Creamy Garlic Butternut Squash Noodles (Whole30)
Creamy garlic butternut squash noodles are the perfect quick and easy weeknight meal! Butternut squash noodles are a fun alternative to pasta and are just as filling and delicious. The dairy free creamy garlic sauce will make you want to lick the plate, this recipe is sure to become one of your favorites.
Once you try this recipe and decide you love the creamy garlic sauce, you should try vegan spinach artichoke dip or spinach artichoke stuffed mushrooms!
Instructions
Start by peeling the butternut squash. Remove the top and the bulbus part of the squash, you only need the neck for spiralizing. Use your spiralizer to spiralize the butternut squash into thick noodles. Trim the noodles down into more manageable pieces. Add parchment paper to baking sheet. Spray with avocado oil and make a thin layer of the noodles (divide between 2 pans if needed). Bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes. Make the sauce: Add hemp hearts, garlic olive oil, water and salt in a blender. Blend well until smooth (1-2 minutes). Don’t overcook the noodles or they will fall apart when tossing them in the sauce. Check at 12 minutes. They should be soft but not falling apart. In a large skillet, add avocado oil and baby arugula. Cook 1 minute, add salt and cover, cook 1-2 more minutes until fully wilted. Once arugula is wilted, carefully add the butternut squash noodles to the skillet. Pour over the creamy garlic sauce and carefully toss well to combine.
Tips for success
- If you don’t have hemp hearts on hand, you can also use soaked cashews. Simply soak the cashews in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain the cashews before blending.
- When shopping for butternut squash to spiralize, look for one with a long neck, this way you get more noodles!
Creamy Garlic Butternut Squash Noodles
Guided Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, spiralized - see notes in post on instructions
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 4 cups arugula - or fresh baby spinach
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Creamy Garlic Sauce
- ½ cup hemp hearts - or soaked cashews
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons garlic olive oil - or olive oil and garlic powder, see notes
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Peel and spiralize the butternut squash1 butternut squash, spiralized
- Divide the butternut squash between 2 baking sheets (lined with parchment paper) and bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes
- While the butternut squash noodles are baking, make the sauce
- Place all the ingredients for the Creamy Garlic Sauce in a high speed blender and blend for 1 minute (I used our Ninja bullet)½ cup hemp hearts, ½ cup water, 2 tablespoons garlic olive oil, 1/4-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- Heat up a cast iron skillet or large pan. Add 1 avocado oil and the organic arugula. Season with salt and sauté 1 minute, then cover and cook 1 more minute, until wilted.1 tablespoon avocado oil, 4 cups arugula, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Add the butternut squash noodles to the arugula and pour the sauce onto the noodles. Stir well. Serve hot.
Equipment
- Spiralizer
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Other ways to cook butternut squash noodles
- Sauté butternut squash noodles in a large sauté pan with 1-2 tablespoons of oil or ghee for 7-10 minutes. The noodles do tend to break the more you stir them so it’s best to use tongs. Do this in batches if the pan is overcrowded.
- Quick boil: Cook for 2-3 minutes in boiling water. The noodles can quickly over-cook with this method so stay vigilant.
Common questions
What if you don’t have a spiralizer?
If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can also find butternut squash noodles in many grocery stores now. Whole Foods, Trader Joes and other stores now carry them in the refrigerated produce section of the grocery store.
Alternatively, you can serve this creamy garlic sauce over regular pasta, roasted veggies or even over cauliflower rice.
What if the butternut squash is not easy to spiralize?
A tip is to place the squash in the microwave for 2-3 minutes to soften it, making it easier to spiralize.
Can you store butternut squash noodles in the fridge?
Yes, after cooking you can store this in the fridge for 3-4 days.
You can also peel and spiralize the butternut squash and store it in an airtight container 5 days before cooking it. This is great for weekend prep!
DELICIOUS! I absolutely loved this recipe. I made a couple of small changes….used frozen butternut squash noodles, roasted a clove of garlic for 10 mins before blending it with the other sauce ingredients and I sautéed the spinach in coconut oil for extra flavour….such a yummy recipe and soooo easy. This will definitely be on repeat for me.
This is ridiculously delicious!! I don’t generally like the texture of squash, so baked spiralized noodles is a great way for me to eat this healthy food. And the creamy sauce … O M G. I did a half recipe of the sauce with 10 oz of buttoodles (butternut squash noodles), and added 2 cloves of raw garlic. (Because it never hurts to have vampire-repelling breath!)
Thank you, thank you! This will be a regular thing in my house from now on.
Just made this… and,
Oh.
My.
God.
The simplicity of the cashew cream is so deceiving! This was my first experience cooking an entirely “vegan” meal and now definitely not my last.
Thank you for such a delicious, clean and easy recipe!
I cannot thank you enough for sharing this recipe. This recipe alone made me realize that I am totally capable of making something incredibly tasty and so healthy. I feel so excited. Thankyou!
I tried this recipe last night. The garlic sauce was fantastic. Question for you, actually 2, how long will the sauce keep in the fridge if i don’t use it all and what else do you put it on. ?
Tracey
Hey Tracey! Thank you so much for the note! I’m so glad you loved it! So the sauce will last 2-3 days in the fridge (in a covered container). I love it on spaghetti squash, over kale or spinach and I actually use it in the Spinach Artichoke Dip (https://bitesofwellness.com/whole30-spinach-artichoke-dip/)
Ridiculously good! That sauce is crazy good, I’m already thinking of other things I can use it on.
Hello,
Would there be an alternate substitute to hemp hearts?
You could use cashews that have been soaked in hot water until softened. Normally at least 2 hours but if you need them quicker you can microwave the cashews with the water for 2 minutes. let sit for 5 minutes and they should be soft enough.
How many cups or grams of noodles did you use?
I don’t know off hand. It was the noodles from a large butternut squash. I’ve made this many times with various sizes of squash and it always turns out amazing. Hope this helps
Could I use a hemp and flax blend?!
I have not tried this, I don’t think you would get the same texture or flavor though
Finally found a winning recipe for butternut squash pasta. Instead of garlic infused Olive oil I roasted a few heads of olive oil, used 1.5 for bread spread and 1/2 for the olive oil. Amazing! Hemp hearts! Who knew?
Hi! I used a hot cast iron pan and tossed in coconut oil, butternut squash noodles, mushrooms, then used roasted garlic tahini paste with a dash of olive oil and water when they were toasty. Topped with fresh herbs from the garden and scallions- wow!! So tasty!! Great idea!
I never comment on anything but this strange idea actually tastes like a creamy garlic sauce. I’m not vegan and will be adding Parmesan cheese when I serve this over the butternut squash noodles I bought and pork meatballs I made. But I’m impressed with the flavour. Maybe could use less water but hopefully it thickens up. I didn’t have garlic oil so I did oil and garlic. I blended a little longer to try to cook out some of the raw garlic flavour. Which worked. Thanks.
Congratulations!
Your post is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week and I just pinned it! Thanks so much for sharing with us and hope you will come back soon!
Miz Helen
This sauce looks so creamy! Love that it is made out of hemp seeds!
This looks amazing, never thought to use butternut squash to make noodles….very creative, and that creamy garlic sauce…wow