This Vegan Creamy Pasta with Garlic Tahini Sauce only requires 7 ingredients. Perfectly al dente spaghetti tossed in a rich lemon garlicky tahini sauce - a quick and easy meal made in 25 minutes.
If you’re a lover of creamy pasta dishes, PLEASE give this vegan garlic tahini pasta a go and thank me later. This creamy vegan pasta is perfect all year long but especially great in fall and winter. It tastes rich, is super satisfying and so ridiculously simple to throw together! Seriously, you won’t believe that this pasta sauce is 100% free from dairy or cream – and that it's also healthy.
A healthy plant-based dinner or lunch on the table in just 25 minutes.
Tahini - the Key to creamy pasta heaven
This creamy vegan pasta sauce calls for just a few simple ingredients that you most likely already have in your pantry! Tahini is obviously the star ingredient.
To balance out its slightly bitter flavor, we pair it with zingy fresh lemon juice to form a well balanced creamy sauce that coats the pasta just perfectly.
A little garlic, salt, and some freshly ground pepper rounds out the simple bright flavors.
Make it gluten-free!
To make this gluten-free, you can use whatever variety of gluten-free pasta you usually go for. Brown rice pasta, chickpea pasta, sweet potato pasta, quinoa pasta, lentil pasta...whatever you like! This chunk-free sauce goes with any shape of pasta.
Likewise, if you'd rather play this one low carb, make the recipe with zoodles, squash noodles, or sweet potato noodles.
How to make Creamy Vegan Lemon Tahini Pasta:
Prep: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt. Cook pasta according to package instructions.
Step 1: While pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. Heat olive oil in a very large skillet over medium heat and cook garlic until just fragrant, 30 seconds or so (be careful not to burn the garlic or it will be bitter). Turn off the heat and transfer the garlic along with the remaining oil in your blender.
Step 2 - Add tahini, lemon juice, water, almond milk, and salt to the blender. Pulse until you get a super smooth and creamy sauce, scraping the side of the blender with a spatula as needed.
Step 3 & 4 - When the pasta is done cooking, drain it in a colander and return it immediately to the skillet you used to cook the garlic. Pour sauce over and toss thoroughly to coat the pasta. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Serve immediately.
Add some veggies!
If you want to add some sautéed veggies to this vegan pasta dish to turn it into a more colorful meal or to add a seasonal twist– go for it.
Here are a few ideas:
- kale: sauté 2 cups torn kale leaves in the skillet while the pasta cooks (after you’ve cooked the garlic). Leave them in the skillet and proceed with the recipe as written above.
- mushrooms: same directions as kale.
- peas: quickly sauté a cup or two of frozen peas on medium-low heat to thaw them (after you’ve cooked the garlic). Leave it in the skillet and proceed with the recipe as written above.
- roasted cauliflower/broccoli (or just about any of your favorite roasted veggies). Follow the recipe as written and toss the veggies in the pasta at the end with the sauce.
Some roasted butternut squash, sauteed spinach, zucchini, or bell peppers would also be nice additions to this pasta dish.
Tips:
- For some extra zing, add some lemon zest along with the juice. ½ tsp should be just right.
- You can finish this off by garnishing with some chopped herbs like fresh basil or parsley – whatever you have on hand. Or sprinkle with some lemon zest, a generous grating of black pepper, dried chilli flakes or red crushed pepper, or a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
- This pasta is best served straight away, but if you have leftovers, reheat them with a bit of milk (the sauce will thicken a lot and be sticky as it cools down).
- Some tahini brands are thicker than others. The sauce should be creamy and somewhat thick, but not too thick either. Add more milk or water, one tablespoon at a time until you reach the perfect consistency. Alternatively, if you’re not sure what the best consistency should be, add more milk (little by little) directly on the pasta while your tossing it with sauce.
Creamy Garlic Tahini Pasta
This Vegan Creamy Pasta with Garlic Tahini Sauce is gluten-free, vegan, and only requires 7 ingredients. Perfectly al dente spaghetti tossed in a rich lemon garlicky tahini sauce - a quick and easy meal made in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti or similar long pasta shapes like fettuccine or bucatini - 500g - can be gluten-free
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- ½ cup tahini paste
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk or your favorite nut milk
- ½ tsp sea salt
Instructions
-
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt. Cook pasta according to package instructions.
-
While pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. Heat olive oil in a very large skillet over medium heat and cook garlic until just fragrant, 30 seconds or so (be careful not to burn the garlic or it will be bitter). Turn off the heat and transfer the garlic along with the remaining oil in your blender.
-
Add tahini, lemon juice, water, almond milk, and salt to the blender. Pulse until you get a super smooth and creamy sauce, scraping the side of the blender with a spatula as needed.
-
When the pasta is done cooking, drain it in a colander and return it immediately to the skillet you used to cook the garlic. Pour sauce over and toss thoroughly to coat the pasta. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
- For some extra zing, add some lemon zest along with the juice. ½ tsp should be just right.
- You can finish this off by garnishing with some chopped herbs like fresh basil or parsley – whatever you have on hand. Or sprinkle with some lemon zest, a generous grating of black pepper, dried chilli flakes or red crushed pepper, or a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
- This pasta is best served straight away, but if you have leftovers, reheat them with a bit of milk (the sauce will thicken a lot and be sticky as it cools down).
- Some tahini brands are thicker than others. The sauce should be creamy and somewhat thick, but not too thick either. Add more milk or water, one tablespoon at a time until you reach the perfect consistency. Alternatively, if you’re not sure what the best consistency should be, add more milk (little by little) directly on the pasta while your tossing it with sauce.
