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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
Looking for a healthy, easy and filling dinner? This quick green pasta sauce is super versatile, hearty, and protein-packed.
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
- 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, vibrantly 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.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: ⅓ recipeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 532Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 426mgCarbohydrates: 61gFiber: 20gSugar: 7gProtein: 26g
Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated automatically, their accuracy is not guaranteed. Just focus on whole plant-based foods and eat until satiety!
Alena Schowalter is a Certified Vegan Nutritionist who has been a vegetarian since childhood and vegan since 2012. Together with her husband, she founded nutriciously in 2015 and has been guiding thousands of people through different transition stages towards a healthy plant-based diet. She’s received training in the fields of nutrition, music therapy and social work. Alena enjoys discussions around vegan ethics, walks through nature and creating new recipes.
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
sure, thanks for the question! Use sunflower seeds instead of walnuts to make it nut-free :) Let us know how your family likes the recipe!
Oh great idea, thanks so much I am making it this week so will let you know :)
Sorry Alena, auto correct on your name in my post!