Zucchini noodles are a wonderful addition to a healthy diet, especially if you’re trying to avoid gluten and processed ingredients. They give you the experience of eating “pasta” but without the guilt! And you don’t have to limit yourself to zucchini, even though they are delicious. Try to make noodles with extra large carrots, sweet potato, radish, or even butternut squash!
The most important thing to keep in mind with any veggie noodles is to add the sauce right before serving, and to toss it with the noodles to make sure everything is well coated. If you sauce the noodles too far in advance they will become watery and soft, as the salt in the sauce draws out the moisture in the veg.
This sauce is super delicious and and creamy. The onions and garlic are lightly cooked, so that makes this sauce only semi-raw. It helps to develop the flavor and makes it a little complex. more mellow.
If you want to try zucchini noodles with a raw pesto sauce, try this recipe!
If you’re interested in a spiral slicer, check out this one!
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup cashews, soaked 2 hours
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- Water as needed
- 1 large zucchini, cut into noodles with a vegetable peeler or a spiral slicer
- 1 roma tomato, cut into small bite sized pieces
- ¼ cup basil
- 2 sun-dried tomatoes, cut into thin slivers
- To make the Creamy Garlic Alfredo Sauce, heat the cup of water in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. When the water is simmering, add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the water is completely evaporated and the onion is lightly browned.
- Transfer the cooked onions and garlic to a blender or food processor and purée until it’s as smooth as you can get it! Set aside until ready to use.
- To make the noodles, turn the zucchini into noodles in 1 of 2 ways-use a spiral slicer to make spiral cut linguini, or use a vegetable peeler to cut long ¼” wide strips down the length of the zucchini.
- Toss the noodles with the tomato, basil and sun-dried tomato in a mixing bowl. Add some of the sauce (how much is up to you) and toss some more until everything is well coated. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Garnish with more herbs and even a little nutritional yeast if you’d like.
- It’s best to dress the zucchini noodles shortly before serving as they tend to become watery and limp when they sit.
- Sometimes I like to makes these noodles without any sauce and just drizzle a high quality olive oil over the top and toss.
- Let yourself get creative with the garnishes and additional veggies. I think this would be great with a wide variety of herbs and you can even try adding olives, capers, more garlic, or even some sautéed mushrooms!
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Rachel,
I’m guessing you drain the soaked cashews and puree them with the garlic, onions + lemon juice? Thanks.
yes!