This vegan green goddess pasta is something special. Ribbons of pasta are tossed in a luxuriously creamy vegan green goddess sauce. The sauce is made by blending cooked cauliflower, lots of herbs (think tarragon, parsley, chives), garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, capers, salt, and pepper. The result is a spring green sauce that offers a garlicky bite and herbaceous aroma. Toss it with ribbons of warm tagliatelle and chopped arugula and finish with a sprinkle of hemp seeds and nutritional yeast for a kick of plant-powered protein.
Give me all the green things. Especially those with a goddess-like glow. You feel me?
Warm ribbons of vegan tagliatelle are tossed with peppery arugula and a glamorously green, luxuriously creamy, and herbaceous sauce.
That sauce-kissed pasta gets nestled into bowls and sprinkled with protein-packed hemp seeds and nutritional yeast, yielding a plant-powered dish that is just as nourishing as it is comforting.
Have yourself a look...
Now back to that sauce.
It's a play on the beloved green goddess dressing, which is traditionally made with mayo, buttermilk, chives, parsley, tarragon, lemon juice, anchovies, garlic, salt, and pepper.
In this super saucy vegan version, cauliflower steps in for mayo, almond milk steps in for buttermilk, briny capers step in for salty anchovies, and a few other flavor-boosting ingredients (e.g., nutritional yeast, olive oil) are added for depth and complexity.
And those herbs? Well, they're allll there.
The entire dish comes together in a speedy 45 minutes or less and requires just five simple steps:
- Cook the pasta and add it to a bowl with chopped arugula.
- Boil the cauliflower.
- Blend the cauliflower with almond milk, garlic, parsley, chives, tarragon, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, a bit of olive oil, capers, sea salt, and black pepper.
- Pour the sauce over that warm, ribbon-like pasta, and toss to coat.
- Pile the pasta high and sprinkle to taste with hemp seeds and nutritional yeast.
This pasta's soft green glow is easy on the eyes, and its garlicky, herby, well-seasoned flavors are incredibly satisfying. Plus, it's packed with nutritional oomph.
No doubt, a goddess of triple-threat proportions.
Vegan Green Goddess Pasta
Ingredients
Pasta
- 12 ounces regular or gluten-free tagliatelle, rigatoni, or fusilli pasta
Creamy Green Goddess Sauce
- 2 ½ cups small cauliflower florets
- 1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- ⅓ cup stemmed and roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
- ¼ cup roughly chopped chives
- 1 to 2 tablespoons stemmed and roughly chopped tarragon, to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 to 3 teaspoons jarred capers drained, to taste
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
Toppings
- 2 cups baby arugula, chopped
- 2 to 4 tablespoons shelled hemp seeds, to taste
Instructions
For the Pasta
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
- Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water, and transfer the cooked pasta to a large bowl. Add the chopped arugula, toss, and set aside.
For the Creamy Green Goddess Sauce
- Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the cauliflower florets to the pot and boil for 7 minutes or until very fork-tender. Strain off the water.
- Add the boiled cauliflower florets, almond milk, garlic, parsley, chives, tarragon, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, olive oil, capers, sea salt, and black pepper to a high-speed blender.
- Blend on high for 2 minutes or until completely smooth and creamy.
To Assemble
- Pour the sauce into a large sauté pan. Heat over medium heat and whisk constantly for 2 minutes, or until warm.
- Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to coat.
- If needed, stir in the pasta water, ¼ cup at a time, to thin the sauce.
- Remove from the heat.
- Taste and season with more sea salt and black pepper, if desired.
- Top with the hemp seeds and more nutritional yeast, if desired.
- Serve immediately.
This looks absolutely amazing! I've yet to experiment with cauliflower and how it can be manipulated like this in my short time as a vegan. Thanks so much for sharing!
This looks heavenly!! Such a beautiful, light green color.. full of delicious flavors. I can't wait to try it.
I LOVE any and all things green goddess - it's so beautiful to look at, and always so delicious! :D
Cauliflower sauce green goddess!? I should have guessed this recipe was you! It looks perfect, my boyfriend loves pasta (as do I) so this will definitely be added to the list
Brilliant recipe! Cauliflower sauces are all the rage in vegan cooking, but this herby version seems much more flavorful than typical recipes. Thinking of making it with edamame linguine for even more green goddess goodness. Maybe with some roasted tomatoes or red peppers. Can't wait =)
Who wouldn't want to glow like a goddess? Give me all of the green sauce, and a whole big bowl of pasta too please. I'm not carb shy. ;)
The color of this is so beautiful. I can't wait to try this!
Ashley, you honestly just keep impressing! This dish looks amazing and I absolutely adore its color -it's so green it looks like salad, but IT''S NOT SALAD, not even pasta salad, but real deal, hearty, soulfood-y/ comfort-food-y pasta. Now, "what do vegans eat?" XD (I hope you get the joke xx)
Pictures and food look great! Great post