Vegan Pasta with Vegetables (Primavera)
This delicious vegetable pasta dish is vegan, oil-free, and so super quick and easy to make that it makes the weekly rotation at our house all summer long! It can even be made with gluten-free pasta.
Vegan pasta primavera is a perfect dish for cleaning out your fridge and using up those veggies that are about to go bad. I like to use a medley of colorful produce, but my staples are always bell peppers and onions. There are times when these are the only two ingredients that make it into the dish and it’s still wonderful and satisfying!
During the summer months, with the vast variety of garden and seasonal vegetables available, I never make it the same twice!
The homemade vegan parmesan used in this recipe is a secret ingredient that can be used in lots of other dishes and even veggie pizza.
Is pasta vegan?
Most pasta that you find on grocery store shelves is completely vegan. Common vegan pasta varieties include spaghetti, fettuccine, elbow, and others, and they are usually 100% vegan, but check labels for ingredients just to be sure.
However, some kinds of fresh pasta or the ones in the refrigerator section of stores do contain eggs. That’s why it is important to read labels.
What is pasta primavera?
Primavera is the Italian word for “spring,” and this primavera pasta with veggies is spring-fresh deliciousness!
Pasta primavera is simply a roasted veggie pasta or vegetable spaghetti. Made with fresh, colorful, garden produce that is roasted and tossed into a bed of pasta, it’s the perfect light dish for spring and hot summer afternoons when you don’t want anything heavy.
Ingredients needed to make vegan pasta salad
These simple plant-based ingredients are all that you need to make vegan pasta salad in your own kitchen.
- Pasta- Use any vegan pasta you prefer from spaghetti to bow tie varieties.
- Vegetable broth– It’s really easy to make your own broth from veggie scraps if you want to give it a try.
- Veggies- We include vegetables like bell pepper, onions, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil. Other options include mushrooms, broccoli, squash, zucchini, snow peas, and shelled edamame.
- Seasonings- Simple dry spices include Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Other seasonings are lemon juice and veggie broth.
- Vegan parmesan- We’ve included an easy homemade vegan parmesan recipe that takes about 5 minutes to make and is great to keep on hand for other dishes.
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
Types of pasta to use
Dress up this light dish with different pasta options! The myriad of pasta variations to choose from will ensure you never get bored with this recipe. Any shape, color, or size works well. These are some of our favorites.
- Spaghetti
- Angel hair pasta
- Bow tie pasta
- Penne
- Rotini
- Farfalle
Gluten-free pasta options
For those avoiding gluten, try using brown rice noodles, chickpea pasta, or even zucchini noodles which are also known as zoodles. There are numerous other wheat-free pasta options available in many grocery stores.
How to make vegan pasta with veggies
You will want to begin by making the homemade vegan parmesan which is super easy. Simply add all of the parmesan ingredients to your blender and PULSE until the texture is a fine meal perfect for sprinkling on spaghetti and lasagna. Set it to the side while preparing the other ingredients.
Preheat your oven to 450°F to get it ready to roast the veggies.
Wash and slice the veggies you plan to use. For me, green bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and purple onions are always on the list. Other options might include mushrooms, broccoli florets, squash, zucchini, snow peas, and shelled edamame.
Toss the prepped vegetables, except for the tomatoes and basil, into a large bowl. Add the vegetable broth, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic to the bowl.
Thoroughly coat the veggies with the seasoning mix and then spread them out thinly on a baking sheet. I use a silicone baking mat to roast the veggies without oil, or you can use parchment paper if you don’t have a mat. Be sure to spread them out evenly, we want them in direct contact with the heat of the pan so that they will crisp up a little around the edges.
Once the veggies are coated, pop them into the preheated oven and roast for 20 minutes or until tender with slightly caramelized edges.
While the veggies are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta in salted water according to the package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the water from the pasta before draining.
