Zucchini Noodles With Pesto (Keto & Vegan)

These Zucchini Noodles with Pesto are delicious low-carb keto pasta made with spiralized zucchini and cooked in a creamy almond milk pesto sauce. This pesto zoodle recipe is also vegan and gluten-free.

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Zucchini noodles, also known as zoodles, are vegetable pasta made of raw zucchini using a vegetable spiralizer. Zucchini is also known as Courgette, Baby Marrow, or Summer Squash. Zoodles have the same consistency as real pasta without the carbs or calories.

It is a healthy way of enjoying a pasta dish without the carbs, calories, or fat of wheat pasta. In fact, zucchini contains only 17 kcal and 2 grams of net carbs per 100 grams. As a result, they are the perfect vegetable to create pasta-like dishes on a low-carb keto diet.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Therefore, this recipe is a tasty keto vegan meal made with only 6 ingredients.

• Zucchini, it is up to you to peel the zucchini or not. Keeping the zucchini skin adds fiber and nutrients to your dish. Zucchini are great keto-friendly vegetables, with less than 2 grams of net carbs per 100g.
• Olive oil or another healthy oil like avocado oil, or almond oil.
• Sunflower seeds or pine nuts if you prefer to make a regular pesto recipe, both contain the same amount of net carbs. You can also make my Pesto Without Pine Nuts.
• Parmesan or vegan Parmesan – Parmesan is a keto-friendly cheese.
• Unsweetened Almond Milk is the magic ingredient to create a really creamy sauce without adding carbs or calories.
• Garlic cloves
• Salt

How To Make Zucchini Noodles With Pesto

This zucchini noodle recipe uses Parmesan cheese. It should be noted that vegan Parmesan or nutritional yeast works very well for a vegan zoodle recipe.

1. Wash the summer squash and peel the skin with a vegetable peeler. To cut the zucchini into spaghetti-like strands, you can use a mandoline, a Julienne peeler, or a spiralizer. You’ll get the best results with a spiralizer. It’s easy to use, quick and delivers very consistent noodles.
2. Pat dry the zucchini with a paper towel to drain some of the moisture, then put them in a colander.
3. The best way to cook zucchini noodles is in a lightly oiled frying pan. First, stir fry your noodles for 5 minutes to give them a little crisp and soften the center slightly.
4. Then, add your pesto and combine evenly.
5. Finally, pour a splash of unsweetened almond milk to create a creamy pesto sauce. You can also make my Spinach Pesto. I recommend not to cook them for more than 10 minutes in total, or they will get really soft and lose their pasta texture.

Serving Zucchini Noodles

These zucchini noodles are delicious on their own, but you can also serve them on the side of a main dish. The best options with this vegetarian side are:

• Cast-Iron Chicken Breast
• Gluten-Free Meatballs
• Lemon Pepper Chicken Tenders
• Steak Alfredo In 30 Minutes
• Or any steak cooked with my Steak Cooking Guide

Serve the zucchini noodles with black pepper, some fresh Parmesan cheese, and a touch of fresh basil for flavor.

Storage Instructions

You can store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze them. Defrost them the day before in the fridge. Rewarm in a saucepan under medium heat or microwave for 2-3 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Zucchini Recipes

If you love zucchini, I recommend you try the following zucchini recipes.

Zucchini Pizza Casserole

Ratatouille Recipe

Zucchini Lasagna

Keto Zucchini Casserole

Did You Like This Recipe?

Leave a comment below or head to our Facebook page for tips, our Instagram page for inspiration, our Pinterest for saving recipes, and Flipboard to get all the new ones!

Zucchini Noodles With Pesto

4.2gNet Carbs

These Zucchini Noodles with Pesto are delicious low-carb pesto zoodles made of spiralized zucchini in a creamy almond milk pesto sauce.

Author: Carine Claudepierre

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 10 minutes mins

Total: 25 minutes mins

Yield: 2 Servings

Serving Size: 1 serving

4.82 from 32 votes

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Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

• ▢ 4 Zucchini 14oz
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil to stir fry the noodles

Sunflower seed pesto sauce

• ▢ ⅓ cup Sunflower Seeds
• ▢ 2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves
• ▢ ⅓ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ▢ 3 Garlic Cloves
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
• ▢ ¼ cup Shredded Parmesan or vegan Parmesan or nutritional yeast

For the sauce

• ▢ ¼ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

Instructions

• Cut out the ends of the zucchini.
• Place the zucchini on your spiralizer. If the length of your zucchini doesn't fit the spiralizer, cut the zucchini in half and spiralize half a piece at a time.
• Turn the spiralizer to create zucchini noodles. Make sure you center the zucchini onto the spiralizer and firmly press the zucchini onto the blade while you turn. This will create long zucchini noodles and avoid short curly pieces.
• Set aside on a plate while you are making the sunflower seed pesto.

Sunflower seed pesto

• Heat a small frying pan under medium heat. Add the sunflower seeds and toast them for 2 or 3 minutes until fragrant.
• Transfer the toasted seeds into a food processor along with all the rest of the pesto ingredients: basil leaves, olive oil, garlic clove, salt, and grated Parmesan (use vegan Parmesan or nutritional yeast if dairy-free).
• Process until it forms a smooth pesto spread. It should not take more than 1 minute. If needed, stop the food processor, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and process again until it forms a consistent spread.
• Heat the olive oil in a large pan on low-medium heat. Add the zucchini noodles and toss for 2-5 minutes, stirring often with pasta tongs to warm the noodles evenly. Note that the longer you cook them, the softer they become. For al-dente crunchy zucchini noodles, stop after 2 minutes. I recommend tasting the noodles and adjusting the time to your palate.
• Stir in the homemade sunflower seed pesto and add the unsweetened almond milk to create a sauce.
• Cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce is hot and thick and forms bubbles on the side of the pan. Feel free to add more unsweetened almond milk to create a thinner sauce. To prevent the zucchini noodles from softening too much, don't cook for more than 8 minutes in total.
• Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Notes

Storage: Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze. Defrost the day before in the fridge. Rewarm in a saucepan under medium heat or microwave for 2-3 minutes.

Tools

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NutritionServing Size: 1 serving

Yield: 2 Servings

Nutrition

Serving: 1 servingCalories: 569.6 kcal (28%)Carbohydrates: 12.5 g (4%)Fiber: 8.3 g (35%)Net Carbs: 4.2 gProtein: 12 g (24%)Fat: 54.2 g (83%)Saturated Fat: 8.5 g (53%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 10 gMonounsaturated Fat: 32.9 gCholesterol: 10.9 mg (4%)Sodium: 585.9 mg (25%)Potassium: 1279.5 mg (37%)Sugar: 10.5 g (12%)Vitamin A: 2169.7 IU (43%)Vitamin B12: 0.2 µg (3%)Vitamin C: 76.2 mg (92%)Vitamin D: 0.1 µg (1%)Calcium: 279.3 mg (28%)Iron: 3.7 mg (21%)Magnesium: 164 mg (41%)Zinc: 3.2 mg (21%)