Healthy Green Pasta Sauce

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by Alena Schowalter
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Looking for a healthy, easy and filling dinner? This quick green pasta sauce is super versatile, hearty, and protein-packed.

A good sauce can make or break any meal! Meet our new favorite: quick green pasta sauce made from spinach, arugula, hummus, and a handful of spices.

It’s made in seconds in the blender, works with any pasta, and can be served with any sautéed veggies of your choice.

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Similar to our high-protein pesto pasta, this recipe makes for a creamy, healthy, and satisfying plant-based meal that you can eat over a couple of days and customize to your liking.

It’s a lazy 30-minutes-or-less weeknight dinner, and with a few simple tricks, which we’ll share below, you can even skip a few steps and throw everything together in about 15 minutes!

two hands holding a bowl of cooked pasta with green veggies and sauce

Recipe overview & features 

  • Easy, lazy weeknight dinner
  • Creamy protein-packed hummus sauce
  • Vibrantly green & nutritious
  • Balanced plant-based meal
  • Ready to eat in under 30 minutes
  • Great for meal prep & leftovers

This recipe can be customized to your liking and is suitable for many different ways of eating! Plus, it can be enjoyed hot or cold.

table with different green vegetables which are being chopped on a board
stove with a pot of hot water into which is hand is placing uncooked soba noodles

Ingredients needed

  • Pasta or noodles — we like spaghetti or soba noodles the most for this dish.
  • Green veggies — our recipe uses broccoli, zucchini, asparagus and avocado, but you can pick any other veggies, too. Or simply omit them!
  • Hummus — use store-bought for a super quick meal or follow our directions!
  • Spinach, arugula & spices — the hummus will be transformed, thanks to these, into a deliciously creamy green sauce.

These are the main ingredients for our vegan hummus pasta. Find suggested swaps below!

How to make green pasta sauce

1. Cook your pasta

If you don’t work with leftover cold pasta for this recipe, cook any pasta or noodles (we like spaghetti and soba noodles) according to package directions.

Once they are al-dente, drain and set aside. Be sure to save some of the cooking water!

2. Cook the veggies (optional)

Wash and chop the veggies you want to serve with your green pasta sauce. Sauté them in a medium-sized pan with water or olive oil for around 10 minutes until they are cooked but still a bit crunchy.

Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

top view of blender har with beans, greens and walnut
cast iron skillet with sauteed broccoli and zucchini

3. Make the green sauce

Add all ingredients for the green pasta sauce into a blender and blend until you’ve created a smooth and homogeneous mixture.

Adjust to your taste preference and add a splash of water if you want your sauce to be runnier.

4. Assemble your dish

Divide the cooked pasta, veggies, and green sauce between serving bowls. Garnish with avocado slices, drizzle with lemon juice, and serve warm.

spaghetti, veggies and sauce in bowls next to a pan

Storage & reheating

This plant-based meal works well for meal prep or to use up any leftovers! You can store the components separately or together in a sealed container for 3-5 days in the fridge.

Take it with you for a quick lunch and eat it as a cold noodle salad or warm it up on the stovetop or in the microwave for a short time. You might need to add a splash of water when doing so, as the hummus sauce can thicken up!

You can even freeze the green pasta sauce for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge or at room temperature for a few hours and reheat.

woman in grey shirt holding a bowl of pasta with green veggies and sauce

FAQs & tips

What is green pasta sauce usually made of?

Our recipe is a healthy and nutritious twist on the classic pesto pasta. Pesto is high in oil and calories and can be a bit pricey — this is why we want to share this homemade and protein-packed alternative with you.

Try our oil-free green pesto recipe if you like! We also have 15 pesto recipes on the blog.

Save more time

This recipe works well with any leftover cooked pasta! Just sautée your veggies and add the cold pasta towards the end to warm it up for 1-2 minutes.

If you don’t have a blender, simply add green hummus and drained water to the pot with cooked pasta and veggies. Season to your liking, give it a good stir and enjoy!

Other veggies & spices

This veggie pasta dish tastes excellent with bell pepper, cauliflower, sun-dried tomatoes, grape tomatoes, green beans, peas, or mushrooms.

Add olives, caramelized onions, and some vegan cheese for more flavor!

two serving bowls with homemade green hummus pasta and a spoon

Increase protein & fat

Use legume-based pasta for this recipe, and throw some extra chickpeas, peas, or edamame beans into the pot to increase the protein content of this dish!

Sauté your veggies in olive oil and add extra oil or cashew cream to your hummus sauce to increase the healthy fats.

More easy dinner recipes

If you enjoyed this green pasta sauce recipe, be sure to try some of the following goodness next.

Did you make our hummus pasta and like it? We’d love to read about it, so be sure to leave a review and share it in the comments below. You can also Pin this recipe here!

Healthy Green Pasta Sauce

by Alena Schowalter
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Looking for a healthy, easy and filling dinner? This quick green pasta sauce is super versatile, hearty, and protein-packed.
Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 6 oz soba noodles dry (170 g)
  • 1 medium broccoli head cut into tiny florets
  • 1 medium zucchini diced
  • 1 onion diced
  • 4 asparagus spears chopped
  • ½ avocado cut into slices
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Salt to taste

Green Hummus Sauce

  • ¾ cup hummus 185 g
  • ½ cup pasta water 120 ml
  • ¼ cup walnuts halved (25 g)
  • 1 cup spinach chopped (30 g)
  • 1 cup arugula chopped (20 g)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Cook the soba noodles according to the package instructions. Once they are done, drain and set aside.
  • Meanwhile, heat a non-stick pan and add the broccoli, zucchini, onion and asparagus with a splash of water or olive oil.
  • Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until cooked but still textured. Season with ground black pepper and salt.
  • Add all ingredients for the hummus sauce to a blender and blend to obtain a smooth, vibrant green sauce. Adjust to taste preferences.
  • Divide the noodles, veggies, and sauce evenly between serving bowls. Squeeze lemon for additional brightness. You can leave it unmixed or mix if you prefer. Garnish with avocado slices. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Any leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Enjoy them cold or reheat with a splash of water at your convenience.
  • You can use any pasta or veggies of your choice for this recipe.
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Nutrition Facts
Healthy Green Pasta Sauce
Amount per Serving
Calories
532
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
27
g
42
%
Saturated Fat
 
4
g
25
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
21
g
Sodium
 
426
mg
19
%
Carbohydrates
 
61
g
20
%
Fiber
 
20
g
83
%
Sugar
 
7
g
8
%
Protein
 
26
g
52
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated automatically, their accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Hi, I'm Alena Schowalter — a Certified Vegan Nutritionist who has been a vegetarian since childhood and vegan since 2012. Together with my husband, I founded nutriciously in 2015 and have been guiding thousands of people through different transition stages toward a healthy plant-based diet. I enjoy discussions around vegan ethics, walks through nature, and creating new recipes. Read more about us here.

4 Comments

  1. Hi Alexa, many thanks for this it looks great. I am going to try it but my daughter has a nut allergy so wondered if you could suggest a good alternative to the walnuts.

    Thanks so much,
    Tanya

    Reply
4.75 from 4 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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