Quick Vegan Creamy Pasta with Kale
This silky, creamy garlicky pasta sauce is drizzled over freshly cooked pasta with kale. It’s the type of recipe that almost everyone can enjoy, and a great way to add a little green vegetables into your diet. This is the perfect weeknight dinner as it can be made in less than half an hour, is inexpensive to make (the entire dish costs less than $10 to make), and feeds 4-6 people. Get ready for a new weeknight favorite- it will be a staple on your repertoire in no time.
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Quick and Cheap Meals for the Weeknight
A lot of us work jobs during the day, or spend our days looking after kids, running errands, or otherwise out and about. After a long day, coming home and cooking an elaborate meal is not always my top priority, so having quick weeknight meals is just about the only thing that stops me from ordering delivery. I try to avoid eating out a lot, mostly because it’s expensive. Because of that, I set myself a challenge- I’m putting together a mini recipe series (starting with this one!) that highlights quick, simple, delicious, and cheap meals to make during the weeknight. All my recipes in this mini series will be made in less than 30 minutes, and cost less than $10 (this is just an estimate- depending where you are and where you shop, prices may vary).
Looking for Kale Recipes? Try one of these!
- 31 Healthy and Tasty Vegan Kale Recipes
- Stir-Fried Korean Sweet Potato Noodles (Japchae) with Kale
- Savory Kale Pie
- Crispy Kale White Vegan Pizza with Mushrooms
- Summer Squash, Kale, and Pasta Casserole
Save Even More Money- Tips on Cheap Cashews
The price I listed here for cashews was what I paid at Safeway ($4.50 for 1 1/2 cups), but that’s not necessarily the cheapest option out there. By far the cheapest place I’ve found for raw, unsalted cashews is Trader Joe’s– at the time of writing this, I could find them for $6.99 for a pound, making it a little less than $3.00 for the amount needed for this recipe. One way to save money on cashews is to look for cashew pieces instead of whole nuts (they’re often less expensive that way, and you’ll be blending them anyways). Sometimes roasted or salted cashews will also be cheaper than the raw ones. You can use either of those, although roasted cashews won’t give the same creamy texture that raw cashews will. If you’re using salted cashews, that’s totally fine too. Just be careful to control the amount of salt you add, so that it doesn’t get too salty.
Save Even More Time- Soak or Sauce Ahead
One way to save a little time on this recipe is to soak your cashews ahead of time- before you head out the door, just stick them in a bowl of water and go on your way. When you get home, you’ll be able to go right ahead and blend the sauce, instead of having to boil the cashews. You could also make your cashew sauce entirely ahead of time, and freeze or refrigerate it until you’re ready to use it. Then just boil the pasta, and add it to the sauteing kale. Even without doing either of those steps, you’ll be able to get this dish done in less than half an hour, so no stress if you’re not the plan ahead type person.
Making Quick Vegan Creamy Pasta with Kale
There are three main components to this quick vegan creamy pasta with kale. Firstly, the pasta- that’s simple, just boil the noodles as you normally would, until perfectly cooked. Secondly, the cashew cream sauce- just blend softened cashews with the other ingredients for the sauce until smooth (see the section above with regards to soaking or boiling the cashews to soften). Thirdly, we have the kale. The kale is just lightly sauteed in a large skillet, after which all the other elements are combined in that same skillet to create the completed dish. Even if you don’t have a ton of energy at the end of the day, or you’re working to stretch every dollar, this is a perfect weeknight recipe for you.
Quick Vegan Creamy Pasta with Kale
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups raw, unsalted cashews ($4.50)
- 12 oz. farfalle pasta ($1.00)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.18)
- 1/2 lemon ($0.38)
- 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast ($0.20)
- 1 ½ cups water ($0.00)
- Pinch of salt ($0.01)
- 1 tbsp. olive oil, for cooking ($0.10)
- 1 bunch kale, any kind ($2.00)
- ½ medium-sized onion ($0.25)
Instructions
- If possible, soak your cashews for a minimum of 6 hours before hand. If not, bring the cashews to a boil and boil for 10 minutes to soften. Boil a large pot of water for your pasta, salt well, and cook until done (about 15 minutes).
- While the pasta is cooking, place the softened cashews, garlic, juice from the lemon, nutritional yeast, and water in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, then add salt to taste.
- Dice the onion, and roughly chop the kale. Heat a little oil in a large skillet, then add the onion and saute for a minute to soften. Add the kale, and continue to cook until it has wilted slightly. Add the cooked pasta, along with ½ cup of the pasta water to the skillet, and cook for a couple minutes to incorporate.
- Turn the heat on low, and pour in the cashew sauce. Stir to coat all of the kale and pasta, and serve warm.
Notes
Total Recipe Cost: $8.62 (estimate based on my costs- depending on your location, prices may vary).
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