Kale Mushroom Pasta
Kale mushroom pasta is quick and easy and so simple to make. This healthy pasta recipe is ready in 15 minutes and is vegan, gluten free and dairy free. The creamy balsamic sauce is full of flavor and will quickly become a family favorite.
Servings 4
Calories 363kcal
Ingredients
- 1 medium white onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 10 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 1 bunch lacitino kale, destemmed and chopped
- 1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 8 oz chickpea or lentil pasta
Creamy Balsamic Sauce
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup water
- 2-4 tbsp reserved pasta water (optional, as needed)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- While the water is coming up to a boil, chop the onions, garlic, slice the mushrooms, destem and chop the kale and cut the tomatoes in half.
- In a bowl combine the creamy balsamic sauce ingredients in a bowl. Stir well to combine.
- When the water comes up to a boil, add the pasta to the pot. For chickpea pasta, cook the pasta one minute less than indicated on the box.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is preheated spray with olive oil or avocado oil and add the chopped onion. Cook 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, add the garlic to the saute pan and cook 1 minute.
- Push the onions and garlic to the side and add the sliced mushrooms. Cook 5-7 minutes. After 5 minutes, you can stir in the onions and garlic.
- Sprinkle the mushrooms with salt, add chopped kale and stir well. Turn off the heat and allow the kale to wilt.
- Before draining the pasta, reserve about 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.
- Drain the pasta and add it directly to the skillet with the veggies. Pour the balsamic sauce over top and add the sliced tomatoes. Stir well.
Notes
Top tips
- Be sure to chop all the vegetables before you start cooking so that nothing burns (usually I do this while the water is coming up to a boil).
- As you are adding more veggies to the sauté pan, move whatever is in the pan already to the side to allow the next layer of flavor to cook. This helps ensure the mushrooms cook down and aren’t waterlogged. When you add the kale you don’t have to push things to the side, you can simply add the kale and start stirring, the heat from the pan will help it wilt quickly.
- This recipe is written with chickpea or lentil pasta, which comes in 8 oz containers (where regular pasta typically comes in 16 oz. containers). This means that you will only need half a box for regular pasta or you can double the veggies/sauce. I like to use chickpea or lentil pasta when it's a vegan recipe to increase the protein and fiber to make it more filling. You will be surprised how filling the legume-based pastas are.
- To help ensure the sauce coats the pasta well, I recommend you reserve about 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water before draining as this will easily coat the pasta and ensure your sauce is the perfect consistency.
- If you are using chickpea-based pasta, I always recommend cooking the pasta 1 minute less than the minimum time on the box. I find it gets too mushy otherwise. This is also true with many of the gluten free pastas that I have tried. Lentil based pasta is the only gluten free pasta that I cook to the time recommended on the box.
- Fridge: Store leftover kale mushroom pasta in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezer: Leftover pasta can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months, however I don’t recommend freezing the leftover mushroom pasta since the mushrooms will get waterlogged when frozen.
Nutrition
Calories: 363kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 13g | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 12g