Creamy Vegan Zucchini Pasta

There's nothing like a creamy plate of pasta, and it gets bonus points when it's packed with veggies like this vegan zucchini pasta sauce. My secret to making a seriously silky vegan pasta sauce is using nut butter. It saves you so much time as you don't have to soak the nuts beforehand.

I promise you'll be hooked once you've tried replacing heaving cream with nut butter in vegan sauce recipes. I've done it times and times before, such as this tahini cherry tomato pasta or this cashew butter mushroom pasta. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Key ingredients and substitutions

• Zucchini: They give the sauce its green color and thick texture.
• Garlic: We're not using a lot of seasonings in this recipe, so garlic is amazing for boosting flavor.
• Olive oil: The zucchini soak up the flavor from the olive oil which gives this zucchini pasta sauce a true Mediterranean flavor. I don't recommend replacing it with another vegetable oil.
• Basil: You will need about 2-3 small containers of basil sprigs or almost an entire potted basil plant from the grocery store for this zucchini sauce recipe. If you have fresh basil basil in your garden that's even better. You can replace part of the basil with cilantro if you'd like.
• Cashew butter: Use 100% pure cashew butter (without added oil, salt, or sugar). It makes the sauce a lot creamier without using heavy cream. Plus, you don't have to soak cashews, it's all ready to use!
• Nutritional yeast: Adds a nice cheesy flavor and is a great plant-based protein source.

Elo's tips

• Caramelize the zucchini. Sauté them over medium-high heat for several minutes until they turn golden and slightly caramelize. This will give your sauce a nice depth of flavor.
• Remove the garlic cloves before blending if you prefer a milder garlic flavor. The sauce is not too garlicky since the cloves have been cooked with the zucchini but you can still remove them if you prefer.
• Be careful when blending hot foods! The steam can build up pressure in the blender and eventually explode. To prevent this from happening, blend for a few seconds, then open the lid to let the steam escape, and repeat. Alternatively, use an immersion blender or a high-speed blender where you can unscrew the top part of the lid.
• Save part of the zucchini instead of blending it all to serve with the pasta.
• Add a plant protein source, such as oven-roasted chickpeas.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Step 1: Garlic & zucchini. Remove the garlic skins and crush the cloves with the flat side of a knife. Wash the zucchini and cut it into bite-sized pieces (the smaller the pieces, the quicker the zucchini will cook).

2. Step 2: Sauté the zucchini. Heat a large pan or skillet with olive oil. Sauté the garlic for 1 minute over medium-high heat until fragrant. Then add in the zucchini and sauté until soft and golden.

Storage tips

• Refrigerate: You can store this vegan zucchini pasta sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Reheating: To reheat the sauce, add a splash of water as the cashew butter will slightly thicken the sauce. Then, toss it with your cooked and drained pasta per usual.