This creamy Pumpkin Pasta recipe is made with coconut milk, pumpkin puree and crispy sage leaves in under 15 minutes. Deceptively vegan, it will soon become your new favorite! Video. Vegan.
We had this creamy pumpkin pasta for dinner last night, and my husband Brian kept oohing and ahhing with every bite. After his third helping (the true test), I asked him what he thought was in it. He replied, “butterrrrr”. Honestly, I loved hearing that, because he loves butter!
I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was vegan. Haha. 🙂 The secret ingredient here is coconut milk- and believe me when I tell you, paired with pumpkin puree and the shallots, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg and sage, the sauce is lusciously creamy!
What brings the pumpkin pasta to the next level are the crispy sage leaves and crispy garlic chips- a quick, easy addition that truly elevates!
Why You’ll Love This!
- A comforting, savory fall and winter recipe. This is the perfect way to incorporate pumpkin into your fall or winter menu. The creamy, rich sauce is so comforting, and the garlicky, sage flavor is perfect for warming up on cold days.
- Deceptively vegan! The pumpkin sauce is made with coconut milk to create a truly buttery taste.
- Made in less than 30 minutes with simple ingredients. This pasta comes together in just 25 minutes! It is made with shallot, garlic, sage, and pantry staples.
Ingredients
- Pasta (fettucini, linguini, tagliatelle, pappardelle): The choice of pasta influences the texture and mouthfeel of the dish. These long and thick noodles are perfect for holding onto the creamy pumpkin sauce.
- Olive oil: Adds richness and enhances the overall flavor of the dish.
- Shallot: Provides a delicate onion-like flavor that complements the other ingredients in the sauce.
- Garlic cloves: Adds a savory and aromatic taste to the dish, enhancing the overall flavor profile.
- Fresh sage leaves: Brings a warm earthy flavor to the sauce, creating a comforting and fragrant element.
- Pumpkin puree: The star ingredient that gives the dish its distinct pumpkin flavor and creamy texture. Make sure not to use pumpkin pie filling. Use store-bought, or make your own pumpkin puree.
- Coconut milk or coconut cream: Adds richness and creaminess to the sauce, giving it a luscious and velvety texture. See recipe notes for a substitution.
- Cayenne: Adds a subtle kick of heat to the dish, adding depth to the flavors.
- Nutmeg: Adds warmth and a hint of sweetness to the sauce, complementing the pumpkin flavor.
- Cinnamon: Adds a touch of warmth and depth to the sauce, enhancing the overall flavor profile.
How to Make Pumpkin Pasta
Cook pasta in a large pot of generously salted water.
In a medium pot, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add the shallots, garlic and sage, and sauté until tender, golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the coconut milk and pumpkin puree and whisk until smooth and combined, gently heating.
Add the salt, black pepper, cayenne, nutmeg and cinnamon. Taste and adjust salt and heat to taste. If it tastes bland, it needs salt. Once hot, turn the heat off.
Drain the pasta water (save a cupful just in case) and toss pasta with the sauce. Taste and season once more with salt and pepper.
Serve with parmesan or pecorino cheese (or vegan cheese), crispy sage leaves, or garlic chips (see notes).
How to Make Garlic Chips & Crispy Sage
Slice 4-5 fat garlic cloves lengthwise into very thin slices. Heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Sear the garlic slices 1-2 minutes on each side until golden. Place on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. These can be made in advance.
Heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and place 12 sage leaves in the oil until darkened (but not brown) then flip. Once the other side is golden, place on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. These can be made ahead of time.
Expert Tips
- Salt the water generously. When preparing the pasta add plenty of salt to the pot of water. This will enhance the overall flavor.
- Cook the pasta al dente. Be careful not to overcook the pasta. It will continue to cook after it is drained and added to the pot with the pasta sauce.
- Make the pasta more or less saucy depending on your preference. Following the instructions below will result in a very saucy pasta. If you prefer less sauce, simply increase the amount of pasta used!
