If your garden is overflowing with zucchini, this recipe is for you! Made with simple summer ingredients, this creamy zucchini pasta is a delicious and nutritious meal that you can enjoy for lunch or dinner.
Whether you’re looking to add more fiber to your diet, trying to get your kids to eat more vegetables, need to use an abundance of zucchini, or simply want a new dinner idea, this creamy zucchini pasta recipe is a great way to do it.
The combination of cooked zucchini and ricotta cheese creates a creamy zucchini pasta sauce that you can add to any pasta you like and will help to ensure everyone is eating more greens and protein.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Quick – Ready in 25 minutes, this zucchini pasta recipe is perfect for a weeknight meal.
- Easy – If you can boil pasta and sauté vegetables you can make this recipe.
- Creamy – The combination of zucchini and ricotta cheese makes a rich and creamy zucchini pasta sauce.
- Vegetarian – This veggie-filled recipe is something everyone can enjoy.
Ingredients for Creamy Zucchini Pasta
- Pasta – You can use short-cut pasta such as fusilli, cavatappi, or penne, or long pasta such as spaghetti, linguine, or bucatini. Whole wheat pasta would also work well.
- Zucchini – You can use fresh or frozen zucchini for this recipe. Although I used green zucchini in my recipe, you could use yellow summer squash as well.
- Ricotta – To make the creamy zucchini pasta sauce and add some protein at the same time.
- Parmesan – To add a bit more protein, enhance the creaminess, and ensure the sauce is nice and cheesy.
- Shallot – To build the base of the sauce, a small onion will also work. If you don’t have an onion, you can use 1 teaspoon onion powder instead.
- Garlic – To add a depth of flavor. If you don’t have fresh garlic cloves, you can use 1 teaspoon of garlic powder instead.
- Lemon – A bit of lemon juice and lemon zest to add some brightness to the creamy zucchini sauce.
- Olive Oil – To add some healthy fats and cook the veggies.
- Salt and Pepper – To season the pasta.
- Fresh Basil – Although optional, finishing the pasta with some fresh basil helps to brighten the dish.
You can also top your pasta with red pepper flakes if you want to add a bit of heat.
Dietary Adaptions
To Make it Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free pasta noodles.
To Make it Dairy-Free: Swap the ricotta for non-dairy ricotta cheese or full-fat coconut milk, and swap the parmesan for half the amount of nutritional yeast.
How to Make Pasta with Creamy Zucchini Sauce
- Boil the pasta. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta to al dente, then drain, and set aside.
- Cook the zucchini. Sauté the zucchini in a pan with olive oil, onion, and garlic until tender.
- Blend the sauce. Add the cooked zucchini mixture, ricotta cheese, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to a blender or food processor and purée until smooth.
- Mix the pasta and sauce. Return the drained pasta to the pot, cover it with the creamy zucchini pasta sauce, add parmesan cheese, and lemon zest, and toss until well combined.
- Season to taste. Top the fresh basil leaves and additional parmesan cheese as desired.
- Serve and enjoy!
You can find the detailed instructions in the recipe card below.
Red’s Nutrition Tip
I made my recipe with whole milk ricotta cheese, however, if you wanted to reduce the calorie content slightly you could use skim milk ricotta cheese instead. Regardless of which you option choose, you’ll still create a rich, creamy, and veggie-filled pasta sauce.
What to Serve with Zucchini Pasta
This creamy zucchini pasta is a balanced meal with complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and protein and can certainly be enjoyed on its own. If you want to increase the protein content, I recommend serving it with some grilled shrimp, chicken, or steak. To increase the fiber content, I recommend serving it with a simple green salad.
Storage + Reheating
To Store: Allow the pasta to cool completely, then transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To Freeze: Once cooled, transfer the pasta to an airtight container and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To Reheat: Allow the pasta to thaw completely before reheating. To reheat the pasta on the stovetop, place the pasta in a pan on medium heat with 1-2 tablespoons of water, stirring gently, until the water has been absorbed and the pasta is warmed through. To reheat the pasta in the microwave, place the pasta in a microwave-safe container with 1-2 tablespoons of water and reheat for 2-3 minutes, stirring every minute or so, until the water has been absorbed and the pasta is warmed through.
More Ricotta and Zucchini Pasta Recipes:
Print
Creamy Zucchini Pasta
The combination of ricotta cheese and zucchini creates a rich and creamy sauce you can add to any pasta you like. Serve it on its own or top it with additional protein for a healthy lunch or dinner.
