A delicious combo of vegan butter, summer squash, garlic and fresh basil make this Vegan Summer Squash Rigatoni an instant hit and easy dinner.
I think I start every recipe with..."this one is super easy". And that's because most recipes on TSV are super easy! It's just how I roll.
And today is no different, because this one is super easy.
This Vegan Summer Squash Rigatoni is the perfect summer dinner. It requires one pot, a few ingredients and less than 30 minutes.
If you haven't noticed, squash is overflowing at the farmer's market right now. It is that time of year when you could easily eat squash at every meal. And luckily, it goes in just about anything. I opted for a yellow squash for this recipe, but you could swap this out for zucchini too.
The sauce for this pasta is super light - it is just made up of vegan butter, olive oil, garlic, pepper and a splash of lemon juice. You can also add a pinch of red pepper flakes if you want a hint of spice.
To add a peppery bite, we are also going to add a handful of arugula that will wilt down and add some greenery to the dish. If you don't like arugula you can easily swap it out for spinach.
And finally, the biggest flavor bomb in this recipe is the fresh basil. Sorry, but you can't swap that out for anything. Fresh basil is so fragrant and adds so much flavor to this recipe. I not only put chopped basil in the sauce, but also added some to the top of each plate. Seriously...so good!
This is one of those recipes that you could eat daily and not get sick of it.
Vegan Summer Squash Rigatoni
Ingredients
- 8 oz rigatoni or pasta of choice
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow squash chopped
- salt & pepper to taste
- 8 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 8 large basil leaves plus more for topping
- 1 handful arugula or spinach
- 1 lemon juiced, to taste
- red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package instructions. Before draining, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Set drained pasta aside.
- Place empty pan back on the stove over medium heat. Add vegan butter and olive oil. Once butter is melted add squash and a pinch of salt & pepper to the pan. Sauté until squash is softened, but not falling apart (approx. 8-10 minutes).
- Add garlic, chopped basil leaves and arugula to the pan and sauté for an additional 2 minutes. Add pasta to the pan and toss to combine. Squeeze lemon juice over the pasta and add pasta water if the sauce needs to loosen up at all. Taste and adjust salt & pepper as needed.
- Serve pasta with red pepper flakes and additional basil.
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Elizabeth
Oh, my! This is so good! I used Bonza pasta for extra protein and added mushrooms because I had some that were just about to go bad. EXCELLENT! I think non-vegans would love this dish and not realize that they were missing any dairy or meat.
Sara
Made this tonight. Added some tofu ricotta I had leftover from a different recipe of yours! It was really good! I swear I only make your recipes now-a-days. 🙂 thank you for making awesome food!!
Brittany
Quick and easy dinner! We added zucchini, mushrooms, and some pine nuts for a crunch. Will definitely be making this again!
Rene
Yum - those sound like perfect additions!
Erica
Super quick recipe! Didn’t have spinach or arugula so I added kale and it still was delicious! Great recipe for all my summer squash that is coming in right now!
Rene
Awesome - so exciting to be able to use the foods straight out of your garden. And kale sounds like the perfect swap!
Erika DeBenedictis
Delicious! Tripled the squash and it was awesome. Thanks for the easy, good recipe!
PK
Delicious! I used lime instead of lemon and left out the spinach/arugula and just used a bit more basil.
I’m already thinking about eating the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Rene
Yay! You can never have enough fresh basil 🙂
Rachel Piner
Soooo flavorful and delicious! I didn’t have arugula and I used a veggie shell pasta instead, and it still turned out amazing! Anyone would love this.
Julie
I made this for dinner last night which it was delicious! This dish has lots of flavor to it. I was out of fresh basil but using dried basil worked out just as well. This recipe is a keeper!
Rene
So glad you liked this!