- Make a bechamel sauce in lieu of the coconut milk. If you wish to leave out the coconut milk, you can create a bechamel instead. When the shallots/garlic/sage mixture is golden, add 1 more tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with 3 tablespoons flour, toasting the flour in the pan for 1-2 minutes. Gradually add in 1 ½ cups of milk (or plant-based milk, like almond milk) and whisk while heating, just until it comes to a simmer, whisking often. Stir in the pumpkin puree and whisk until smooth, and heat until hot. Add salt and spices and continue with the recipe.
- Meal prep the pasta sauce. The pasta sauce can be made in advance and stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Or freeze!
What To Serve with Pumpkin Pasta!
- Perfect Roasted Broccoli
- Savory Leek Bread
- Pear Salad with Vanilla Fig Dressing
- Waldorf Salad
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Substitutions
- Gluten-free: You can make this pasta dish gluten-free by using gluten-free pasta, like fettucini or linguini.
- Canned pumpkin puree: If you wish to change it up, you can swap the pumpkin puree for canned butternut squash puree or sweet potato puree. Or make your own Pumpkin Puree!
- Coconut milk: You can leave out the coconut milk and make a bechamel instead. See the notes for instructions!
FAQs
Because this recipe is divinely saucy and creamy, it works best with long and thick noodles like fettucini, linguini, tagliatelle, or pappardelle. However, cylindrical pasta shapes like penne or rigatoni work well too.
Pumpkin is subtly sweet, which is why we use shallot and garlic in this recipe to create a perfectly sweet and savory, aromatic dish. Spices like nutmeg and cayenne pair well with pumpkin too!
Yes! If you prefer to use homemade pumpkin puree it works just as well as canned in this recipe.
Yes! Canned pumpkin puree is used for this recipe. Be careful not to buy pumpkin pie filling.
This pasta tastes delicious with freshly grated parmesan or pecorino on top. You can also serve it with vegan parmesan to keep it dairy-free. See the notes for instructions on how to make garlic chips and crispy sage for garnish. Garlic bread or any other kind of bread is great with this recipe for dipping into the sauce.
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days. To reheat, add the pasta to a saucepan or large skillet on the stove with a little oil and heat on medium until warm all the way through. If you’re in a pinch, you can always reheat in the microwave too.
You can also reserve some extra sauce in a sealed jar and reheat the pasta with the extra sauce to help create that creamy, saucy texture once again. Just pull aside some sauce before adding the pasta when preparing this dish.
We hope you enjoy this cozy pumpkin pasta! Leave us a note in the comments to let us know what you think!
xoxo
More favorite vegan pastas!
Pumpkin Pasta Recipe Video
Pasta Pumpkin Recipe
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: dinner, pasta recipe,
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This creamy Pumpkin Pasta recipe is made with simple ingredients in under 15 minutes. Deceptively vegan, it will soon become your new favorite!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pasta- fettucini, linguini, tagliatelle, papperadelle
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large shallot- diced ( 1/2 cup)
- 4–6 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 10 sage leaves, chopped
- 14-ounce can of pumpkin puree (do not use pumpkin pie puree)
- 14-ounce can of coconut milk or coconut cream (see notes for alternatives)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- Pinch cayenne
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Optional: Serve with grated parmesan, pecorino, crispy sage, or garlic chips. (see notes)
Instructions
- Cook pasta in a large pot of generously salted water.
- In a medium pot, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add the shallots, garlic and sage, and saute until tender, golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the coconut milk and pumpkin puree and whisk until smooth and combined, gently heating.
- Add the salt, black pepper, cayenne, nutmeg and cinnamon. Taste and adjust salt and heat to taste. If it tastes bland, it needs salt. Once hot, turn the heat off.
- Drain the pasta (save a little hot pasta water in case you need it to loosen the pasta) and toss the sauce with the pasta. Taste and season once more with salt and pepper.
- Serve with parmesan or pecorino cheese (or vegan cheese), crispy sage leave, or garlic chips (see notes).
