locks in flavor, and helps retain nutrients. To blanch, simply add spinach and basil to boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove using tongs or a slotted spoon, and immediately put the blanched greens in an ice bath until blending into the sauce.
• Salt your pasta cooking water. Add plenty of salt so that your pasta water tastes like ocean water. Salting your pasta water is the best way to add flavor to pasta, so it won’t taste bland.
• Reserve pasta cooking water. Add in a few tablespoons of pasta water while blending. The starches in the pasta water help the sauce stick to the noodles and coat them evenly.
• Add veggies or herbs or your choice. You can add other herbs such as mint or basil instead of parsley. This pasta pairs well with tons of different veggies – sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, broccoli, zucchini, etc.

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