Here’s a quick and simple recipe for Zucchini Pasta. Grated zucchini melts into a flavorful succulent sauce, perfect for cradling linguini or your favorite pasta! Enhanced with lemon, black pepper and garlic you’ll have dinner on the table in 30 minutes! Video. Go here for Spiralized Zucchini Noodles.
Even the most thorough change happens one choice at a time.
Charles eisenstein
This easy Zucchini Pasta recipe is here to honor the beloved zucchini plant that just keeps on giving! We love the generosity of this plant. And we especially appreciate recipes that help us use them up! This is a simple, quick dish that comes together in about half an hour. You could also get all the ingredients prepped out ahead of time and then cook this up 10 minutes before serving!
Zucchini pasta tastes so clean, light, and savory. Lemon, black pepper, and garlic give their goodness while the olive oil and broth create richness. We’ve intentionally left out the butter here- as the zucchini melts as it cooks, turning it into a zucchini pasta sauce.
Make it gluten-free with your choice of pasta. We add in parmesan, but it is flavorful without if you want to keep it vegan or use vegan parmesan! We love topping our vegan pasta dishes with vegan cheesy sprinkle…so yummy.
Table of Contents
- Ingredients In Zucchini Pasta
- Ingredient Notes
- How To Make Easy Zucchini Pasta
- What to Serve With Easy Zucchini Pasta
- The Best Grilled Chicken
- Vegan Bacon
- Perfect Grilled Salmon
- Baked Tofu (with 3 Marinades)
- More Zucchini Dishes You May Enjoy
- Fregola with Corn, Zucchini & Basil
- 31+ Easy Zucchini Recipes
- Stuffed Zucchini Boats
- Zucchini Lasagna (without noodles)
- Zucchini Pasta Video
- Easy Zucchini Pasta Recipe
Ingredients In Zucchini Pasta
Ingredient Notes
- grated zucchini – any summer squash variety will work, use zucchini, summer squash, patty pan or a combo! If they are very large, scrape out the seeds.
- pasta– linguine, spaghetti or fettuccine, orzo is fun too! Feel free to use gluten-free pasta or grain-free pasta. Low-carb almond flour pasta is available in some upscale grocery stores in the freezer section.
- cheese -grated parmesan cheese, pecorino romano or Vegan Cheesy Sprinkle
- extra-virgin olive oil
- Herbs– Italian parsley or fresh basil leaves
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Ways To Enhance
- add Aleppo or red pepper flakes in with the garlic for spice
- for dreamy richness add 1/4 cup heavy cream (or rich cashew cream) in with the broth.
- Top with toasted bread crumbs or crushed croutons for extra texture.
- Top with halved cherry tomatoes for color!
- add chickpeas or shrimp scampi for extra protein.
How To Make Easy Zucchini Pasta
STEP ONE
In a large pot, boil the pasta in salted water to al dente, according to the package directions and drain. Grate and chop all your ingredients.
STEP TWO
In a large skillet or sauté pan add garlic and olive oil and cook for about a minute over medium heat. Add grated zucchini, and stir to coat with oil and garlic.
STEP THREE
Add in broth and lemon zest and cook for about 5 minutes; the zucchini should soften and come to a light simmer for a few minutes.
STEP FOUR
Toss in parsley, lemon juice, kosher salt and pepper. Toss to distribute thoroughly. Add pasta and sprinkle in parmesan cheese.
Transferring this to a serving dish is helpful as the sauciness tends to sink to the bottom, this way you can scrape all the yummy bits onto the top of the pasta.
Serve with another sprinkle of parmesan and black pepper.
FAQs
Zucchini has a very mild flavor and adapts to almost any flavor profile, from savory to sweet. It is an easy vegetable to add in as it goes with most anything.
Rich in antioxidants, zucchini is packed with nutrients as well as low in calories, fat and sugars. Also rich in vitamin B which helps regulate blood glucose and may play a roll in protecting from diabetes.
Yes, store shredded zucchini in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Yes. An easy way to do this is to shred the zucchini and lay it out on a sheet pan, freeze, and then seal the shreds in mason jars or a ziplock bags in the freezer for 3 to 4 months. Frozen shreds of zucchini works great for adding to soups, casseroles, sauces or smoothies. Not as great for baked goods.
What to Serve With Easy Zucchini Pasta
Enjoy the leftovers for up to 3 days, in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat the zucchini pasta on the stovetop in a saute pan, or microwave.
More Zucchini Dishes You May Enjoy
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
Zucchini Pasta Video
Easy Zucchini Pasta Recipe
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 5–6 cups 1x
- Category: pasta, main,
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Here’s a quick and simple recipe for Easy Zucchini Pasta. Grated zucchini melts into a flavorful succulent sauce, perfect for cradling linguini or your favorite pasta! Enhanced with lemon, black pepper and garlic you’ll have dinner on the table in 30 minutes! Vegan and gluten-free adaptable.
Ingredients
- 8–10 ounces pasta cooked in salted water according to the package directions
- 5 garlic cloves (more to taste), chopped small
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1.5 pounds zucchini, grated ( use a hand grater or food processor with grater attachment)
- 1/2 cup chicken or veggie broth; make sure it is flavorful!
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced, keep separate from each other + more to taste
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper (this amount give a little peppery zing – adjust to taste)
- 1 bunch parsley, chopped small
- 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated + more for topping (use vegan sprinkle for non-dairy garnish)
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan add garlic and olive oil and cook about a minute over medium heat. Add zucchini, stir to coat with oil and garlic.
