Green Pea Pasta

Green Pea Pasta is a comforting bowl of pasta with a super creamy sauce and bright, vibrant flavors. This easy and quick 15 minute recipe features simple ingredients, is vegan friendly, and perfect for busy weeknights.​

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Hey Internet, happy spring! It's just a few days away and the ZardyPlants household is more than ready for it.

While you can easily make this vegan pasta recipe any time of year, you're going to love it especially for spring. This creamy pea pasta is super delicious, super fast to make, and super satisfying.

If you're familiar with this site, you know I really love making simple pasta recipes. A few of my favorites: vegan pastina, vegan sun-dried tomato pasta, vegan garlic scape pasta, saucy vegan tahini pasta, and vegan pasta primavera.

This bright green pasta dish is almost like a pesto pasta, but with sweet peas! While you could add things like fresh basil leaves or any fresh herbs you like, I wanted to keep it simple with pantry and fridge staples like frozen peas (though fresh peas also work), lemon juice, spices, pasta (any pasta shape you want!), and a smidgen of miso paste for a beautiful umami flavor (though salt will work if you don't have miso).

This is a little different from the traditional Italian pasta dish, pasta e piselli, or pasta and peas. A pasta e piselli recipe usually leaves the peas whole and uses ingredients like olive oil, parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano, chicken broth or vegetable broth, or even heavy cream. But this particular recipe you're reading involves blending the thawed peas into a pasta sauce. I honestly love it.

One of my favorite things about this easy pasta recipe is how quickly it comes together! If you need a last minute easy weeknight meal, you'll love this recipe. 

You only need 15 minutes to make my green pea pasta. Simply boil the water, cook the pasta according to package instructions (since every pasta is different), and while the pasta is cooking you can blend up the sauce!

I just love the flavor contrast of the sweetness of the peas with the umami sauce, and just a little lemon juice to brighten it up. We like to top our creamy pasta with fresh cracked black pepper and grated vegan parmesan cheese (we buy the Violife brand parmesan block and grate it with a microplane).

​Why You'll Love This Green Pea Pasta

• So Quick and Easy: You only need 15 minutes, a pot, and a blender or food processor to make this delicious simple pea sauce. If you can cook pasta, you can make this great dish.
• Family Friendly: Everyone will love this flavorful yet simple pasta dish. The green pea pasta sauce is super flavorful yet made with simple ingredients and will keep everyone satisfied. Even picky eaters will love the flavor, and might be excited by the bright green color. It's also a great change of pace from your standard pasta with red sauce!
• Simple Ingredients: Including the pasta, you only need 8 basic ingredients to make this delicious vegetarian recipe (it's vegan too!) with bright flavors, plenty of protein and fiber, and lots of staying power to satisfy big hunger.

Ingredients

Grab these simple ingredients the next you’re at the supermarket. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutritional information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs). I give substitutions for the ingredients, so most people can still make this recipe!

•  8 Ounces Pasta: Use any kind of pasta you like! We used bucatini, but either long or short pasta will work just fine. This amount of pasta works perfectly for the amount of sauce we make. If you want to cook a whole pound of pasta, double the rest of the ingredients for the recipe too.
• 4 Cups Frozen Green Peas (Thawed): Use petite or regular green peas for this recipe.
• ⅓ Cup Lime Juice: We love the vibrant bright flavor lime juice adds to this green pea pasta sauce, but you can just as easily use lemon juice. Fresh tastes the best but bottled is fine.
• 1+½ Teaspoon Granulated Onion and 2 Teaspoons Granulated Garlic: For flavor!
• 1-2 Tablespoons White or Yellow Miso Paste: This has great umami flavor and eliminates the need to add salt to the recipe (of course, you can if you feel it needs it; everyone's palate is different!). I generally can find miso paste at most large grocery stores, Whole Foods Market, health food stores, Asian grocery stores, and other international markets. I do stock up when I buy it since it lasts a long time in the refrigerator and I use it in so many sauces and dressings like my lemon miso tahini sauce.
• 1-2 Tablespoons Tahini: This gives a little flavor and a lot of richness to green pea pasta sauce.
• ⅓ Cup Filtered Water: How much water you need depends on how thick you want your green pea pasta sauce to be! Start with less and add more if needed. If you add too much, thicken with more peas or a little nutritional yeast!
• Optional Garnishes: We like to serve our pasta with finely grated vegan parmesan cheese that we grate with a microplane as well as some fresh cracked black pepper. If you'd like a more wholesome (or easy to make) cheese option, try my vegan parmesan topping. But any garnish you choose is up to you and totally optional!
• Other Ingredients: Feel free to add fresh herbs like fresh basil or chopped green onions to the sauce if you like! I know some people blend in things like cottage cheese or cream cheese, though this is a vegan recipe so I did not do that, and I don't even think the sauce needs it! If you really want some creaminess, try a bit of sunflower seed cream or cashew cream. Other ingredients you could add for interest include lemon zest, crushed red pepper flakes, nutritional yeast, or other spices.

