Roast Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce | Vegan

Today, we're going to show you how to make a vegan creamy roasted butternut squash pasta sauce that is both gluten-free and absolutely delicious. Trust us - once you try this butternut squash sauce recipe, you'll never return to plain old spaghetti again!

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We love butternut squash, it is widely used in Argentinean cuisine and while living in Mexico for years it was challenging to get our hands around a nice baby butternut squash.

Thankfully that's not the case here in Italy, so we have been able to enjoy making many of our staple butternut squash recipes and enjoy its slightly sweet flavor in dishes varying from simple soups and roasted butternut squash to fill ravioli, or making butternut squash risotto.

This creamy butternut squash pasta is perfect for a chilly fall day, or you can also enjoy it during summertime in its cold pasta salad version. Plus, it's vegan and gluten-free, so everyone can enjoy it!

This creamy pasta was inspired by my carrot tops pesto pasta salad on this site and pairs well with these healthy roasted Brussels sprouts or green beans with toasted almonds.

Ingredients

To make this vegan butternut squash macaroni and cheese you need a couple of vegan kitchen staples plus veggies.

• butternut squash
• garlic
• fresh thyme
• vegan butter
• leek
• raw cashews
• nutritional yeast
• lemon juice
• bow tie pasta
• frozen green peas

Optional: nutmeg

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Serve with freshly ground black pepper and vegan parmesan cheese, we use our vegan 5 minutes parmesan.

Hint: If you find it too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water to help coat the pasta.

Substitutions

This creamy butternut squash pasta recipe is a quite versatile dish to make, just pay attention to the proportions. See some of the common replacements that we have tried.

• Butternut squash - instead of a baby butternut squash to make the creamy sauce you can also your favorite winter squash, use pumpkin, sugar pumpkin, kabocha squash, or acorn squash.
• Leeks - use shallots, yellow or white onion. You can also use the white bottoms of spring onions.
• Lemon juice - you can use lime or a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.
• Cashews - although we strongly recommend using cashews you could achieve a similar result using hulled almonds.
• Thyme - rosemary makes an equally yummy pasta dish. We also like using fresh basil or fried crispy sage.
• Frozen peas - you could use canned peas, just add the drained peas right before serving, instead of exposing them to heat. You can also skip them, although we think they add a very nice texture and color to the dish.
• Gluten-free - simply use your favorite short gluten-free pasta. Penne, rigatoni, macaroni, fusilli, or elbow pasta work well.
• Nutritional yeast - replace nutritional yeast with your favorite vegan parmesan cheese.
• Vegan butter - you can use olive oil instead. To make butternut squash pasta vegan, the trick is to use good quality vegan butter, go for the earth balance if you want a homemade version, love this vegan butter recipe.

Variations

• Spicy - add red pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish.
• Herbs - to add a more accentuated fall flavor use crispy fried sage leaves instead of thyme.
• Pasta - to make vegan butternut squash macaroni and cheese, switch the pasta selection to macaroni (elbow pasta).

Instead of using roasted squash you could simply steam or boil the squash, and add a couple of drops of smoked paprika to make up for the umami flavor.

Equipment

A blender is essential to make the roast butternut squash pasta sauce, creamy. Use a high-speed blender or a good-quality food processor.

Try using a large baking sheet, so the butternut squash dice roast well.

Storage

Store in an airtight container. Good for 1-2 days. These ingredients do/don't stand up well to freezing.

Recipe

Food safety

We sometimes take for a granted that we have years (or decades) of cooking experience, that the average visitor may not. Add to, or remove from, the list below with health and safety tips.

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with a high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice. See our full Nutritional Disclosure here.

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