Avocado Pasta

Avocado pasta is my favorite super fast dinner when I get home late from work. The entire sauce comes together in the blender, and all you have to do is boil water for the pasta. It's creamy, delicious, and loaded with vegetables. The whole family will love this 15 minute dinner.

We should talk about the recipe I make the most from my own site. It's this creamy avocado pasta, and I make it at least once a week!

It's my go-to fast weeknight meal that my kids love! For the kids, I admit, that they pick out the cherry tomatoes, so I usually stir in some corn for their plates. My oldest daughter will eat cherry tomatoes on the side, but she will NOT eat them if they're touching anything else. Kids are fun, you know?

I always buy a small bag of avocados every week at the grocery store, and then, I promptly forget about them in the pantry. The day I discover them, they're ripe and need to be used immediately. So, enter this avocado pasta where the sauce is entirely no-cook, and made in the blender in seconds! All I have to do is boil the water, slice some cherry tomatoes (always optional), and I have a dinner that's full of vegetables on my table.

I have always encourage my kids to eat avocados from a young age (even in my baby food ebook), because they're loaded with vitamin K, folate, vitamin E and they contain healthy fats. If your kids are new to avocados (or 'avos' as we call them in our house), pureeing them for this avocado pasta is a great way to introduce them!

Ingredients:

Avocado. For this recipe, you need 3 small avocados or 1 very large avocado. The avocado should be perfectly ripe. It will be soft when you gently squeeze it, and if you remove the stem button, you will see bright green underneath. 

Olive Oil. Since we're not cooking this avocado pasta sauce, extra virgin olive oil is best here. The flavor will shine.

Lemon Juice. Freshly squeezed lemon juice is best.

Parmesan Cheese. I'm often cooking for my vegan husband, so I wanted to mention that you can omit the Parmesan or make a vegan Parm by blending cashews and nutritional yeast together in a high-speed blender.

Fettuccini Pasta Noodles. Any kind of noodles will work; sometimes, for my kids I make mini shells.

Salt and Pepper.

How to make avocado pasta sauce:

1. Gather your ingredients: one super ripe avocado, olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, pasta and salt and pepper. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for cooking the pasta. Salt the pasta water generously before adding the noodles, and cook following the package directions.
   
   2. In a blender, combine the ripe avocado (halved and pitted), olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
   
2. Puree the sauce until very smooth, adding more lemon juice or a small splash of olive oil, if needed.
   
3. Once the avocado sauce is smooth, chop the tomatoes in half. Drain the pasta, and toss the sauce with the pasta. Stir in the tomatoes and serve.

How to keep this avocado pasta sauce from turning brown:

So, the unfortunate part about cooking with avocados is that they turn brown when exposed to air. There is a bit of lemon juice in this pasta, so the reactions happens slower than normal. However, after storing any leftovers overnight, the sauce will be a darker green. It's still completely fine to eat, though.
If you want to make this pasta to serve later, toss the freshly cooked noodles with some olive oil and the cherry tomatoes. Pour the sauce into an airtight container, add a light layer of olive oil on top to prevent browning, and then a layer of plastic wrap. Toss the sauce with the pasta just before serving.

Can you reheat this?

Yes, refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container quickly (to delay browning) and then reheat gently in saucepan over low heat. To make this for meal prep, store the noodles and cherry tomatoes tossed in olive oil separate from the sauce. Toss everything together just before serving.

Other avocado recipes:

• Avocado Chicken Salad
• Bacon Chicken with Guacamole

Yield: 2

Avocado Pasta

Print

Creamy avocado pasta with cherry tomatoes.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

• ½ pound Fettuccine, dry
• 1 Avocado, large, very ripe and pitted
• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
• ½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and gather the ingredients to make the avocado pasta sauce.
2. Add the pasta to the pot and cook until al dente, or according to the package instructions. Do not drain the water after cooking — you need the cooking water for the sauce.
3. Meanwhile, in a blender, place the avocado halves, olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
4. Pulse briefly to combine, and then stream in ½ - ¾ cup of the pasta cooking water until a smooth, creamy sauce forms. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed.
5. Combine the pasta and avocado sauce and serve with the sliced cherry tomatoes and extra Parmesan on top.

Notes

Avocado: For this recipe, you need 3 small avocados or 1 very large avocado. The avocado should be perfectly ripe. It will be soft when you gently squeeze it, and if you remove the stem button, you will see bright green underneath. 
Olive Oil: Since we're not cooking this avocado pasta sauce, extra virgin olive oil is best here. The flavor will shine.
Lemon Juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice is best.
Parmesan Cheese: I'm often cooking for my vegan husband, so I wanted to mention that you can omit the Parmesan or make a vegan Parm by blending cashews and nutritional yeast together in a high-speed blender.
Fettuccini Pasta Noodles: Any kind of noodles will work; sometimes, for my kids I make mini shells.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 763Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 760mgCarbohydrates: 101gFiber: 12gSugar: 6gProtein: 25g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram