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Looking for a healthier way to enjoy pasta? Our butternut squash pasta is gluten-free, made with minimal ingredients, and tastes incredible.
I’ve switched to Banza
I don’t want to complain about my problems with gluten, but the older I get, the more it seems to bother me. Beer and pizza are the biggest offenders. I occasionally have issues with pasta but didn’t particularly enjoy any of the options out there. Then I discovered Banza!
Banza pasta is awesome. If there are texture and taste differences, it’s very minimal and doesn’t upset the overall dish. If you’re having trouble with gluten and are looking for alternatives, please check this one out. I 10/10 would recommend.
What I also like about Banza is that it has more protein and fewer carbs than traditional pasta. And if you couldn’t guess, Banza shells are the pasta I chose to use for this recipe. If you don’t have access to Banza, regular pasta shells will work just fine!
Butternut squash is my new fallback
I’m not sure what everyone else’s grocery strategy has been during this wild time of the world, but we’ve been getting groceries delivered every two or so weeks. We love buying butternut squash because of how long it lasts before spoiling. We usually save it toward the tail-end of our grocery cycle as it tends to last for about 2 to 3 weeks when stored at room temperature.
In addition to this delicious butternut squash pasta recipe, we have a really great butternut squash salad you can make if you’re sitting with an abundance of squash in your pantry.
What ingredients are in butternut squash pasta?
I love this butternut squash pasta recipe because of how simple the ingredients are. There are two components to the dish. First is the actual butternut squash pasta, and the second being the almond oregano topping.
For the butternut squash sauce, you’ll need about four cups of peeled and cubed butternut squash, half of an onion, some garlic cloves, red pepper flakes, vegetable broth, and nutritional yeast.
For the almond topping, you’ll need some unsalted almonds, fresh oregano, and some salt and pepper. Easy enough, right?
As far as equipment, you’ll need 2 pots – one to cook the pasta, and one to cook the butternut squash sauce. Additionally, you’ll need an immersion blender or a regular blender, a small baking sheet, a cutting board, a small mixing bowl, and a knife.
How to make butternut squash pasta
I’m thrilled to share that this recipe takes around 30 minutes to create if you have all of your ducks in a row. The first thing you’ll need to do is preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven preheats, peel your butternut squash and chop into cubes.
Once the oven is preheated, roast the almonds for about 8 minutes. While the almonds roast, add the sauce ingredients – vegetable broth, onion, garlic, butternut squash, and red pepper flakes – to a medium-sized pot on the stove and bring to a simmer. Cover and let cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the butternut squash is cooked through.
Next, you’ll bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. When your almonds are done roasting, coarsely chop them and add to a small mixing bowl with olive oil, fresh oregano, salt, and pepper, and set aside.
When your butternut squash mixture is cooked, it’s time to blend! If you have a blender, you might have to wait a little while until it’s cool enough to handle, but if you have an immersion blender, you can jump right in, add the nutritional yeast, and pulverize.
Once the mixture is smooth and creamy, add the pasta shells to the sauce and stir to combine. At this point feel free to taste the mixture and add additional salt, pepper, or red pepper flakes to your taste preference. Divide the pasta into two bowls and top with almond oregano crumble.
This recipe is macro friendly
If you’re balancing macros and make this recipe with Banza pasta, you’re looking at a distribution of 21% protein, 21% fat, and 58% carbs. Still a little heavy on the carb distribution, but you’ve got 21% or more of the other key macros.
The protein in this recipe primarily comes from the Banza pasta which is why I recommend sticking to the recipe as-written if you’re watching your carb intake. The fat content comes from almonds and olive oil.
What can I serve with butternut squash pasta?
This meal is kind of an all-in-one and we don’t recommend serving it with sides. If you wanted to cut the servings into 3 or 4 instead of two, we recommend serving this with:
Recipe jam
In this segment, I suggest a song for you to listen to while you make butternut squash pasta! You can even stream it right here in your browser. Today’s recipe jam is Letter from Hampi Mountain by Snapped Ankles.
If you try this recipe, I want to hear about it! Feel free to post your creations to Instagram or Facebook and tag Hell Yes It’s Vegan or #hellyesitsvegan. I look forward to seeing your creations!
Butternut Squash Pasta
Equipment
- baking sheet
- rubber spatula
- 2 medium-sized pots
- cutting board
- knife
- immersion blender or regular blender
- small mixing bowl
- strainer
Ingredients
Butternut Squash Sauce
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 yellow onion, coarsly chopped
- 4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Pasta
Almond Oregano Topping
- 1/4 cup raw almonds
- 1/2 Tbsp fresh oregano
- 1 tsp olive oil
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. While oven is preheating, peel and dice squash, onion, and garlic
- Place almonds on baking sheet and roast for 8 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized pot, bring all butternut squash sauce ingredients except nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to a low simmer. Cover and continue to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the squash is fully cooked.
- While the sauce simmers, prepare the pasta according to package instructions. We recommend salting your pasta water for this recipe. Drain and set aside.
- Chop almonds, add to small mixing bowl with olive oil and fresh oregano, add sea salt to taste.
- Once the butternut squash is cooked all the way through, remove from heat and blend with immersion blender or regular blender. If you're using a regular blender you may have to wait until the sauce is cool enough to handle before blending.
- Add the pasta to the sauce, add additional salt, pepper, or red pepper flakes to taste. Pour pasta into two bowls and top with almond oregano mix.