For more healthy pesto recipes, also try our pan-seared salmon with sunflower seed pesto or pesto stuffed roasted tomatoes. While some zucchini noodles are served raw, we choose to cook them for 30 seconds because we prefer the texture. The avocado pesto is completely dairy-free, but you’d never know. It’s also super easy to make in the blender and bursting with fresh basil flavor. It’s naturally a great recipe to make in the summer when ingredients like zucchini, tomatoes, and basil are abundant, but you can find all the ingredients at the grocery store year-round. We keep this healthy meal on rotation in the winter to mix in between all the soups, stews, and heavier holiday meals.
Cherry tomatoes – any cherry tomatoes will work, but if cherry tomatoes on the vine are available, choose those! Olive oil Zucchini – you’ll need a vegetable spiralizer or julienne peeler (our favorite!) for this recipe to transform the zucchini into noodles. Look for long dark green zucchini for longer noodles. Spinach – the spinach adds bulk and texture to the noodles, but also lots of nutrition.
Here’s what you’ll need to make the creamy avocado pesto sauce:
Fresh basil leaves – it just wouldn’t be pesto without the bright fresh flavor of basil. Avocado – avocado might seem like a surprising ingredient for pesto, but it adds lots of creamy texture and keeps it completely dairy-free. Spinach – is neutral in flavor so you don’t taste it but it adds lots of vibrant green color to the pesto. Sunflower seeds – pine nuts are outrageously expensive so we tend not to use them. Sunflower seeds work equally well to give this pesto a creamy texture and mildly nutty taste. Lemon juice – for brightness and a pop of citrus flavor. Water or olive oil – water is the lightest option, but oil will make it wonderfully creamy. Garlic + Sea salt – to enhance all the awesome flavors.
Here’s how it comes together in a few simple steps: Proteins that pair well with pesto zucchini noodles:
Garlic Butter Baked Shrimp Perfect Poached Fish Best Grilled Chicken Breast
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