When the pasta is cooked and drained, add it back to the now empty pasta pot and begin adding in the reserved pasta water, roasted vegetables, cherry tomatoes, and half of the vegan parmesan cheese.
Drizzle in the lemon juice and add basil and give one more toss. Add the remaining vegan parmesan cheese to the top before serving. Vegetable primavera is great served hot or cold!
Tips and shortcuts
- Most supermarkets carry fresh chopped fajita veggies like tri-color peppers and sliced onions in the frozen section which work really well in this recipe and save you from needing to chop vegetables.
- Looking to mix things up and turn an ordinary primavera pasta recipe into something fun? Use traditional spaghetti or angel hair pasta and, because the veggies are sliced into long strips, you can eat your veggie spaghetti with chopsticks. Perfect for a summer picnic basket at the park!
More vegetable pasta recipes
For those of you new to the whole food plant-based lifestyle, we’ve created a FREE 7-Day Plant-Based Menu Planner to help you get started!
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Vegan Pasta Primavera
Ingredients
- 1 cup 8 oz uncooked vegan pasta of choice
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 medium purple onion sliced into strips
- 1 green bell pepper sliced into thin strips (or red, yellow, orange)
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup reserved starchy pasta water
- 1/4 cup vegan parmesan recipe included and linked
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Vegan Parmesan
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Begin by making the super easyparmesan recipe . Add all of the parmesan ingredients to your blender and PULSE until the texture is fine and powdery. This recipe makes more than you need, so save the rest for sprinkling on spaghetti and other dishes. Set it to the side while preparing the other ingredients.
- Preheat your oven to 450°F to get it ready to roast the veggies.
- Wash and slice the veggies you plan to use. For me, green bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and purple onions are always on the list. Other options might include mushrooms, broccoli florets, squash, zucchini, snow peas, and shelled edamame.
- Toss the prepped vegetables, except for the tomatoes (unless you want to roast the tomatoes too) and basil, into a large bowl. Add the vegetable broth, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic to the bowl.
- Thoroughly coat the veggies with the seasoning mix and then spread them out thinly on a baking sheet. I use a silicone baking mat to roast the veggies without oil, or you can use if you don’t have a mat. Be sure to spread them out evenly, we want them in direct contact with the heat of the pan so that they will crisp up a little around the edges.
- Once the veggies are coated, pop them into the preheated oven and roast for 20 minutes or until tender with slightly caramelized edges.
- While the veggies are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta in salted water according to the package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the water from the pasta before draining.
- When the pasta is cooked and drained, add it back to the now empty pasta pot and begin adding in the reserved pasta water, roasted vegetables, cherry tomatoes, and half of the vegan parmesan cheese.
- Drizzle in the lemon juice and add basil and give one more toss. Add the remaining vegan parmesan cheese to the top before serving. Vegetable primavera is great served hot or cold!
Video
Notes
- Most supermarkets carry fresh chopped fajita veggies like tri-color peppers and sliced onions in the frozen section which work really well in this recipe and save you from needing to chop vegetables.
- Looking to mix things up and turn an ordinary primavera pasta recipe into something fun? Use traditional spaghetti or angel hair pasta and, because the veggies are sliced into long strips, you can eat your veggie spaghetti with chopsticks. Perfect for a summer picnic basket at the park!
Nutrition
Disclaimer
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
About the Chef
Drenda-Michell Brennan lived in Japan in the 1990s and learned many traditional Asian cooking methods. She is the mother of 3 Japanese-American grown children and grandmother (HuneyGram) to 8 grandchildren. She also happens to be the sister of Terri Edwards, of EatPlant-Based. Read more about her story in this article, From Veggie Hater to Plant-Based.
Delicious! We both loved it and made it as written except that we left out the salt, and at the end of the noodles cooking, we added chopped broccoli for a minute or two.
Hi there Valerie- My sister is going to love to hear that you liked her recipe! What a great idea to include broccoli, I love it!!