Creamy Cashew Pasta with Tomatoes and Kale
Published 7/11/2016 • Updated 10/7/2024
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If you’ve never tried creamy cashew pasta sauce, this is your recipe! Soften your cashews and then blend them with olive oil, water, garlic, and salt to create a simple vegan pasta sauce!
Pasta lovers – we’re excited for you to try our creamy cashew pasta – a vegan take on a creamy pasta. This recipe is similar to our creamy tomato vegan pasta and vegan pasta bake in that they all use cashews for the base of the sauce. The key is to makings sure your cashews are soft before blending into a luscious sauce.
Feel free to use any noodle your heart desires. My family loves fusilli, but you can also use a stringy spaghetti.
What You Need for this Cashew Pasta Recipe
- Raw cashews: We used plain, unsalted cashews for this recipe.
- Kale: We used kale and tomatoes as the vegetables in the recipe, but feel free to mix things up and use your favorite vegetables.
- Cherry tomatoes: These juicy and sweet little guys were the perfect complement to this dish.
- Fresh basil: We added fresh basil to the sauce for a bit of color and flavor.
- Pasta: feel free to use any kind of pasta you like. We used fusilli, but have also made this recipe with spaghetti noodles.
- Food processor: We used the food processor to make our delicious creamy vegan cashew sauce, but you can also use a high-speed blender like a Vitamix.
How to quickly soften cashews
The easiest way we’ve found to quickly soften cashews is to soak them in boiling water. We typically like to let them soak for at least 4 hours, but overnight is best!
Variations and Substitutions
- Protein: If you are looking to add more protein to this recipe, add some cooked chicken or a can of garbanzo beans to the pan white, sautéing the kale and tomatoes.
- Pasta: feel free to use any type of pasta you like! Some great options are chickpea pasta, red lentil pasta, penne pasta, or even long pasta!
- Cherry tomatoes: We love using fresh tomatoes, but sun-dried tomatoes or red peppers would be super good in this recipe!
- Kale: Spinach or green beans would be super tasty in this dish!
Tips
- The key to a delicious creamy cashew pasta sauce is to be sure you soak the cashews long enough and blend them until completely smooth.
- If you don’t have a food processor, use a blender!
- Save a little extra pasta water to add back into the sauce to make it smoother.
- Want to add a little kick? Add some red pepper flakes on top!
Storage + Freezer Directions
Store leftover vegan pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also freeze for up to 2 months! Since it doesn’t have any dairy, this dish freezes really well!
How do I reheat this vegan pasta recipe?
Place a small pot on the stove on medium heat. Add your leftover pasta and reheat until warm!
Serving Suggestions
This pasta would pair perfectly with a side of crusty bread and Easy Vegan Pesto and a dash of Vegan Parmesan Cheese on top. We also love eating it with a simple green salad.
Creamy Cashew Pasta with Tomatoes and Kale
Ingredients
Cashew Pasta Sauce
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked*
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup fresh basil
Pasta
- 2 cups kale deboned, packed
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 oz. pasta any kind
Instructions
- First, soften the cashews. Boil 4 cups of water. Then, pour the hot water over the cashews and let them soak for at least 4 hours or overnight (this is what I did!). Strain water before use.
- Place all of the ingredients for the sauce into a high-speed food processor or blender and blend on high for 2-3 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides every so often. If your sauce is too thick, add more water a tablespoon at a time. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta according to the package. Strain pasta and set aside.
- Sautée veggies by heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan over medium/high heat. Add in kale and cherry tomatoes and sautée for a few minutes or until kale is at desired texture. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add pasta into veggies and then add the sauce (note: you may have some leftover depending on how saucy you like your pasta!).
Tips & Notes
- The key to a delicious creamy cashew pasta sauce is to be sure you soak the cashews long enough and blend them until completely smooth.
- If you don’t have a food processor, use a blender!
- Save a little extra pasta water to add back into the sauce to make it smoother.
- Want to add a little kick? Add some red pepper flakes on top!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Love love love this recipe
Csn you please let me know how I can reduced the sodium amount? Thank you
Omit the salt! The rest comes naturally from real food.
I know this is an older recipe but I wanted to comment that when I input the ingredients into LifeSum I get drastically different numbers for protein using the same ingredients. I’m not sure how you got to 29g of Protein because I’m getting 12.9? Could I be mistaken or should the protein content be lower? My fat is also much higher at 30g where yours is 7 – have these been flipped? Thanks for the recipe I am excited to try!
Okay, I am officially OBSESSED with this recipe. I made it for the first time tonight and I’m so impressed! It was quick, took maybe 20 minutes. It was easy. SO EASY. And it was utterly delicious!!! I didn’t have enough basil because some of mine went bad before I could use it but it did not matter. I will definitely be making this one again and again!
Girl I totally feel you!! Try some of our other vegan pastas. We use a similar sauce base 😀
My go to recipe. Even my non vegan friends and family love this.
I’m preparing the dish for myself and seems I can’t finish the sauce at a time. I’m thinking of keeping it in a glass jar and store it in fridge. Would it be safe to consume within a week?
Hey Ashley! I think you should be good for a week, though I haven’t tried. You can always try freezing it instead to be safer.
This was amazing!!!! My four-year-old cheese loving daughter totally bought it, and I devoured it. My husband was asking for a little more “kick” so red pepper flakes for him. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, as a new vegan I really needed this!!!!!
YASSSSSSSS! Your 4 year old is a girl after my own heart 🙂
Definitely a do over in this house, could not stop eating it
Cheryl
Can you use almonds instead of cashews (nut allergy)?