- Add in broth and lemon zest cook for about 5 minutes, the zucchini should soften and come to a light simmer for a few minutes.
- Toss in parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss to fully distribute. Add pasta and sprinkle in parmesan (optional) evenly. Transferring to a serving dish is helpful as the sauciness tends to sink to the bottom, this way you can scrape all the yummy bits out on to the top of the pasta.
Serve with another sprinkle of parmesan or if keeping it vegan top with vegan cheesy sprinkle.
Notes
Ways to enhance: add Aleppo or red pepper flakes in with the garlic for spice, for dreamy richness add 1/4 cup heavy cream (or rich cashew cream) in with the chicken broth, top with crushed croutons, add chickpeas for plant protein.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
- Calories: 353
- Sugar: 2.2 g
- Sodium: 439.7 mg
- Fat: 13.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 46.6 g
- Fiber: 2.6 g
- Protein: 11.8 g
- Cholesterol: 5.4 mg
The whole family loved this one! I only used 2 garlic as my husband is sensitive and it was great. I served with some marinated grilled chicken. Will definitely make this one again!
Glad to hear this Pam! Thanks for the kind review.
This tastes better than it has any reason to! Will make again. Halved the lemon, used some red pepper flakes, added the cream.
Awesome, love that you made it to your preference!
Tastes wonderful!
I have also made a sauce with cream and curry, we’ve loved it!
Thank you for the recipe!
Yum, sounds great!
This was delicious and very easy to prepare! I added crushed red pepper, just a small amount. I also cut the lemon juice and zest by half, after one reviewer said they only tasted lemon. I added some fresh chopped basil and used gnocchi instead of linguine. My husband and I loved it. Perfect summer pasta dish!
Love it Jewel!
Perfect for a super simple summery meal with minimal ingredients!
Great to hear Amanda!
Mine came out super duper lemony, i think i was too powerful when juicing the lemon becuase its all i can taste lol. Would probably add half the lemon juice that I did next time
Oh! I can see how this could totally vary depending on the size and juiciness of the lemon! I will make a note of that.
I made this for friends and it was a hit! The lemon and garlic made it so tasty and flavorful, plus the recipe is quite simple and easy to do. I’m sure I will do this recipe many more times!
Oh good Bhakti-glad you enjoyed!
Super easy and simple. I added a shallot in with the garlic step and it was great. I used chicken bouillon instead of broth and there was no noticeable difference. Make if you’re looking for something mellow and quick. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed Piper!
Super quick and easy with minimal ingredients. I used Better Than Bouillon for the broth and it was fantastic. Keeping this one on our family favorites list for quick week night rescue dinners.
Great to hear!
Hello! I am enjoying this for leftovers as we speak!! I’m wondering if you have a recommendation for a parsley substitute. I just don’t love parsley and there is a lot of it in this one! Maybe I put too much in.
Basil would be great, it’ll turn dark but still be yummy.
Delicious, just made this with zucchini from the garden, added basil and aleppo pepper and a meyer lemon and upped the garlic to 6. So tasty and simple.
Love it Cheri!
Easy and delicious week-night meal.
Awesome to hear Jenny!
A family member is allergic to lemon and all citrus. Any suggestions to substitute for the juice and zest?
Lemon thyme (or a pinch of sumac) and a splash of champagne vinegar (apple cider or white balsamic would work too). There is also something called Verjus that is a good lemon juice replacement.
I’m actually not a huge fan of zucchini alone but bought it on sale in bulk (I couldn’t resist the good deal!) so was looking for a way to use the last couple before I’d have to toss them. This recipe was amazing! I went easy on the lemon juice and garlic (personal preference). I didn’t add pasta, didn’t have any fresh parsley so used dried instead, and added vegan mozzarella cheese at the end – it was delicious! Thank you! I love how simple it was – I’ll definitely be making it again!!
Glad you enjoyed this!
Can I use Romano cheese instead of Parmesan?
sure!
Made this last night with garden zucchini and it was delicious. Added your suggestions of the chickpeas and red pepper flakes. Used nutritional yeast in place of the parmesan. Will definitely be making this again and again. Thank you for another amazing recipe.
Awesome to hear Paula!
Oh my!! I wasn’t expecting it to be so delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe.
Glad you enjoyed this!
We prepared and tried it last night. It was great. Maybe adding the red pepper flakes would have been much better though.
Love the chili flakes here!
Fantastic!
Was looking for a way to use our continuing zucchini harvest.
I blended up some cashew cream per your suggestion. Also added chickpeas, which I seasoned with s/p and microwaved for two minutes before tossing into the zucchini mixture. Used some nutritional yeast. Can’t wait to make this again! Thank you.
Love where you took this Melissa, sounds amazing!
Really enjoyed this and very similar to another dish we make with Spinach instead. We panfried some chopped bacon to give it a bit more flavour so didn’t have to use any olive oil. Fantastic to use up all those zucchinis! Thanks!
Sounds great Ling, glad you enjoyed!
This reminds me of linguine with clam sauce. This is much healthier.
Glad you enjoyed Tammi!
OMG, this was so easy and SO tasty! Thank you, Tonia– truly, this one is going to be repeated often 🙂
Awesome Kat! So glad you enjoyed!
Absolutely delicious. I had to give some of mine to my husband as he just raved about it. Thank you, Sylvia.
So glad to hear this Judith!