Creamy Avocado and Spinach Pasta – a creamy sauce made with avocados, spinach, basil and pecans. A super healthy and delicious pasta dish, eat without guilt.
Avocados seem to be my latest passion. I buy them by the dozen and then put them in everything. Wraps, salads and now pasta dishes. Although some people may be afraid of them because they do have quite a bit of fat, but that doesn’t mean they are bad for you. Quite the opposite.
Benefits of Avocados
Avocados are great for you and they have healthy fats, called monounsaturated fat which reduces levels of bad cholesterol in your blood and lowers your risk of stroke and heart diseases.
If that didn’t convince you, they also have quite a bit of protein, very low sugar and are an excellent source of potassium. But my favorite part of all, 1 medium avocado contains 11 grams of fiber, can you believe that? That’s almost half of the daily recommended minimum intake. So I say one avocado a day keeps the doctor away.
Benefits of Spinach
But why stop there? To make this creamy avocado sauce even healthier for you I added a bunch of spinach. Now we all know the health benefits of spinach, it has high nutritional value and very rich in antioxidants.
But spinach doesn’t stop there. I was just reading about this recently and there have been multiple studies that show that spinach helps combat many cancers, helps boost eye health and has strong anti-ageing properties.
I can go on and on and talk about the benefits of avocados and spinach, but why bother. All you need to know is that not only is this sauce good for you, it tastes freaking amazing.
How to Make Creamy Avocado and Spinach Pasta
It’s like a pesto almost because I added some pecans and a bit of Parmesan cheese too, but no oil whatsoever because you don’t need it. You get all the creaminess from that great avocado. This sauce should be bottled and sold, it’s money.
I have to think of more ways to use this because it’s simply amazing. It’s crazy good. As I was eating this I was thinking I should feel guilty because here I am eating a bowl of creamy pasta, but I had to keep reminding myself that it’s good for me. But it felt so bad. But it was so good.
To make this even better you could use gluten free pasta or whole wheat pasta, whatever you wish.
I also love the bright green color of this sauce, it’s so purrty. I just love the color green in my food. It looks healthy. It is healthy. Of course if you were to skip the spinach, you might not get that bright green color, so the spinach definitely helps.
The best thing about this pasta dish is that the only cooking required is for you to boil the pasta. The rest, my friends, no cooking required. All you need is a blender and a bowl.
Needless to say it’s all gone and now writing this post and looking at these pictures I wish that I still had a bowl of this so I can stuff my face with it. It’s a bowl of health. Totally delish and super good for you.
How to Store Leftovers for Creamy Avocado and Spinach Pasta
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 day, but keep in mind that because of the avocado pesto, it will change color and might turn brownish.
Can I Use Any Other Types of Nuts
Yes you can, but you will need some sort of nuts in this sauce. You can use pine nuts, walnuts, pistachios or almonds.
Another similar pasta you can try is this Arugula and Walnut Pesto Pasta.
Craving More Pasta Recipes? Try These:
- Pesto Shrimp Asparagus Pasta
- Pasta Alla Vodka
- Chicken Pesto Caprese Pasta
- Spinach Artichoke Pasta
- Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
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Creamy Avocado and Spinach Pasta
Ingredients
- 10 oz spaghetti dry, or fettuccine, I used semolina pasta
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 avocado
- 1 cup spinach fresh
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 1/4 cup basil
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 3/4 to 1 cup pasta water
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta: Cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
- Make the avocado sauce: Add the rest of the ingredients to your blender and blend until it turns into a smooth sauce. Start with 3/4 cup of pasta water and add more as needed to get the consistency you want.
- Assemble: Toss the pasta with the sauce in a bowl and serve immediately. This sauce is best served the day it is made, as it uses avocados which will turn a brownish color.
I enjoyed the recipe. Made a few Italian changes… Used pine nuts instead of pecans. And of course more garlic. Very nice and simple to make. Used food processor. Served with Bucatini. Mangia.
The recipe looks delicious, definitely making this! Is it fresh basil or dried basil? If it’s fresh basil, do you have any suggested alternatives?
That’s fresh basil. You could use dry basil, about 1 tbsp.
This is the definition of comfort food, except it’s healthy.
This has become one of my family favorites–and I am not easy to please–Great!
Very delicious! My Husband hates eating veggies but this receipe was a major plus! I absolutely love it
Amazing sauce!!!
Delicious! I didn’t have basil so I just used some italian seasoning and it was still tasty. I did cook it on medium for about five minutes, just to get the bite of the raw garlic off.
So so good! I am pregnant and currently craving primarily avocado and pasta. I almost cried eating this it was so good.
This is the best comment ever! Congratulations, and we’re glad we could help satisfy those cravings 🙂
Excellent recipe. I’m making this over and over again!
So good! I left out the cheese and it was still so creamy.
will using frozen spinach in place of fresh spinach be OK? or will it be too watery?
You can, just ring it out really well to get rid of all the excess moisture! You’ll have to thaw it out first, of course.
Easy and excellent, a real keeper! It is mild, however so we punched it up with more lemon, garlic, and Parmesan cheese on top. We even sprinkled a little cayenne on top, but I don’t think that was the right addition. We used black bean pasta (25 grams of protein per 2 ounces!) and I only had salted almonds on hand and they worked fine.
This is a really delicious and quick pasta sauce recipe! kudos!
Do you think the sauce would work on spaghetti squash? Or is the sauce and pasta just meant to be? hehe
You can give it a try! Should be delicious.