Vegan Kale-Pesto Pasta

By Ali Slagle

Vegan Kale-Pesto Pasta
Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
4(389)
Notes
Read community notes

This silky sauce is a lovely mash-up of kale sauce, basil pesto and cashew cream. Thanks to a simple pot of water and good timing, it doesn’t require soaking nuts for 30-plus minutes: Just boil the cashews with basil stems and kale stems (which are perfectly edible). Part of the way through, add the kale leaves, then right at the end of cooking, add a handful of basil leaves to lock in their color. Blend everything with garlic and red-pepper flakes, and watch in awe as rugged kale and cashews transform into a bright-green sauce that’s as light as air. The 3 cups of sauce will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • Kosher salt
  • 1pound kale (about 2 bunches), leaves stripped and coarsely chopped, ribs and stems thinly sliced
  • 1cup raw cashews
  • ½cup basil leaves, stems reserved
  • 1pound long or ridged noodles, like linguine or rigatoni
  • 1large garlic clove, peeled
  • ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more as needed
  • 1tablespoon lemon juice
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

932 calories; 44 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 18 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 96 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 39 grams protein; 628 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the kale ribs and stems, cashews and basil stems. Boil for 10 minutes, then add the kale leaves and cook until tender but not mushy, another 5 minutes. Add the basil leaves and stir just to submerge. Turn off the heat, then use a slotted spoon to transfer everything but the cooking liquid to a blender. (Don’t drain the pot; you’ll use that water to cook the pasta.) Set the blender aside to cool slightly.

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, return the pot of water to a boil; add more water if a lot evaporated in Step 1. Add the pasta and cook until tender (or according to box directions).

  3. Step 3

    To the blender, add ½ cup water, the garlic and the red-pepper flakes. Blend on high until very smooth. Season to taste with salt.

  4. Step 4

    Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot and add the green sauce. Stir vigorously to combine, adding pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce and help it cling to the noodles. (Sauce will thicken as it cools.) Add the lemon juice, season to taste with salt and red-pepper flakes, and eat right away.

Ratings

4 out of 5
389 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

Valerie

Nutritional yeast + miso

Lake

Violife's vegan parm is really good in pesto, so I added that. This recipe desperately needs some more savory/umami, so if vegan alt cheeses aren't your thing, I'd at least add some nutritional yeast.

Kristin

Made this with almonds because of a family members allergy to cashews. Increased the crushed red pepper to 1tsp. It was very good, with a nice amount of heat and flavor.

pecorinaromana

Followed the recipe and the amount of pesto it made was substantial and good. Def used the food processor and was pretty liberal with chile-infused olive oil. Instead of using raw garlic and one clove I increased it to 6-7 garlic cloves and roasted them. The roasted garlic quantity made a big difference. I would make it again.

Hollis Rose

I (an omnivore) made this rich yet light sauce in my blender at highest speed with 1 slight bunch of kale, 1 robust bunch of basil (~thrice what’s called for), 6 cloves of garlic slow-simmered in EVOO on lowest heat until golden, 3/4t cayenne flakes, 1/2C raw cashews, ~1T white miso, ~2T fresh mozzarella, ~1/2t Trader Joe’s Mushroom Umami seasoning, and drizzled in about 1/2C pasta water to yield a velouté from heaven. Perfect on linguini with crisped shards of oyster mushrooms. ~4C yield.

Martha

Why keep only 3 days? I always have leftover and find generally food lasts longer and don't care for these guidelines. Can remaining amount be frozen if needed and still some out OK?

Jane S

Given the simplicity of creating this dish I think it's pretty good, just really requires some adjusting to suit an individual's tastes. I doubled the basil and added it directly to the blender, used 4 garlic cloves and used EVOO to replace the half cup of water. I also toasted a 1/4 cup of pine nuts amd added those to the blender. Without the pine nuts the pesto would have been too bland. I served with plenty of freshly grated parmesan - it definitely needed that finishing touch.

Nicole

Good but needs some tweaking. I used 1/2 hazelnuts and 1/2 sunflower seeds since I had no cashews. I added the zest of the lemon and more lemon juice and some mushroom salt. Could definitely do with some nutritional yeast and/or miso next time. That said, I will definitely be making it again and playing with it.

Paulux

No pine nuts?

Martha

I added parsley and boiled the cashews and stems about twice as long as called for (until the stems were smushy). I basically just blanched the kale and parsley leaves but added the basil leaves straight to the food processor (not blender). I also added nutritional yeast and a scant tablespoon miso paste to the food processor, as well as several cloves minced, sauteed garlic. Used olive oil instead of water and added some shredded parmesan. Delicious with chopped fresh tomatoes and feta.

Jane S

Given the simplicity of creating this dish I think it's pretty good, just really requires some adjusting to suit an individual's tastes. I doubled the basil and added it directly to the blender, used 4 garlic cloves and used EVOO to replace the half cup of water. I also toasted a 1/4 cup of pine nuts amd added those to the blender. Without the pine nuts the pesto would have been too bland. I served with plenty of freshly grated parmesan - it definitely needed that finishing touch.

sara

Roast the cashews first. Agree with comments that suggest olive oil in place of the water. Added a bit of the pasta water to thin it out. Delicious.

Good With Slight Modifications

I followed other reviewers' advice to add 2 tsp of miso. The resulting pesto/sauce was quite tasty!

Hollis Rose

I (an omnivore) made this rich yet light sauce in my blender at highest speed with 1 slight bunch of kale, 1 robust bunch of basil (~thrice what’s called for), 6 cloves of garlic slow-simmered in EVOO on lowest heat until golden, 3/4t cayenne flakes, 1/2C raw cashews, ~1T white miso, ~2T fresh mozzarella, ~1/2t Trader Joe’s Mushroom Umami seasoning, and drizzled in about 1/2C pasta water to yield a velouté from heaven. Perfect on linguini with crisped shards of oyster mushrooms. ~4C yield.

Karl Trying His Best

My sauce didn’t turn out like the sauce in the picture. It was granular like regular pesto.

FrenchNutcracker

This was really good- would suggest adding miso and nutritional yeast to give it some umami.

Ruth

Added extra lemon juice. Delicious!

Aenneken

#uglydelicious. Great flavor but my sauce doesn't look anything like the one in the photo. Mine is more of a really tasty but gritty & watery concoction.

Andy

This recipe is dead to me. It’s boiled Kale and I’m English where boiled Brussels sprouts are tastier. I tried adding cheese and oil but it had the overwhelming taste of disappointment.

Linda

I didn’t have kale, so i boiled the basil stems and used a whole large bunch of basil instead of half cup. Pretty decent when you are craving pesto.

Riceballthief

Instead of 1 garlic clove I used 3 plus 2 black garlics. I also doubled the pepper. Delicious!

david y

Wonderful! Borrowed from Genevieve Ko’s fantastic broccoli pesto recipe and added 1/3 cup of olive oil. Kids and wife ate it all up!

Private notes are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.

More From Our Best Vegetarian Pasta Recipes

More Recipes From Ali Slagle

Cooking Guides