This spinach artichoke pasta is the ultimate comfort food! It’s super easy to make, incredibly creamy, and completely vegan! It makes such a delicious weeknight meal!
I’ve made this vegan pasta recipe so many times and it’s always a winner! 15 minutes is all it takes!
There’s just something about the combo of spinach and artichokes that I love. I mean reeeeally LOVE! If you like it as much as I do, check out my vegan spinach artichoke dip. It’s so rich and incredibly creamy. Serve it with whole wheat sesame crackers and you’re good to go for your next party!
I also took my spinach artichoke dip to the next level and made a vegan spinach artichoke pizza. So if you’re a pizza fan, this is the right recipe for you!
What You Need For This Spinach Artichoke Pasta
The ingredient list for this vegan spinach artichoke pasta isn’t very long.
You need:
- penne
- spinach
- artichoke hearts
- garlic
- cashews (unsalted and not roasted)
- nutritional yeast
- yellow or white miso paste
- mustard (I used Dijon mustard)
- tapioca starch
- unsweetened almond milk
- salt and pepper
As always, you can find a detailed ingredient list and recipe instructions at the end of this post in a separate recipe box.
How to Make Spinach Artichoke Pasta
The recipe for this spinach artichoke pasta is super easy. It’s ready in only 15 minutes!
- Prepare the pasta according to the instructions on the package.
- While the pasta is cooking, make the creamy cashew sauce. Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and process until smooth.
- Roughly chop the artichoke hearts and wash the spinach.
- In a large pan, add the spinach and cook, stirring, until spinach is wilted. Set aside. Pour the sauce into the same pan and heat until it thickens up. Then add the artichokes, the wilted spinach, and the cooked penne. Season with salt and pepper.
You will need a good blender to make the vegan cheese sauce with cashews. If you don’t have a high speed blender, soaking the cashews over night helps a lot. Otherwise you don’t have to worry about soaking them. I use a vitamix and I never soak my cashews for vegan cheese sauces or creamy white sauces.
I also used this creamy cashew sauce for my vegan gnocchi. Over the last few months, I got so much positive feedback for the gnocchi, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy the spinach artichoke pasta as well!
I used penne for this spinach artichoke pasta, but of course you can also use other pasta shapes.
Which pasta for which sauce?
- Skinny pasta shapes (such as spaghetti or linguine) are very good with cream sauces.
- Long and thicker pasta shapes (such as fettuccine, tagliatelle, or pappardelle) are good with rich or heavy sauces. An example is my garlic mushroom one pot pasta that uses fettuccine.
- Twisted pasta shapes (like fusilli or gemelli) are good with lighter sauces for example tomato sauce, pesto, or lighter cream sauces. A good example is my recipe for lemon asparagus pasta.
- Tubes (like penne or rigatoni) are good with vegetables sauces or ragu. They’re also great with cheesy sauces. I used rigatoni for my one pot pasta with tomatoes and spinach.
- Mini pasta shapes (like ditalini or orzo) are good for soups or even pasta salads.
- Filled pasta (like ravioli or tortellini) is good with tomato sauce or oily sauces.
Which pasta is vegan?
Good news! Most packaged pasta shapes are vegan! So it’s super easy to find vegan pasta such as spaghetti and rotini. However, it’s still a good idea to check the labels. Some pasta contain eggs, but this is not often the case.
Luckily, popular pasta brands like Barilla are vegan. So you’ll be able to find vegan pasta in basically every grocery store.
Fresh pasta like ravioli often contain eggs, so this is harder for vegans. But of course you could also make your own homemade vegan ravioli.
What pasta is healthy?
The healthiest pasta is whole wheat pasta. It’s also one of my favorites! Compared to regular pasta, whole wheat pasta contains more nutrients and, thus, is the healthier option.
Whole wheat pasta has a chewier texture, which might be hard to adjust for some people. If you’re having a hard time switching to whole-grain pasta, just make a slow transition. Start by cooking 50 percent regular pasta and 50 percent whole wheat pasta. Then over time, just increase the percentage of whole grain pasta. This also works great with kids!
Other healthier pasta options are pasta made with quinoa and brown rice. Or even pasta made of legumes like chickpeas, red lentils, or even black beans. All of these options are naturally gluten-free, so they’re perfect for those people who are allergic to gluten but still want to enjoy pasta once in a while.
I hope you enjoy this spinach artichoke pasta recipe as much as we do around here!
Have a great week, everyone!
Sina – xx
Spinach Artichoke Pasta
Ingredients
For the creamy sauce:
- 1/2 cup cashews (unsalted and not roasted)
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons white miso paste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon tapioca starch
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- black pepper
For the pasta:
- 9 oz penne
- 1 14 oz can artichoke hearts in brine, drained and roughly chopped
- 6 cups fresh spinach
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Set aside.
- Make the sauce: place all ingredients in a high speed blender and process until smooth.
- Roughly chop the artichoke hearts and wash the spinach.
- In a large pan, add the spinach and cook, stirring, until spinach is wilted. Set aside. Pour the sauce into the same pan and heat until it thickens up. Then add the artichokes, the wilted spinach, and the cooked penne. Season with salt and pepper.
Okay, so I make this cream sauce literally once a week. It’s sooooo good. Everyone loves it, it’s better than any other cream sauce I’ve had, vegan or otherwise. At this point I don’t even look up the recipe because I’ve memorized it. :) THANK YOU for the best cream sauce recipe!!!
This was so easy to make and very tasty. I didn’t have penne so I used GF elbow macaroni. I can’t say enough wonderful things about this dish. It’s a keeper.
Thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to try this. If I wanted to double the quantity, do you think it’d be okay just to double up the recipe?
Hi Miranda,
Glad you like the recipe! Sure, just double the recipe. Hope you like it. :-)
Great! The family had no idea it was vegan…The picky kids ate it…One 7 year old even had seconds! Very delicious.
Great recipe! Thank you for sharing. I will definitely make it again next week. It was too creamy.