Spinach Pasta Sauce
Spinach Pasta Sauce is creamy and delicious, packed with nutrients, and ready in just 5 minutes! This 8-ingredient (including spices!) spinach sauce is flavorful, healthy, and great on top of pasta, potatoes, veggies, and more.
Equipment
- 1 Blender or a food processor may be used, but how smooth it gets depends on the strength of your machine
- 1 Blender spatula not necessary, just makes it easier to get all of that spinach pasta sauce goodness out of the blender!
Ingredients
- 16 Ounces Silken Tofu drained, see Notes section below for substitutions
- 2 Cups Baby Spinach packed
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast see Notes section below for substitutions
- 1 Teaspoon Granulated Onion
- 1 Teaspoon Granulated Garlic
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Basil
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt or use 1-2 teaspoons yellow or white miso paste
Instructions
- Add All Ingredients to the Blender: I like to plop in the tofu first (drain the package of excess water, then scrape the container out with a spatula), then add the spinach, liquids, and spices.
- Blend: Sometimes the spinach or the spices like to stick to the sides of the blender. If this happens to you, stop the blender and scrape down the sides with a spatula. Then continue blending.
- Taste and Adjust: Stop the blender and stick a spoon in there. Taste the sauce. If it's not salty enough, add more salt or miso. Not flavorful enough? Add more nutritional yeast, granulated onion, and granulated garlic. Blend again if you add anything.
- Use: Pour your spinach pasta sauce on cooked and drained pasta (I usually put it on my favorite pasta, Chickapea brand, or the edamame pasta I've been loving because it's loaded with protein, as well as spaghetti squash which I also love it on!), potatoes, steamed or roasted veggies, or anything you like! If you need to heat the the silken tofu sauce, you can microwave it in a microwave-safe dish or pour it into a small nonstick sauce pan and heat gently over low heat until warmed. If you're using a high powered blender, you can also blend for about 2 minutes and that will warm it up.
- Store: If you heated the sauce, let it cool to almost room temperature. Store in an airtight jar or container (I find food tastes better when stored in glass) in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Use the sniff test if not sure. I store it in a jar and shake up the jar before using. When reheating, pour the amount you want to use either in a small microwave-safe dish or pour it on your food and then heat it up.
Notes
- Silken Tofu: This recipe calls for 16 ounces of silken tofu. You can find 16-ounce packages of silken tofu in the refrigerator section at your local grocery store, that's where I buy mine even in my little town that has almost nothing. But if you can only buy your silken tofu in the shelf-stable 10 or 12-ounce aseptic containers, you can either use one and a half of those, or just use one pack and add 2-4 tablespoons of soaked raw cashews, soaked raw sunflower seeds, cooked white beans, or cooked potatoes, dehydrated potato flakes. OR use one pack and decrease the rest of the ingredients by 25%.
- Silken Tofu Substitution: If you can only find soft or regular tofu (don't use firm), you can use this and just add a little plain unsweetened non-dairy milk (just enough to blend). If you don't want to use tofu at all, you can do 1+½ cups drained and rinsed canned (or cooked from dried) white beans, or 1 cup of either soaked raw cashews or soaked raw sunflower seeds (and you will need water or plain unsweetened non-dairy milk to blend, and how much depends on how long you soaked them so start with equal parts nuts/seeds and liquid and adjust from there.
- Baby Spinach: This recipe works with either fresh or frozen spinach. If using frozen, thaw it and squeeze out most of the excess liquid. It doesn't have to be perfect, but a lot of extra water may dilute the thickness and flavor of your spinach pasta sauce.
- Baby Spinach Substitution: Baby kale would work well in this recipe instead of spinach (or you could do half and half). If you have regular kale (such as curly kale or lacinato kale), I would lightly steam them before blending if you don't have a high powered blender like a Vitamix, just to ensure it gets thoroughly incorporated in the sauce.
- Nutritional Yeast: If you can't eat nutritional yeast, try a little yellow or white miso paste (just a smidge) and a little extra granulated onion, and granulated garlic.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5 cupCalories: 37kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 4gFat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 168mgPotassium: 134mgFiber: 1gVitamin A: 24IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 42mgIron: 1mg
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