Dinner, Gluten-free, Oil-free

Dairy-Free Basil Pesto Pasta

dairy-free basil pesto pasta vegan creamy recipe cashews

This dairy-free basil pesto pasta is completely plant-based and made cashews for creaminess! This sauce is easy to make, packed with nutrients, oil-free, and absolutely delicious. It comes together in less than 20 minutes and will become one of your new favourite pasta sauces!

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 12 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 2 generous handfuls of basil leaves
  • 3/4 cup roasted unsalted cashews
  • 1 lemon (about 2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice)
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 3/4 cup oat milk (or other non-dairy milk)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
  • 200-250g pasta (or gluten-free pasta)

Equipment

  • Blender
  • Large pot

Instructions

  1. Boil water for pasta and cook pasta according to package directions.
  2. Wash the cherry tomatoes and cut them each in half.
  3. Peel garlic cloves.
  4. Microwave oat milk in a glass measuring cup or bowl for about 40 seconds on high (the warm milk will make the creamy basil sauce a warmer temperature).
  5. The sauce will only take a few minutes to prepare, so I recommend blending only a few minutes before the pasta is ready. In a blender, add the basil leaves, cashews, juice from 1 lemon, minced garlic, nutritional yeast, oat milk and salt. Blend until smooth and creamy, adding a dash more oat milk if needed.
  6. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and then mix the creamy sauce into the pasta.
  7. Mix in about half of the cherry tomatoes, keeping the other half as a topping.
  8. Enjoy immediately!

Notes

*For a nut-free version of this pesto pasta, substitute sunflower seeds for cashews in the sauce.

*Depending on the strength of your blender, you may need to soak cashews in boiling water before blending. I find the best blender for cashews is a bullet blender!

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New recipe e-book with 60+ plant-based recipes by Minaëlle’s Kitchen! This cookbook has one goal: to help you include more delicious plant-based dishes in your diet.

vegan recipe cookbook ebook minaelles kitchen plant-based plate

My e-Cookbook: The Plant-Based Plate

New recipe e-book with 60+ plant-based recipes by Minaëlle’s Kitchen! This cookbook has one goal: to help you include more delicious plant-based dishes in your diet.

My e-Cookbook: The Plant-Based Plate

New recipe e-book with 60+ plant-based recipes by Minaëlle’s Kitchen! This cookbook has one goal: to help you include more delicious plant-based dishes in your diet.

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Minaëlle

plant-based recipe developer

Welcome to my kitchen! My name is Minaëlle and I am a plant-based recipe developer from Canada. I share easy, healthy, and tasty plant-based recipes to help you eat more plants!

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