One Pot Vegan Lemon Zucchini Pasta (1 Grocery Shop, 5 Healthy Meals Series)

We’ve made it to the end! Here’s the final recipe in my series where we take 1 grocery shop and turn it into 5 healthy meals for the week. Today we’re making a creamy, one pot lemon zucchini pasta that is super easy to throw together, vegan + gluten free, and perfect for the chillier fall days ahead of us.

I’m not gonna lie, posting every day for a week on Instagram is not what I’m used to lol. It was more than usual to keep up with but I had lots of fun sharing these recipes with you all. You can watch all the reels from this series here!

This one pot vegan lemon zucchini pasta is such a cozy, comforting meal. We sautée thinly sliced zucchini, shallots and garlic in lots of olive oil until it gets all jammy and delicious, then we add our pasta and water right into the same pan to cook down. I used Banza pasta here because I like that it has protein from the chickpeas to make this a more complete meal! The last step is just stirring in cashew cream, lemon juice and some fresh herbs if you have them around (I happen to now have some balcony basil which I’m extremely proud of). I will admit that the cashew cream is the one small component that is outside of the one pot nature of this recipe, but you can absolutely substitute a store-bought unsweetened dairy or non-dairy creamer to make this even easier. That’s pretty much it, and we top with parmesan (or a vegan alt) for a stunning weeknight dinner! Enjoy :)

One Pot Vegan Lemon Zucchini Pasta

Ingredients

• 1 large zucchini, thinly sliced

• 3 shallots, thinly sliced

• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• Olive oil

• 2 cups dried pasta of choice (I used Banza)

• 3 cups water

• Salt + pepper

• ½ cup raw cashews, soaked in boiling water for at least 30 mins to soften (you can also sub a store-bought dairy or non-dairy creamer)

• 1 lemon

• Fresh basil, if desired

• Parmesan or vegan alternative, if desired

• Salt + pepper

Method

If making the cashew cream, blend soaked cashews with ½ cup of water and a big pinch of salt until smooth. Set aside.

Heat a large (preferably deep) skillet over medium with lots of olive oil (about 3 tbsp). Add your sliced zucchini, shallots and lots of salt and pepper and let them cook undisturbed for about 5-7 minutes, until starting to brown. Add your garlic. Stir and continue cooking the mixture for another 5-7 minutes until jammy and caramelized.

To the same pan, add your pasta and 2 ½ cups of water. Turn heat to high and bring this mixture to a boil. Cook for 6-7 mins, or until 2 minutes short of al dente according to the directions on the pasta you’re using. Stir frequently for even cooking as the pasta absorbs the water, adding a bit more as needed if it gets too dry (probably another ½ cup or so).

Once the water has mostly absorbed into the pasta, turn the heat to low and stir in ½ cup of cashew cream and the juice of ½ your lemon. Add a big pinch of salt and black pepper to taste. Stir in chopped fresh basil or other herbs if using.

Serve topped with parmesan and pepper.

Serves 2