This post contains affiliate links.
With over 50 five-star reviews, this zucchini pasta with avocado pesto is a well-tested and delicious low-carb alternative to spaghetti. Feel free to use store-bought zucchini noodles for an even quicker and simpler recipe.
save this recipe!Many families turn to pasta on busy nights. While we love wheat noodles as much as the next person, zucchini is soft enough to cut into the perfect spirals, and its neutral flavor makes it great as a pasta substitute!
This zucchini pasta is topped with a creamy avocado sauce with basil and lemon. It’s a true celebration of garden flavors. After making this so many times, I can confirm it works equally well with store-bought zoodles as it does with homemade ones.
Reader rating
“Just made it for my family and it was waaaaay better than I could have imagined! So delicious and creamy (not to mention healthy!)” —Namita
Here’s what you’ll need
- For The Pesto: You’ll need an avocado, garlic, fresh basil, olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Readers have had great success using dried basil and whole lemon slices cooked in the sauce and then removed. You might also need water to thin out the sauce.
- Zucchini: Any large zucchini variety works well. These get sauteed in a bit of olive until bright green.
to make zoodles
The easiest way to make zucchini noodles is with a spiralizer. If you don’t have a vegetable spiralizer, simply cut the zucchini into ¼-inch wide strips or peel into thin “fettuccini” using a vegetable peeler.
let’s make zucchini pasta
- Make the pesto in a food processor, adding water 1 tbsp at a time until it comes to a fluid yet thick consistency.
- Prepare the zucchini noodles by sauteing them in a splash of olive oil. Drain any excess water.
- Combine the noodles and sauce and then top with a bit of parmesan cheese for serving.
why not boil zucchini noodles?
While you would usually boil pasta, don’t go that route here! Boiling zucchini leaches out water-soluble vitamins (vitamin C and B6 in the case of zucchini). Instead, saute the zucchini noodles on the stove with a touch of olive oil until they are soft.
alternative sauce options
I love this creamy avocado sauce, but here are a few other options.
- Romesco is simple to make at home so if you have extra, toss it with zoodles.
- Marinara can be made with fresh tomatoes or bought in-store for a quick dinner.
- Traditional pesto uses a similar technique to this avocado pesto but with parmesan for creaminess.
Creamy Avocado Zucchini Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 avocado, ripe
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 15 mL
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 30 mL
- Water as needed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 zucchinis, spiralized or cut into ¼ inch wide strips
Instructions
- Pesto: In a food processor or blender, combine avocado, garlic, basil leaves and lemon juice until smooth, then mix in extra virgin olive oil. Add water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until sauce reaches a fluid yet thick consistency. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Zucchini Noodles: Saute zoodles with a splash of olive oil over medium/high heat until slightly soft and bright green, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain excess water.
- Serve: Toss zoodles with sauce and top with parmesan cheese (you may not need all of the sauce).
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
Yum, yum, yummo…this was so good! I had some cherry tomatoes that I sauteed along with the zoodles and threw a handfull of walnuts into the pesto. So GOOD!!
YUM! Your additions all sounds so great!! Happy you liked it, Kim! 😀
I am trying to eat better and lose weight and incorporate foods like avocado. I love zucchini and I haven’t been the biggest fan of avocado but this recipe looked promising so I decided to give it a try. This is hands down the most amazing, delicious recipe I’ve ever tried (and I’ve tried them all lol). It’s like 9 PM and freezing and I want to buy more avocado from the store. I ate it with brown rice and salmon and I know this recipe is going to be a weekly thing for me. Thank you so very much for taking the time to post this!!
Ah, so happy to hear you like it, Arista!! 😀
Amazing recipe, but was too much garlic for me jjj Next time i will try without <3
Thanks for the tip, Camila! 😀
Hi, If I wanted to add nuts into this recipe, how many should I add?
Hi Emily! If you’re adding nuts to the pesto, add about 1/4 cup. You could also sprinkle a similar amount of nuts over the finished pasta (almonds would be great!)
O-M-G!!! This was INCREDIBLE!!! It was my first experience using a spiralizer/eating zoodles and it couldn’t have gone more smoothly. Thank you so much for sharing! This is definitely a new favorite!
YAY! So happy to hear!! 😀
This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing.
This recipe was amazing and so delicious! I had to triple the recipe the second time I made it because we ate so much of it. Thanks Sarah for sharing!
Yay! So happy to hear Jessica!! 😀
Where does the sugar come from?
Hi Ashley! There is a very small amount of natural sugar in zucchini, which is where the sugar in this recipe is coming from 🙂
Avacado Pesto!!! Great idea. I can imagine the avacado makes it creamy and stays on the “pasta” better. Totally trying this
Yesss it makes this so creamy! Enjoy! 😀
Thank you for the nice new recipe, I have tried it!
You’re very welcome! 😀