​Substitutions

• Pasta: You can definitely use gluten-free pasta like brown rice pasta to make this recipe gluten-free. You can also use whole grain pasta or legume based pastas for a bit more nutritional value. Use any dried pasta you like in the flavorful yet simple sauce.
• Green Peas: We prefer frozen peas for this green pea pasta recipe, but you can use fresh peas or baby peas. The fresh peas need to be steamed until soft before using. If you don't want to use peas at all, you could do this exact sauce with shelled edamame or lima beans though you will likely need more liquid to blend.
• Lime Juice: If you don't have citrus, try a splash of white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar) instead.
• Granulated Onion and Granulated Garlic: You can use chopped regular onions, though I think raw onion is a little strong for this green peas recipe. You can use fresh garlic if you don't want to use garlic powder, but I thought it was lovely in this sauce.
• Miso Paste: If you cannot have soy, look for chickpea miso paste! If you don't have miso paste, you can just use salt to taste instead. I'd start with a half teaspoon and blend the sauce. Taste and add more if needed. You might not need much at all if you are cooking your pasta in a large pot of salted water, but I don't always do that if my sauce is sufficiently salty.
• Tahini: If you don't want to use tahini or you can't have sesame seeds, you can use a few tablespoons of soaked raw cashews or sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, or even a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Or skip it for a lighter sauce.
• Filtered Water: I say filtered because sometimes tap water can make a sauce taste bitter. If you'd prefer, you can use your favorite plain unsweetened non-dairy milk or vegetable broth as the blending liquid. Or reserve a cup of pasta water and a little bit of that as needed.

How to Make Green Pea Pasta

1. Cook the pasta:​ Start by boiling a large pot of water and cooking the pasta according to package directions. I usually cook my pasta slightly longer than needed for al dente because that's how we like it, but please cook the pasta until it's the texture you like, then drain. If you'd prefer, save a ½ cup pasta water or more for the sauce, but I just used filtered water from my fridge and it was fine for this recipe. (There's plenty of starch in the peas, which helps bind the sauce to the pasta.)
2. Make the sauce:​ While the pasta water boils, thaw the peas (I just microwave them, but you can steam or boil them if you prefer) and add to the blender along with the remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Blend again until everything is well incorporated.
3. Assemble the dish:  Add the sauce to your cooked pasta. Give it a really good stir (I like to use tongs for this, especially when using long pasta).
4. Serve:​ Plate the finished dish and serve with whatever garnishes you like. We used finely grated vegan parmesan cheese and fresh cracked black pepper.
5. Storage:​ Let the green pea pasta cool to room temperature and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. To revive thickened sauce, add a little water or plain unsweetened non-dairy milk and more vegan parmesan cheese if desired.

Expert Tips

• Make This Recipe Gluten-Free: You can easily make this dish gluten-free by using whatever certified gluten-free pasta you can prefer.
• Add Plant-Based Protein: If you'd like to add a protein directly into your green pea pasta, I recommend soy curls, chickpeas, cubed tofu like my crispy tofu or panko tofu (which I'd cut smaller before making) or your favorite store bought vegan chicken alternative.
• Want to add in more veggies? I recommend cooking them separately and adding them in at the end. If you want to add more than 2 cups of veggies, I would double the sauce recipe. Alternatively, serve the veggies on the side.

​Serving Suggestions

Green pea pasta would be perfect served with some vegan garlic bread and a vegan Italian salad especially with my creamy vegan Italian dressing! You could also try another spring-forward recipe such as my vegan goat cheese salad with strawberries, pecans, and the most amazing strawberry tahini dressing.

It would also go fabulously with veggies, such as air fryer Brussels sprouts! But you can serve any veggie with it. My favorite veggie of all time is broccoli, it's my go-to! If that's too much green for you, try some roasted cauliflower or carrots.

​Storage Instructions

Like most pasta dishes, this dish is best on the first night! But if you find yourself with leftovers, here's how to store and keep green pea pasta:

• Refrigerating: Let the pasta cool fully and store in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
• Reheating: Reheat in the microwave or in a small pot over medium-low heat (with a little vegan butter or good olive oil). You can add a splash of plain unsweetened non-dairy milk and/or more vegan parmesan if you'd like.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Vegan Pasta Recipes to Try

• Pasta with Vegan Meat Sauce
• Vegan Aglio e Olio
• Vegan Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
• Creamy Vegan Mushroom Pasta
• Vegan Creamy Pasta
• Vegan Cacio e Pepe
• Pasta with Vegan Vodka Sauce
• Vegan Pasta Primavera
• Vegan Chickpea Florentine Pasta
• Pasta with Cashew Pesto

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