Creamy Vegan Spinach Pasta Recipe for Weeknight Dinners

A delicious vegan creamy spinach pasta sauce that hides plenty of goodness. It takes only minutes to make this healthy pasta sauce in a blender, and you can use frozen spinach and storecupboard ingredients — the perfect quick recipe for when plans fall through and the fridge looks bare. The kids love it too.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

This vegan creamy spinach pasta is the reliable dinner you reach for after a busy day, when everyone is hungry and you haven’t had time to plan. It’s quick to prepare, uses staple ingredients and tastes comforting — a simple family favourite.

• Super speedy and easy to make — the longest wait is for the pasta water to boil.
• Uses pantry and freezer staples — frozen spinach, vegan cream cheese and vegetable stock make this convenient to keep on hand.
• Healthy and balanced — a quick meal with carbohydrates from pasta, plant-based protein from vegan cream cheese (or cashews) and vitamins and iron from spinach.

The recipe requires minimal washing up and can be ready in a few minutes. If your children are anything like mine, they’ll happily dig in — especially when dinner appears quickly, before snacks spoil appetites.

Nutrition

As fast meals go, this creamy spinach pasta is nutritious. It provides energy from pasta, plant-based protein from vegan cream cheese or cashews, and vitamins and iron from the spinach and stock. It’s a satisfying, quick option when you want a balanced meal without fuss.

Frozen Vegetables

Frozen vegetables are an excellent, nutritious alternative to fresh. Because they’re frozen soon after harvest, many nutrients are preserved. Frozen spinach is especially useful — it’s versatile and ready to add straight from the freezer to smoothies, sauces, casseroles or curries.

Main Ingredients

• Gluten-free pasta — choose shapes with nooks and crannies (shells or fusilli work well) so the sauce clings to the pasta.
• Frozen spinach — use the chopped spinach variety and add it frozen.
• Vegan cream cheese — plain or herby varieties both work well.
• Vegetable stock — water works too, but stock adds flavour; a teaspoon of stock powder is handy.
• Sweet white miso paste (optional) — adds depth and a mild fermented note if you have it on hand.
• Seasonings — garlic powder, a grating of nutmeg, salt and pepper. If you use herby cream cheese you can skip the garlic powder.

Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full ingredient list and quantities.

Basic Instructions

This is a very quick and straightforward dish:

• Boil the pasta in salted water until cooked, then drain.
• While the pasta cooks, blend the remaining sauce ingredients until smooth.
• Return the drained pasta to the pan, pour in the sauce and stir to combine.
• Gently warm the pasta and sauce together over low heat for a couple of minutes, then serve.

This is a summary only — see the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for full step-by-step instructions.

Serving suggestions

This pasta is delicious topped with a sprinkle of nutty “parmesan” made from nuts, nutritional yeast and seasonings, which you can make quickly in the blender. Prepare a batch ahead of time so you can use it for several meals. Grated vegan cheese is a fine alternative.

For extra umami try a light dusting of dried seaweed flakes or sesame gomasio (crushed sesame seeds and salt). To add more vegetables, toss in chopped broccoli for the last few minutes of cooking.

Leftovers

Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge. When reheating, add a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce, as the pasta will have absorbed some liquid.

📖 Recipe 📖

Quick Vegan Creamy Spinach Pasta

A creamy pasta dish that hides leafy spinach and is made in minutes from freezer and storecupboard staples.

Prep Time
2 mins

Cook Time
8 mins

Total Time
8 mins

Servings: 4

Author: Camilla Sanderson

Ingredients

• 240 g gluten-free pasta
• 160 g frozen spinach
• 120 ml vegetable stock or water
• 160 g vegan cream cheese (plain or herby)
• 1 tablespoon sweet white miso paste (optional)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• Grating of nutmeg
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente, then drain.
2. Meanwhile, blend the spinach, stock (or water), vegan cream cheese, miso (if using), garlic powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper until smooth.
3. Return the drained pasta to the pan, pour in the sauce and stir to combine.
4. Gently warm on low heat for a couple of minutes, then serve topped with nutty cheese or grated vegan cheese.

Notes

• “Nutty cheese” is made by processing nuts with nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder and salt. It keeps well in a jar in the fridge and is quick to make in the blender before the sauce so you don’t need to wash the blender twice.

Nutrition

Calories: 347 kcal |
Carbohydrates: 51 g |
Protein: 10 g |
Fat: 14 g |
Fiber: 5 g

If you like this recipe, please leave a ⭐ star rating ⭐ on the recipe card!

More Recipes

If you enjoy this dish, you might also like other vegan and gluten-free pasta recipes from the same collection.

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