Quick Spinach Pasta Sauce

15-minutes creamy spinach pasta sauce with only 5 main ingredients. It is sweet and crunchy, but creamy and filling at the same time. It is one of the quickest meal you can have.  

When we need something quick and easy, we usually make pasta. Here you can find our vegan and gluten-free pasta sauce recipes. We particularly love our Cashew Alfredo Sauce as we can add all kinds of yummy leafy greens to it like spinach, arugula or wild garlic. Not to mention our Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese, which is always a hit. By the way, this recipe is also part of our Quick Vegan Meals collection.

How to make lunch or dinner in 15 minutes?

Who doesn’t like quick meals, right? Sometimes you have only 15 minutes to have lunch or dinner on the table. Kids are hungry, you are hungry. There is just no time to waste. You need something to make everyone happy.

Here are the shortcuts we made, so you will have a meal within 15 minutes:

• We used spring onion and not regular onion as it is faster to chop and to cook.
• The pods of sugar peas are edible. So you don’t need to cook them at all as you would need in case of green peas. They are sweet and crunchy at the same time.
• Frozen spinach is already pureed and needs like a minute to be cooked.
• We used canned sweet corn as… Well, you can eat them right from the can.
• For seasoning, we used garlic powder to save time on chopping and cooking the garlic clove.
• Rice noodles are the quickest gluten-free noodles to make. No cooking is needed.

That is all. Healthy, veggie-packed lunch or dinner that is ready in 15 minutes! Everyone is happy. Mission accomplished.

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How to make easy spinach pasta sauce?

This creamy spinach pasta sauce has only 5 main ingredients, but will not leave your taste buds craving more.

• spring onion, 
• mangetout/sugar snap peas/snow peas (any type of peas with edible pods),
• spinach,
• sweet corn, and
• non-dairy cream.

First, cut spring onion to thin strips and cook them lightly in olive oil for a minute (photo #1). Add sugar peas or snow peas or mangetout whichever you have on hand and the seasoning (photo #2). Stir and cook for a couple of minutes. Add sweet corn and thawed spinach (photos #3-4). Stir and cook for a couple of minutes again.

Next step would be to add the dairy-free cream (photo #1). Stir and wait until the cream is boiling (photo #2). Now, add the cooked pasta of your choice and stir until combined (photos #3-4). You really need only 1-2 minutes for everything to cook together and your meal is ready to be served. I told you it was quick, wasn’t it? Before serving, sprinkle them with vegan parmesan.

How to cook rice noodles?

Rice noodles are the easiest to make. You either cook them for only 2 minutes in boiling water or… Alternatively, boil some water in a kettle. Add the noodles to a saucepan and pour the hot water on them. Cover the pan with a lid and your noodles are ready in 10 minutes. No need to turn your stove top on.

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Why we love spinach recipes?

Spinach is the first thing you think of when you hear iron-rich leafy green. It is low carb but high in fiber. Spinach is also rich in Vitamin A, C, K1, calcium, folic acid, and iron. Not to mention…

Did you know that spinach belongs to the amaranth family and is related to beets and quinoa? /Healthline/

Top tips to make a perfect spinach pasta sauce:

• If you are cooking this recipe also in a wok, make sure to heat it up before adding any ingredients. Once the wok is hot, you can turn back the heat to medium, but ALWAYS stir continuously.
• You need to thaw the frozen spinach. However, we buy frozen spinach that is packed in ice cube sizes. In that case, you can toss the frozen spinach cubes into the wok and thaw them while cooking.

FAQ and Substitutions

Can you use fresh spinach?

Yes, of course. However, if you use fresh spinach, your sauce will not be as smooth as with pureed spinach.

Can you use other leafy greens?

Yes, of course. The sauce should work with any other leafy greens, like kale for example. Let us know in the comments, which one would you try.

Can you use other vegetables?

Yes, of course. This sauce works great with other vegetables as well. Whatever is in season or whatever you like.

Can you use something else instead of rice noodles?

Yes, of course. We eat gluten-free, but if it is not important to you, you can choose any other pasta or noodles gluten-free or not. Not to mention zucchini noodles for a low carb pasta dish. Endless possibilities right?

This Spinach Pasta Sauce recipe is vegan so meat-free, dairy-free and egg-free.

This recipe is WFPB-friendly if you cook the spring onions in water or in veggie broth or directly in the dairy-free cream.

The sauce itself is gluten-free, but you can choose your own pasta. We used rice noodles as they are gluten-free, but you can choose quinoa spaghetti or a more protein-packed edamame spaghetti or chia flour pasta.

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More lunch and dinner recipes

You can browse our vegan and gluten-free lunch and dinner recipe gallery or see all recipes using spinach or check out

• Cream of Spinach Soup
• Easy Vegan Mac and Cheese (NO NUTS)
• Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese
• Easy Vegan Eggplant Meatballs Spaghetti
• Creamy Broccoli Lentil Stirfry

UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in July 2018, but was rewritten and republished with step-by-step photos, instructions, and tips in April 2019.