This Vegan Creamy Tahini Pasta has a creamy, garlicky sauce and comes together in under 30 minutes. This is the perfect weeknight meal.
Pasta recipes like this one are the best to have in your back pocket for a busy week night. This Vegan Creamy Tahini Pasta comes together in under 30 minutes using only 7 ingredients. It can't get better than that.
Ingredients for Making Vegan Creamy Tahini Pasta.
Pasta: Use any pasta variety you prefer. I used penne, but this will work with any pasta.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: For sautéing.
Garlic: Lots of garlic flavors this dish.
Kale: I used tuscan kale, but curly kale will work too. Just grab whichever looks better at your supermarket that day.
Red Pepper Flake: This is optional, but I cant make a pasta without adding a little red pepper flake for heat.
Tahini: tahini adds a creamy, nutty flavor and is the creamy element in that tahini pasta sauce.
Lemon Juice: Lemon juice adds acid to balance the sauce.
Is Tahini Vegan?
Yes tahini is vegan! Tahini is a paste made out of sesame seeds. Its the same process used to make peanut butter, but with sesame.
The result is a delicious nutty spread that is great in SO many dishes including in this Vegan Creamy Tahini Pasta.
Do NOT use roasted tahini. Make sure the tahini you choose is light in color for a more neutral flavor. My favorite brand is Krinos.
Making a Creamy Sauce with Tahini and Reserved Pasta Water
Tahini is the secret ingredient in this Vegan Creamy Tahini Pasta. It creates a creamy and flavorful sauce along with some lemon juice and pasta water.
Simply add the tahini into the pan with sautéed kale, followed by the lemon juice and pasta and stir.
Then, slowly add pasta water until a creamy sauce coats the pasta. And thats it!
Pasta water is also a secret ingredient in this sauce. Pasta releases starch into the water as it cooks. When this starchy water is added into a sauce it seasons the sauce and gently thickens it and helps it coat each piece of pasta.
Looking for More Pasta Recipes?
Burst Cherry Tomato and Basil Pasta
Pasta Primavera by Ambitious Kitchen
📖 Recipe
Vegan Creamy Tahini Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz Pasta of Choice
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 Medium Garlic Cloves, minced or 2 big ones
- 6 Cups Lightly Packed Kale This is about 5 oz of de-stemmed kale, or 1 medium bunch
- Pinch Salt
- Pinch Red Pepper Flakes
- 3 tablespoon Tahini
- 5 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- Black Pepper to taste
- 6-10 tablespoon Pasta Water
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. When draining the pasta, reserve a cup of the starchy pasta water.
- In the meantime, place a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and garlic and cook stirring frequently until the garlic starts to brown, then turn heat to low and add kale, salt, black pepper and a pinch of red pepper flake.
- Toss the kale around until its completely wilted.
- Add pasta, tahini and lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water to the pan.
- Cook, stirring frequently and adding more pasta water a couple tablespoons at a time until the sauce is nice and creamy and coats the pasta. For me, this was 8 tablespoons.
- Season once more with salt and pepper, and serve.
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