Notes
Pasta to Sauce Ratio: This produces a very “saucy” pasta- which I like. You can increase the dry pasta amount ( 10-12 ounces) if you prefer a less saucy pasta.
Instead of coconut milk, you can make a bechamel. When the shallots/garlic/sage mixture is golden, add 1 more tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with 3 tablespoons flour, toasting the flour in the pan for 1-2 minutes. Gradually add in 1 ½ cups of milk (or plant-based milk) and whisk while heating, just until it just comes to a simmer, whisking often- it will thicken. Stir in the pumpkin puree and whisk until smooth, and heat until hot. Add salt and spices and continue with the recipe. Coconut adds a bit of sweetness, so feel free to add a tiny amount of maple syrup (½ teaspoon) if you like.
Crispy Garlic Chips: Slice 4-5 fat garlic cloves lengthwise into very thin slices. Heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Sear the garlic slices 1-2 minutes on each side until golden. Place on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. These can be made ahead.
Crispy Sage: Heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and place 12 sage leaves in the oil until darkened (but not brown) then flip. Once the other side is golden, place on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. these can be made ahead.
The pasta sauce can be made ahead as well and stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ¼ cup
- Calories: 464
- Sugar: 5.7 g
- Sodium: 746.5 mg
- Fat: 23.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 14.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 56.8 g
- Fiber: 5.8 g
- Protein: 10.7 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
In short: not really my cup of tea, and I guess I should’ve known better, haha.
I went in trusting the comments saying the coconut flavor is barely present if at all. In reality, with such minimal ingredients, how could it not taste like coconut..?
It’s an odd flavor to me — the coconut is definitely present, and the mustiness of the sage somehow enhances it. My family was not a fan of how the flavors gave an overall “sweet” impression. It balanced out a little when eaten with a salty-savory sausage, but in the end I don’t have plans to make this again.
Advice to anyone who is not a fan of coconut, use the béchamel substitute if you plan on trying this recipe. Also, the consistency goes well with wide noodles (ex. pappardelle).
Sorry You didn’t enjoy this Lena- yes if coconut is not your favorite- then I can see how it wouldn’t be your cup of tea! Thanks for the feedback.
Soooo easy and tasty! Sometimes I add chicken, which is also great.
Really glad you are enjoying!
My very picky partner gave this a 9.5/10…that’s wild. We made it with jovial tagliatelle egg noodles, and roasted/purred our own sweet pumpkins for the pumpkin puree. For such simple ingredients I’m blown away how good it was! We used fresh nutmeg and sage from our garden too, which I think really made a difference as well.
Thats so great! Love your attention to the ingredients.
This was really delicious. I tried it with the bechamel sauce, and used dried sage in the sauce, and it was excellent. One question: I made a double portion because we wanted leftovers for lunch, but then I ended up with a lot of extra sauce–is it OK to freeze the sauce?
So glad you liked this one! We haven’t tried freezing the sauce but it sure seems like it would work just fine. Let us know if you give it a try!
How much dried sage did you use?
Can’t wait to try this one. I wonder if actual pumpkin could be used rather than purée?
Yes! You can roast your pumpkin (we have a recipe for this) and blend smooth in a food processor.
Made this for dinner and we all loved it! Definitely a keeper. Thank you so much ❤️
Perfect!
Delicious! I added some toasted pine nuts for crunch.
Yummy!
So yummy. Coconut cream makes it!!
Totally! Glad you liked it!
Delicious! Another reviewer said they topped the pasta with some crispy bacon and I did the same. I served the pasta with a side salad and roasted broccoli. Thanks for another yummy recipe!
Awesome Julie, the reviews are so helpful. Glad you found some inspiration!
WOW!! This was REALLY good! I do not like coconut, but based on other reviews I went ahead and used a can of coconut milk. It was really creamy and I did not notice any taste of coconut. I did not have a shallot, I used 1/2 cup yellow onion, added some bacon, used a pound of fettuccine, and added 1/2 cup of pasta water. This recipe was a big hit with my family! I will be making it again soon!
Awesome Angela, so happy you gave it a try!