Seedy Pesto Zucchini Noodles
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Slightly sautéed zucchini noodles are tossed in a homemade pesto made with pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, peas, spinach, basil, and parsley served with roasted cherry tomatoes and garnished with vegan Parmesan cheese for an easy, delicious gluten-free, vegan, plant-based dinner.
This is one of those meals where you just feel healthier with each bite, knowing you’re nourishing your body with a 100% plant-based meal. And let this Italian gal be the first to tell you how amazing it tastes too! Traditional pesto gets a fresh take made with three different kinds of seeds (for all my friends out there who have nut allergies!) and the texture is dreamy!
I’ve had these Seedy Pesto Zucchini Noodles for a couple meals now, just to make sure they deserved a home on the Healthy Little Vittles blog, and they tasted just as delicious as leftovers as they did the evening I made them. And y’all know I LOVE it when I can eat leftovers for lunch the next day because, well… #momlife.
Why I’m totally swooning over zucchini noodles (zoodles) right now:
☆ they are naturally gluten-free, vegan, plant-based.
☆ they are also grain-free, which I’ve been trying to include more grain-free foods in my diet.
☆ these “noodles” are ready in seriously 5 minutes, and you can even eat them raw! Heck to the yeah!
☆ zoodles. who doesn’t like the word zoodles?
So here’s how simple this Seedy Pesto Zucchini Noodles meal is. Roast the tomatoes, sauté the zucchini noodles, blend the pesto, toss, serve, devour. We’re talking 25-30 minutes here people. The beauty of simplifying our meals, but still being swept off our feet.
I wanted to create a all-time favorite with the intention of making it more nourishing and nut-free as well. Most traditional pestos contain nuts so when I had the idea to replace the nuts with seeds I was super excited to get in the kitchen to create these Seedy Pesto Zucchini Noodles. I have to say, the pesto may have turned out better than I even envisioned. The other great thing about this seedy pesto is you don’t have to over-blend it. I like the texture of having some of the nuts not completely pureed. And I added kale into this pesto because, why not? Kale is life, duh. LOL.
Now I happened to buy my zucchini noodles already zoodle-fied… you know what I mean, already spiralized into their noodle form, but if you can’t find them already prepared at the grocery store, it won’t take much more time to bust out that spiralizer and make your own. You can easily do that while the tomatoes roast. Are you ready to zoodle?! Let’s dig in! As always I love to see your re-creations of my recipes so be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook!
If you’re a big pesto fan like I am, check out these MEDITERRANEAN PESTO COLLARD WRAPS or my GREEN GODDESS PESTO BOWLS. You can even sub this seedy pesto if you’re avoiding nuts in those recipes 🙂
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Seedy Pesto Zucchini Noodles
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 people 1x
- Diet: VeganDiet
Description
Slightly sautéed zucchini noodles are tossed in a homemade pesto made with pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, peas, spinach, basil, and parsley served with roasted cherry tomatoes and garnished with vegan Parmesan cheese for an easy, delicious gluten-free, vegan, plant-based dinner.
Ingredients
- ~6-8 cups (20 oz) zucchini noodles
- Seedy Pesto (below)
- 10 oz cherry tomatoes (golden or red)
- vegan parmesan for garnishing (opt.)
Seedy Pesto
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup raw hemp seeds
- 3 ounces fresh basil leaves
- 0.5 ounces fresh parsley
- 1 large handful of spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pinch pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
- Wash and place your cherry tomatoes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt
- Roast the tomatoes for about 10 minutes until the skins start to break and juice.
- Thaw your peas in the microwave, covered with water. Drain and set aside.
- Blend all the pesto ingredients together in your food processor/blender, including the peas, making sure the and basil is blended fully but it’s ok to have chunks of seeds for added texture.
- Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the zucchini noodles to the skillet, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and saute them for about 5 minutes tossing occasionally.
- Add the pesto to the skillet, toss to combine.
- Serve the pesto zoodles into bowls and top with roasted tomatoes and garnish with vegan parmesan cheese and additional seeds if desired.
- Store leftovers in the fridge and consume within a couple of days.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Additional Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Lunch & Dinner
- Cuisine: American
