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    Home » Simple Vegan Recipes » Sauces and Salad Dressings » Blender sauces and salad dressings

    Salt and Pepper Pasta, Made Pastaless

    Published: May 8, 2019 · Modified: Mar 26, 2020 by Becky Striepe · This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Recipe Print

    Who needs pasta to make salt and pepper pasta? Not you, my friend. Not you. You only need four ingredients and about 30 minutes to make this recipe!

    pouring salt and pepper sauce onto a bowl of zoodles
    Salt and Pepper Cashew Cream is the secret to this healthier spin on salt and pepper pasta!

    Not only is this vegan salt and pepper pasta sauce healthier than the conventional variety, but you dish it up over zoodles instead of regular noodles! This recipe is uncharacteristically healthy for me, and I'm into it!

    I feel like salt and pepper get kind of short shrift when it comes to seasoning. When you're counting how many ingredients are in a recipe, for example, it's totally acceptable to not count salt and pepper, because everyone has this in their kitchens. That's right: you treat them like something as obvious as water.

    They're so universal that we tend to overlook them entirely. And they're universal for a reason: they make food taste better. So! When my sister mentioned that she's obsessed lately with salt and pepper pasta, I couldn't resist trying to create a vegan version for her.

    Making Salt and Pepper Pasta

    This cooking adventure felt like a great chance to bust out my Spiralizer. Because what would be more fun than trying to make salt and pepper pasta without any actual pasta?

    More spiralizer goodness: Raw Pad Thai

    The one trick with this modification is that traditional recipes for this dish use the starchy pasta cooking water as the sauce base. Without it, you end up with a runny, bland sauce.

    It was time to improvise.

    bowl of vegan salt and pepper pasta with a text overlay

    I started by making an oil and nooch salt and pepper sauce. This worked pretty well, but I feel like it didn't stick to the noodles as well as I liked, and it relied too much on nooch to replace the starch for thickening.

    Then, I realized that the answer was staring me in the face the whole time: cashews! Because you can't think "creamy vegan sauce" without thinking "cashews!" A salt and pepper cashew cream was the answer. The rich, decadent answer.

    This recipe is super, super simple, y'all. I think you're going to love it.

    📖 Recipe

    Who needs pasta to make salt and pepper pasta? Not you, my friend. Not you. You only need four ingredients and about 10 minutes to make this recipe!

    Vegan Salt and Pepper Pasta

    Who needs pasta to make salt and pepper pasta? Not you, my friend. Not you. You only need four ingredients and about 30 minutes to make this recipe!
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Vegan
    Keyword: salt and pepper pasta, zoodles
    Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 2
    Calories: 155kcal
    Author: Becky Striepe

    Ingredients

    • ¼ cup raw cashews
    • 3 medium zucchini
    • 3 tablespoons water
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
    • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
    • ½ teaspoon black pepper
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt

    Instructions

    • Pour enough boiling water over the cashews to cover, and let them sit for 20 minutes. Drain.
    • While the cashews soak, use a Spiralizer over a large bowl to turn those zucchini into noodles.
    • Throw the cashews, water, lemon, nooch, pepper, and salt into your blender, and puree until very smooth. This actually works better in a small blender, rather than a high speed, since it's not a ton of sauce. This little amount kind of gets lost in the bottom of a serious, high speed blender. Just keep blending, scraping down the sides of the blender as needed, until you get a smooth salt and pepper cashew cream.
    • Toss the sauce with the zucchini noodles, coating evenly. Taste, and add more salt and pepper, if you like. Serve immediately.

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Vegan Salt and Pepper Pasta
    Amount per Serving
    Calories
    155
    % Daily Value*
    Fat
     
    8
    g
    12
    %
    Saturated Fat
     
    2
    g
    10
    %
    Polyunsaturated Fat
     
    2
    g
    Monounsaturated Fat
     
    4
    g
    Sodium
     
    608
    mg
    25
    %
    Potassium
     
    957
    mg
    27
    %
    Carbohydrates
     
    16
    g
    5
    %
    Fiber
     
    4
    g
    16
    %
    Sugar
     
    8
    g
    9
    %
    Protein
     
    8
    g
    16
    %
    Vitamin A
     
    588
    IU
    12
    %
    Vitamin C
     
    56
    mg
    68
    %
    Calcium
     
    54
    mg
    5
    %
    Iron
     
    2
    mg
    11
    %
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
    Tried this recipe? Share your photo!Mention @GlueAndGlitter on Instagram or Twitter!

