Vegan Pasta Primavera with fresh spring vegetables and a creamy dairy-free sauce tastes fresh and light, yet is so comforting. Whip it up for a meatless meal any time the craving for lemony creamy pasta strikes!
Pasta primavera is one of those magical dishes that can easily be a catchall for any vegetables that are hanging out in the refrigerator.
Looking for a light meal, side dish, or a caravan by which to get loads of colorful vegetables in your life?
Let pasta primavera be your shining light.
What is Pasta Primavera?:
While pasta primavera has an Italian ring to it, it was actually invented in the U.S. by a chef in New York City and is actually an American dish.
The fresh and fun creamy pasta is traditionally loaded with fresh spring vegetables and a delightful lemon cream sauce. Originally the sauce was made using cream cheese but was adapted to involve cream and parmesan cheese.
In keeping with the fresh vegetable theme, we’re using a variety of delicious snappy veggies, such as asparagus, red bell peppers, zucchini, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and peas.
You can mix it up by using your favorite vegetables. Broccoli, green beans, yellow squash, carrots, spinach, snap peas, and mushrooms are customary in pasta primavera as well!
Rather than using a dairy-based creamy sauce with heavy cream, we’re using a can of full-fat coconut milk, lemon juice and lemon zest for the sauce in this vegan pasta primavera recipe.
I’ve employed full-fat coconut milk to take the place of cream in many past recipes, including my Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Ground Beef Stroganoff, Easy Lemon Garlic Shrimp Pasta, 30-Minute Creamy Mushroom Chicken, Creamy Crock Pot Pork Chops with Potatoes and Mushrooms, and more!
Pasta Primavera Ingredients:
Pasta Noodles: Pick any shape of pasta noodle you love! One of the fun things about pasta primavera is there are no hard and fast rules about the type of pasta or add-ins you can use. I use gluten-free penne pasta noodles because I just love how well penne noodles absorb sauce, but everything from angel hair pasta, spaghetti, to bow tie pasta, rigatoni, macaroni, and more will work!
Vegetables: Almost any combination of fresh veggies will work for pasta primavera! Most commonly, spring and summer fresh vegetables are incorporated into the tasty dish. This particular recipe incorporates asparagus, bell pepper, onion, garlic, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and peas. Mix and match your favorite vegetables to keep it fresh!
Sauce: Full-fat canned coconut milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice are the basic ingredients needed for this dairy-free primavera sauce.
Fun Additions: Fresh basil and red pepper flakes bring a lovely herb infusion and a hint of heat to the pasta. Feel free to skip either or both if you’re not into it.
You can also add goodies like artichoke hearts, fresh herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, feta cheese, garlic powder, or kalamata olives to step up the flavor profile.
If you aren’t vegan or dairy-free, you can stir ½ cup to 1 cup of fresh grated parmesan cheese into the sauce for a cheesy flavor and silky gooey texture. As an alternative you can add up to 1 cup of feta cheese for an amazing tang.
To make this a protein-infused balanced meal, chop up chicken breasts and add them in when sautéing the vegetables, or serve the dish with rotisserie chicken.
That’s it for the simple creamy pasta primavera ingredients! Let’s go ahead and make this spring pasta!
How to Make Pasta Primavera:
Cook the Pasta: Prepare the pasta noodles according to the package instructions (I always cook mine 1 or 2 minutes less than directed for al dente noodles) in a large pot of water. Once cooked, drain pasta and set it aside until ready to use.
Sauté the Veggies: While the noodles are cooking, sauté the vegetables. To do so, add some cooking oil (I use avocado oil but olive oil works too) to a large 12-inch skillet and heat over medium-high. Add all of the vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally for a couple of minutes, or until they have softened slightly.
Pour in the coconut milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and sea salt and bring everything to a full boil. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly. You can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of gluten-free all-purpose flour or tapioca flour to help thicken the sauce.
Mix it All Together: Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add everything back to the pot you used for cooking the pasta and stir well until combined.
Note that the sauce will thicken further as the pasta sits, so don’t worry if it appears too thin. Taste the pasta for flavor and add more sea salt, lemon juice, or black pepper to taste.
Serve this vegan gluten-free pasta primavera with any choice of side dishes or as is.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
That’s it! Everything you need to know about cooking fresh and easy pasta primavera. Perfect for easy weeknight meals for the whole family.
Looking for more easy pasta recipes? These are some reader favorites!
More Healthy Pasta Recipes:
- Italian Pasta Salad
- Baked Feta Pasta
- Mediterranean Shrimp Pasta
- Rigatoni Pasta with Bolognese Sauce
- Chicken Sausage Pesto Pasta
- 30-Minute Sausage Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
Fresh veggie pasta coming right up!
Ingredients
- 12 ounces gluten-free pasta noodles*
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper
- 8 ounces asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
- 1 medium-sized zucchini
- ½ cup yellow onion, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup green peas
- 1 15-oz can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 lemons, zested
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ¾ tsp sea salt, to taste
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 1 Tbsp gluten-free all-purpose flour, optional**
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta noodles according to the package instructions (I always cook mine 1 or 2 minutes less than directed for al dente noodles) in a large pot of water. Once cooked, drain pasta and set it aside until ready to use.
- While the noodles are cooking, sauté the vegetables. To do so, add some cooking oil (I use avocado oil but olive oil works too) to a large 12-inch skillet and heat over medium-high. Add all of the vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally for a couple of minutes, or until they have softened slightly.
- Pour in the coconut milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and sea salt and bring everything to a full boil. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly.
- You can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of gluten-free all-purpose flour or tapioca flour to help thicken the sauce.
- Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add everything back to the pot you used for cooking the pasta and stir well until combined.
- Note that the sauce will thicken further as the pasta sits, so don’t worry if it appears too thin. Taste the pasta for flavor and add more sea salt, lemon juice, or black pepper to taste. Serve this vegan gluten-free pasta primavera with any choice of side dishes or as is.
Notes
Nutrition
Samantha
Tuesday 26th of April 2022
Oooo I think this will be a dinner this week!!! Yum! We love making cream based sauces with coconut milk. So velvety!!
Julia
Tuesday 26th of April 2022
So happy you like the idea of it! I just love how flavorful yet light the pasta is :)
Daniela
Tuesday 26th of April 2022
What can I replace the coconut milk with?
Julia
Tuesday 26th of April 2022
Hi Daniela,
Samantha's advice for cashew milk is good - you may need to add some extra flour to get it to thicken up. As an alternative, you could make my creamy cauliflower sauce: https://www.theroastedroot.net/creamy-cauliflower-sauce-paleo-keto-whole30/ Let me know what you end up trying!
Samantha
Tuesday 26th of April 2022
@Daniela, Cashew milk? I can't have it but my husband uses it as his cream replacement in coffee and often people use it as their preferred alternative to coconut milk. Or just their preferred alternative in general because it's creamy and less of a taste than coconut milk.