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Prep Time: 10 minutes -
Cook Time: 15 minutes
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Total Time: 25 minutes
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Yield: 6 servings 1x
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Category: Dinner
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Method: Stovetop
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Cuisine: American
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
Method:
Cuisine:Ingredients
- 1 pound short-cut pasta, fusilli, cavatappi, or penne
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 shallot or small onion, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound zucchini, diced (about 4 cups)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Black pepper
- Fresh basil, finely chopped, to serve
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil, add the pasta, reduce to a very gentle simmer, and cook to al dente or as per package directions. While the pasta is cooking, scoop out 1 cup of pasta water and set it aside. Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water, and set it aside.
- In a large skillet or pan on medium-high heat, warm the olive oil, then add the minced shallot and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and zucchini to the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes until tender, easily pierced with a fork, and lightly browned in spots.
- Transfer the cooked zucchini mixture to a blender or food processor, add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, salt, and a pinch of black pepper, and purée until smooth.
- Once the pasta is cooked and drained, return it to the pot you cooked it in, pour the creamy zucchini pasta sauce on top, add the parmesan cheese, and lemon zest, and stir until well combined, adding splashes of the reserved pasta water to loosen it up only as needed. Once mixed, taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt and pepper as desired.
- Serve immediately with freshly chopped basil leaves and more grated parmesan cheese as desired. Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 442 calories
- Sugar: 3 grams
- Fat: 13 grams
- Carbohydrates: 62 grams
- Fiber: 4 grams
- Protein: 19 grams
I was wondering if this could be made without making it into a sauce in the blender, and serving it that way?
It would be pretty lumpy, but I suppose you could if you enjoy it that way!
This was a huge hit !!!! It was so good and super quick and easy. Thankyou !!!
Amazing! I’m so happy to hear it, thank you so much for sharing!
We made this, very yummy! What a great way to use up lots of garden zucchini.
So happy you liked it, thank you for sharing!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Everyone loved it from babies to seniors! Made it exactly as written.
I’m so happy to hear it, and I love when a recipe is baby and senior approved! Thank you for sharing.
This was delicious! I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta (still used the full amount of salt) and threw some basil into the blender with the zucchini sauce. Served with grilled chicken and everything about it was satisfying: it satiated my hunger, was fun to make, was full of protein and fiber, and I got to use up so much late summer zucchini.
I love the swap for cottage cheese, I’m happy to hear that works well too, and love the addition of chicken!
So happy you liked it, thank you for sharing. 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight with fresh zucchini from my garden. It was delicious. I’m always looking for new zucchini recipes. Thanks !I plan on making this again.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, thank you so much for sharing!
This is a fantastic recipe! Very happy with how it turned out. I used 2% cottage cheese instead of ricotta because that is what I had in the fridge and it was excellent.
I’m happy to hear the swap for cottage cheese worked well and I’m happy that you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
This was a really nice change from our usual tomato-based sauce that we make for pasta. Some of us wanted a little more “kick” to the dish so a sprinkle of red pepper flakes on top did the trick. We will make this again.
Such a tasty easy meal to prepare, the family loved it.
Happy to hear it, thank you for sharing!
So easy to make and very tasty.
Im not a big fan of pasta but definitely adding this to my menu it delicious and my son is having zucchini without noticing 😬
I’m so happy to hear it, thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Tasty pasta dish which reheated well
Delicious, delicious, delicious!! And very easy to make. I will definitely make this again
Very easy to make and using my fresh zucchini. I love your creamy zucchini pasta.
I am happy to cook with you, I also have my daughter cooking with your recipes.
Thank you
DL
I enjoy all pasta but this one was so easy to make and it was fabulous.
Great use for extra zucchinis during gardening season. So yummy!
Delicious. Shared the recipe with a friend and will definitely make again.
I love this! The sauce is a pretty spring green shade and I threw in extra garlic which I did NOT regret! I cook for myself so making pasta sauces and freezing them in single portions lets me know I have something nutritious that I can defrost instead of a frozen pizza, highly recommend all the pasta sauces on this site for anyone who wants to separate portions and freeze them.
Really delicious!!!! Loved using up the seasonal harvest of zucchini and so quick to pull together for a weeknight dinner. Served with some fresh lightly dressed greens.
So happy you liked it, thanks for sharing, Marnie!