    About Becky Striepe

    Headshot of Becky Striepe in front of a teal wall

    Hi there! I'm Becky Striepe (rhymes with sleepy), and I love using gadgets and shortcuts to create easy vegan comfort food recipes for busy people. Whether you love your Instant Pot, your air fryer, or just love delicious plant-based meals, stick around. You'll like it here.

    Learn more about me >>>

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Vegan Heaven

      April 24, 2016 at 4:46 am

      I love zoodles and this sauce looks so good and easy, Becky!! Perfect for quick weeknight dinners. :-)

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 24, 2016 at 7:36 am

        Thank you!

        Reply
    2. Ceara @ Ceara's Kitchen

      April 22, 2016 at 8:51 pm

      This sauce sounds so simple and lovely. And I love the zoodles too!

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 22, 2016 at 8:52 pm

        Thank you, Ceara!

        Reply
    3. Linda @ Veganosity

      April 22, 2016 at 12:47 pm

      Oh, I so agree with you about salt and pepper. Unless someone has health issues, I'll never understand why they don't use salt to season their food. This looks fantastic, Becky! I love that you used zoodles in place of pasta.

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 22, 2016 at 1:46 pm

        Thank you, Linda!

        Reply
    4. Sophia, Veggies Don't Bite

      April 21, 2016 at 10:25 pm

      Looks so creamy and delicious!!! You can never have enough pasta sauce!!

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 21, 2016 at 10:51 pm

        Thank you, Sophia!

        Reply
    5. Alisa @ Go Dairy Free

      April 21, 2016 at 7:41 pm

      I'd never actually heard of salt and pepper pasta -with noodles or zoodles! It looks and sounds delicious.

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 21, 2016 at 7:52 pm

        Thank you! My sister is obsessed right now. I'm glad she mentioned it!

        Reply
    6. Kristina

      April 20, 2016 at 11:49 am

      Jason has a pepper grinder collection, so always fresh here! :) I love the sound of this - pinning to try soon!

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 20, 2016 at 11:50 am

        Ooh, I am so curious about his collection! We have a really creaky hand grinder, so I have made this recipes both ways, depending on how much punishment I feel like giving to my wrist!

        Reply
    7. Mel @ avirtualvegan.com

      April 19, 2016 at 11:21 pm

      Time to dust off my spiralizer. I don't use it nearly enough. And i totally agree with you about salt & pepper. They are fantastic ingredients and don't get enough credit.

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 20, 2016 at 7:48 am

        I feel the same way every time I use my spiralizer. I promised myself that this time I wouldn't let it gather dust in a drawer!

        Reply
    8. Jenn

      April 19, 2016 at 8:43 am

      And once again, I find myself needing a spiralizer. It's been on my wish list for, like, forever. This recipe sounds delicious! Simple, yet perfect. It would make a lovely light summer supper.

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 19, 2016 at 8:56 am

        Ooh get yourself one! Mine was around $10 and gets the job done.

        Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 19, 2016 at 8:56 am

        Oh! And thank you! :D

        Reply
    9. Andrea

      April 18, 2016 at 10:31 pm

      Time to bust out my spiralizer! I haven't spiralized anything in ages. Your recipe sounds delicious, and I know just what you mean about making a small amount of sauce in a blender. Sometimes I'm lazy and I just use tahini or cashew butter.

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 19, 2016 at 7:27 am

        Ooh I think a tahini or cashew butter sauce would work great in this!

        Reply
    10. Natalie | Feasting on Fruit

      April 18, 2016 at 12:32 pm

      This is such a simple delicious raw meal! I like the simplicity of just salt and pepper to season, no fancy spices and seasonings needed to make me happy :)

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 18, 2016 at 12:37 pm

        Thank you! I'm glad salt and pepper are getting their minute in the spotlight.

        Reply
    11. Aimee / Wallflower Kitchen

      April 18, 2016 at 10:02 am

      I love any excuse to use my spiralizer at the moment :-) Sounds gorgeous!

      Reply
      • Becky Striepe

        April 18, 2016 at 10:15 am

        Thank you, Aimee!

        Reply

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    Hi! My name is Becky Striepe (rhymes with “sleepy”). I love using gadgets and shortcuts to create easy vegan comfort food recipes for busy people. Whether you love your Instant Pot, your air fryer, or just love delicious plant-based meals, stick around. You'll like it here. → READ MORE

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