Avocado pesto zoodles with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes is a super quick, easy, and healthful meal, and comes together in under 30 minutes. This whole30, paleo and vegan dinner recipe is perfect for any night of the week.
This post is sponsored by the California Avocado Commission.
^^^I know, right? Zoodles never looked so sultry.
It has been ages since we’ve enjoyed a good zoodle on this blog. We visited the topic with my Mediterranean Zucchini Noodle Pasta way back in 2014, followed by Zucchini Noodles with Roasted Tomatoes and Lemon-Garlic Sauce, and haven’t heard from them since. You guys, we were ghosted by the zoodle.
Truthfully, the reason we haven’t zoodled for so long is I went a little hot out of the gates when I first bought my spiralizer, and needed to take a hiatus thereafter.
The great news is, we’ve rekindled our relationship with vegetable noodles, and we’re ready to dive back in full-force with this avocado pesto zoodle dish.
It’s so great, I’m just going to have to bulletpoint out the features.
These zoodles are:
- Vegan and paleo
- Dairy-free, yet creamy
- Easy to throw together on any weeknight
- Require just 30 minutes to prepare
- …and a few basic ingredients to make
Made with California avocados in place of oil, the pesto sauce comes out ultra luscious, creamy, and flavorful. If you’ve never made pesto using avocados, I recommend it!
It’s a great oil-free approach and yields such a silky-smooth texture for all those times you’re craving something decadent but don’t want to overload yourself with overly rich food.
How to Make Avocado Pesto Zoodles:
Simply spiralize your zucchini squash, whip up the avocado pesto, and toss everything together in a big skillet.
When all’s said and done, this is only about a 30 minute time commitment, which makes it ideal for those evenings you just want food fast and don’t have a plethora of time to spare.
This creamy zucchini noodle dish is one of those unicorn recipes in the sense that it is everything you could possibly want and more in a silly simple weeknight meal. It satisfies your palate and belly while being quick, nutritious, and inexpensive.
With the produce-heavy lifestyle comes the risk for waste during those times you don’t get to your crisper fast enough.
We’ve all seen the memes on avocados and how they can be rock solid one moment, then overripe the next, but the good news is there are plenty of options for using up ripe avocados, this dish being one of them.
Blending overripe avocados to smithereens with other ingredients helps mask any flavor and texture issues, ensuring your avocados get put to good use even when they aren’t in any condition to be eaten sliced or chopped.
The same concept can be applied to spinach and zucchini.
This is an awesome way of using up a great deal of less-than-crispy spinach or squash (perfect for those of you with a CSA box or grow a vegetable garden) in one fell swoop.
I try to maintain a low-waste household, using up pantry and produce items before they go bad as my way of being mindful and conscious.
In case you’d like to make this recipe your own, here are some ideas for customization:
Recipe Adaptations:
- Looking for some protein? For vegan protein, add chickpeas. If you’re a carnivore, grilled or baked chicken and salmon pair nicely with this meal.
- If you aren’t dairy-free, serve the zoodles with grated parmesan, gouda, or gruyere.
- Sprinkle the zoodles with nutritional yeast (or add 1 to 2 tablespoons to the pesto sauce) for some added cheesy flavor.
- Replace sun-dried tomatoes with fresh cherry tomatoes.
- Use yellow squash or any of your favorite summer squash in place of zucchini.
And now, we zoodle!
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Avocado Pesto Zoodles
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- 4 medium zucchini squash spiralized
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes drained and rinsed
- 3 cups loosely packed baby spinach
- 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
Instructions
Prepare the Avocado Pesto
- Add the ingredients for the pesto to a food processor and process until creamy. Taste for flavor and add more lemon juice, garlic, and/or sea salt to taste
Make the Zoodles
- Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the spirallized zucchini noodles and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes. Add the spinach, cover the skillet, and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove the cover and continue cooking until zucchini noodles reach desired doneness (I like mine al dente).
- Add the avocado pesto to the skillet with the zoodles and stir well to combine. Serve zoodles with lemon wedges and toasted pine nuts.
Nutrition
Hi this looks amazing. I’m planning on doing it later this week I just had one question. Do I add the pine nuts to the food processor. Or just toast then and add to the zoodles. Thank you.
Hi Jolie! I toast the pine nuts and sprinkle them on top of the noodles at the end 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Avocado pesto … OMG!!! Yum! Loved it!
Thanks, Bernadette! Hope you enjoy! xoxo
This recipe sounds great. We have tons of amaranth growing in our yard, since it has been actually raining during our rainy season, and amaranth leaves are a great [free] substitute for spinach. We are not huge fans of basil pesto, but I’m thinking that making it with a combination of marjoram and basil would be quite nice. Or maybe just cilantro. I find it very difficult to get good fresh basil here in the desert. I think I’ll go for cilantro, and do almonds or pistachios for the nuts. Thank you for inspiring me!
Sounds amazing! I hope you love it with the cilantro! Enjoy! xoxo
Delicious!! I added some sautéed soy curls and a few fresh cherry tomatoes; otherwise followed the recipe as written, and it was fantastic! Thank you for this!!
Oooh, sounds great! My pleasure, Jennifer! xoxo
Oh my goodness! Just made this mouth watering gem! Saw this about 2 min before lunch and decided I had to have it. Since it was a last min thing had to use what I had on hand, cashews instead of pine nuts, olive oil instead of fresh lemon juice. Realized I forgot the fresh garlic as the spinach & zoodles were done, so I sprinkled some garlic powder on top. I blame pregnancy brain! HAHAHA! And oh my goodness THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST PESTO ZOODLE RECIPE EVER! I even had the kids eat it with me, & can’t wait to make it for hubby, cuz I know he will LOVE it. THANK YOU! I have not enjoyed too many meals during my first trimester and this was extremely enjoyable. Thank you Thank you Thank you. Love the avocado in the pesto! Pure genius!
I’m so happy you like it, Chelsea! Thanks so much for the sweet note! xoxo
Wow that looks so yummy!
Can you make avocado pesto ahead of time?
Hi Erin!
I find the avocado pesto is best when eaten fresh, but you could make it one day in advance if you’d like! xoxo
I tried this dish and I must tell that it was amazing. The nutritional value of this dish is also up to the mark and the recipe is so simple.
I LOVE zoodles! This looks like a wonderful way to enjoy them!
Do you have the nutrition facts for your Recipes, I would love to cook these but really like to track the nutrients and calories.
Awesome combination! Nice mate!
Love the way it is. All is made by vegetables! Healthy and Tasty.
Who needs more than a simple dish like this? ??
I’ve been really enjoying the idea of zoodles lately. They’re such a fun way to make meals more interesting. I don’t tend to think of them as an alternative to past. Instead, they’re simply a different type of ingredient, one that has significant advantages.
That avocado pesto!!! Yowza – I would eat that with a spoon! I love how spring-like this is in color!
I’m super into it too! Love the avo pesto, and it works so marvelously with the zoodles. 😀 xo
Sultry is a very good word for these zoodles — they’re oozing with appeal! I love the idea of using avocado in place of oil for the pesto and I prefer zoodles to pasta. This is such a beautiful dish!
Hi can I replace ,the pine nuts for walnuts
Thanks
Hi Lucy, Absolutely! I think walnuts would taste great in this dish 🙂 Enjoy!