Meet Alex Caspero
Alex Caspero is a Registered Dietitian, New York Times Bestselling Chef, and mom of two. She aims to cut through the nutrition noise by providing real-life, nourishing tips for body and mind. Learn more about Alex.
Easy, 20 Minute Vegan Pasta! You are going to love this healthy, easy vegan pasta! With a trick to creating glossy, restaurant-style pasta, this is a must-save for quick dinners.
This vegan pasta is my go-to meal for so many dinners. It’s vegan, loaded with vegetables, and delicious. Plus, it’s ready in less than 20 minutes, perfect for any I’m so hangry moments.
I don’t know about you, but most days, I am completely exhausted from the many home, parent, and work responsibilities, and getting a healthy dinner on the table sometimes feels like just one more thing on the to-do list.
Well, not so with this easy vegan pasta! A simple meal that you don’t need a recipe for once you’ve made it a few times.
The real beauty of this simple weeknight pasta is how few ingredients you need to put it together.
To start, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Salting the water before adding the pasta ensures that your pasta will have enough flavor before adding to the sauce.
Next, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the garlic and shallots until soft, then add in the red pepper flakes. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, then add in the undercooked pasta.
Forget the directions on your box and cook for a little more than 1/2 of the recommended cooking time. For instance, if the spaghetti will be ready in 10 minutes, cook it for 6. Then, add your not-quite-cooked noodles to the pot, along with a ladle or two of pasta water. Increase the heat to high and keep stirring as the noodles absorb the water. Add more water, a ladle at a time, until the pasta texture is cooked al dente. This ensures that every strand will be coated in the yummy shallot garlic sauce. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes as needed.
For the ultimate creamy vegan pasta sauce, I recommend adding in a pat of dairy-free butter at the end to keep things glossy and smooth. Top with vegan parmesan cheese and serve.
I prefer my homemade vegan parmesan to sprinkle on just about everything. Made with cashews, almonds, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder, It’s amazing how much it tastes like regular parmesan cheese.
Nutritional yeast can be found in most co-op/Whole Foods-like places (check the bulk section) or online. This is not brewers yeast, it’s nutty, sharp and very similar to cheese. You can store the leftovers in the fridge or freezer.
If you don’t want to make your own, you can use any store brand. My preference is Violife for vegan parmesan, but any dairy-free parmesan will work. Or, omit it altogether.
For more flavor, you can consider topping with chopped fresh basil or other fresh herbs like chopped parsley. A swirl of pesto at the end is also delicious if you have it in the fridge.
I used spinach here because there’s no chopping involved, and I always have it in my fridge, but feel free to sub in any green of your choice. Chopped kale, chopped broccoli rabe, or finely chopped broccoli florets will also work here. Mushrooms can also be substituted, but I’d recommend browning them in olive oil first with the shallots and garlic before adding the pasta.
This easy vegan pasta recipe is essentially my take on my family’s favorite aglio e olio recipe, so I don’t add in any tomato sauce, tomato paste, or fresh tomatoes. However, if you love tomatoes in your pasta, then I recommend halving cherry tomatoes and sautéing them with the shallots until they burst, then adding to the pasta as directed.
Long noodles like spaghetti or fettuccine are my preferred shapes for this vegan pasta recipe, but you can sub a shorter noodle like penne or rigatoni if you’d like. I’d recommend undercooking as directed before adding to the saucepan. For gluten-free pasta, you can use any gluten-free pasta of choice.
You might be surprised to know that 1 cup of pasta contains 8 g of protein. If you want to add in more pasta, you can open a can of white beans and add to the cooked spinach when you add the pasta.
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A 20-minute dinner. You are going to love this healthy, easy vegan pasta!
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This post was originally posted in 2016 and updated in 2024.
(57 comments) leave a comment
This was so delicious. I added rocket instead of spinach as that was what I had. I used ‘Parveggio’ by Green Vie (vegan Parmesan). I must admit I didn’t think it would be so flavourful based on the list of ingredients but I am so happy I tried it because this will now be a regular recipe of mine! Thank you!
Came across recipe by Google search. Wanted to make it right away so I had to sub many things. Onions,red peppers,kale cabbage.bok choy. Added lots flavor. Ginger,cumin,curry,turmeric plus other recipe suggests. I did not have parm cheese used my vegan cheese n lentil fusilli pasta. It was to die for. Even my son loved it he is not vegan. I will be making it for us from now on. I have so many sensitivities n food issues this made my day. I will try cashew parm next time when have ingredients. Thank u for such great idea. I hope to find more of your recipes I can eat. i can eat. Petrina Canada/ powergirl.
I made for dinner now many blessings to you for sharing Alex!
Thank you so much for connecting how our daily choices impact the world we live in. “We vote with our dollar; we vote with our fork.” In our capitalistic world our strongest voice is where/how we spend. Let’s starve those destructive industries while nourishing ourselves.
Made this for a kid who needed carbs for a soccer game and his brother who has a dairy allergy. This was SO. DELICIOUS. All 5 of us loved it! Can’t wait to make it again.
Looks delicious! I look forward to making this, this evening ☺️ Do you know the calories per portion? Thank you.
This is SO good. Thank you!
Wow! This is one of the best recipes I’ve ever found on the internet. First of all, it’s surprisingly tasty considering how many ingredients are used and how long it cooks. Second, the time hacks are spot on…I hate it when the time takes twice as long as the recipe tastes. This is the kind of meal to cook for a non vegan to convince them that life can continue if they tradition to a vegan lifestyle. Thank you!
So glad you liked it! Thanks!
I think the shallots and Parmesan cheese must be very important because I used an onion and dairy free cheese (which my husband prefers) and it came out too bland, unfortunately. I did then add more spices and more garlic, and more veggies and it was good.
Just made this. So easy and super good!!! Non vegan hubby loved it too!