One-Pot Pasta Primavera with Walnut Sauce (Vegan)

Pasta Primavera is a pasta dish with spring vegetables. This one-pot vegan version features a nutrient-dense walnut sauce and loads of fresh vegetables, making it a filling and healthy meal that’s quick to make and low in dirty dishes!

I love a meal packed with delicious vegetables. It’s a great way use up garden harvest or leftover vegetables in your fridge drawer. You can customize the vegetables you use in this dish (add in asparagus, green beans, carrots, peas!), but I’ve listed the ones I love to use.  Here are all the vegetables going into the pot!

What’s with the Walnuts in the Sauce?!

A typical pasta primavera sauce is made with cream, butter and parmesan cheese. Here, we’re using nature’s fat instead, which is bursting with brain-beneficial fatty acids. Animal products like dairy build up plaque in the arteries, and walnuts actually break it down and reduce it! Dairy has been correlated with inflammation, and walnuts are anti-inflammatory! They are just so powerful. While they are high in calories and fat and too many can inhibit weight loss, they are such a nutritional powerhouse that I don’t recommend avoiding them completely.

How to Make One-Pot Vegan Pasta Primavera

Bring a pot of water to boil, and add the pasta of choice. Before it is done cooking, add the vegetables and them cook with the pasta.

Drain it all together in one fell swoop!

Meanwhile, blend the sauce ingredients in the blender until smooth. Heat the sauce in the now-empty sauce briefly, then stir the pasta and vegetables in. Add fresh chopped tomatoes. Voila!

More Pasta Recipes

Easy Dump and Bake Vegan Pasta

Plant-Based Parmesan Pasta

Vegan Greek Pasta Salad

Creamy Chipotle Pasta (Cheesecake Factory Copycat)

Southwest Pasta Salad

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Pasta Primavera with Walnut Sauce (Vegan)

This one-pot meal is packed with vegetables and a nutrient-dense, healing sauce! All very fresh and flavorful, and easy to make!

Course dinner

Keyword pasta, pasta primavera, vegan pasta, wfpb, whole food plant based

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Author Faith Ralphs

Ingredients

Sauce

• 1.5 cups water
• 1.5 cups raw walnut pieces
• 1 tsp vegetable bouillion paste
• 1/3 cup packed cilantro, parsely, or basil (choose your favorite)
• 3 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp garlic, chopped
• 2 tsp chili garlic paste (such as Sambal Oelek), this is not a spicy amount--add more for heat
• 1/2 tsp salt (more to taste)

Pasta and Vegetables

• 16 ounces whole wheat or legume pasta, such as ravioli or penne
• 3 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 8 oz package mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• 1 small zucchini, sliced lengthwise then chopped
• 1 small yellow squash, sliced lengthwise then chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Instructions

• Combine the sauce ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to boil while you chop the vegetables.
• Add the pasta to the boiling water and set timer for 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and peppers and set timer for another 4 minutes, then add mushrooms, zucchini and squash and boil 2 minutes more. Drain all together and leave in the colandar in the sink.
• To the now empty pot, pour in the sauce from the blender. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat and let it bubble for a minute or two to cook the garlic, then add the pasta and vegetables back in. Stir to coat. The sauce will thicken quickly and be absorbed by the pasta.
• Add additional salt, pepper, and even red pepper flakes as desired.