This vegan easy spinach pesto gnocchi recipe is AMAZING because it is so fast, easy, and packed with veggies. Plus, you don’t need any expensive, out of season, or hard to find ingredients for it! Is it the middle of winter? No problem, because we’re using spinach instead of fresh basil which is traditionally used in pesto.
This vegan pesto recipe is also made without pine nuts. Today we’re substituting almonds which give the pesto that nutty flavor without the cost. You could also substitute in walnuts if you’d like instead of almonds.
The Ingredients
This spinach pesto sauce only uses a few ingredients. Only 6 to be exact, not including your standard salt and pepper! Those ingredients are:
- Spinach
- Parsley
- Garlic
- Almonds
- Dried Basil
- Olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
No Time, No Problem!
This dinner is great when you literally have no time or energy to put into cooking. In the time it would take you to scroll through your phone and place a Uber Eats order, you can make this meal! The gnocchi only takes 3 minutes to cook and the pesto sauce can be blended up in under 10 minutes.
Easy Spinach Pesto, With No Basil!
I love this recipe because I usually always have the ingredients I need for it on hand. Because this recipe uses spinach instead of fresh basil, it still has that vibrant green pesto color. The garlic and the dried basil add just enough of that traditional pesto flavor that you’ll be wondering why you don’t make this pesto all the time!
This vegan easy spinach pesto gnocchi is best served warm, otherwise, the gnocchi gets tough & hard. Top this dish off with a sprinkle of chopped almonds and chopped dried onion for extra crunch and flavor. Delicious! This dinner will have you feeling summer vibes even in the middle of winter.
If you’re looking for some more vegan dinner ideas, check out these recipes!
- The Creamiest Vegan Alfredo
- Vegan Sesame “Beef” Udon Noodles
- Squash and Tofu “Bacon” Pizza
- Pesto Rice with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
- Vegan Basil Pesto
Happy Cooking!
Easy Spinach Pesto Gnocchi (Vegan)
This quick dinner is packed with flavor but requires little effort to make! This easy vegan spinach pesto gnocchi comes together in 15 minutes.
Ingredients
Spinach Pesto
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 heaping cup of spinach
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1/2 tablespoon dried basil, crushed in mortar & pestle
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 5-6 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, and any additional salt to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, or sub black pepper
Gnocchi
- 1 package potato gnocchi
Instructions
- Prepare your gnocchi according to the package's instructions. I boiled water in a large pot and cooked the gnocchi for 2-3 minutes. Then drained the gnocchi and set them aside.
- While the water boils, make the pesto. In a food processor, add the parsley, spinach, almonds, garlic, salt, pepper, and dried basil. Add in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to start. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped.
- Add the remaining olive oil and the pesto should become lighter in color and should come together into a thick sauce.
- In a large serving bowl, or the pot you boiled the gnocchi in, toss the cooked gnocchi with the pesto.
- Serve warm with a sprinkle of chopped almonds on top.
Notes
- If you'd prefer to make basil pesto, you can substitute the same amount of fresh basil for spinach. Omit dried basil.
- Although almonds work best in this recipe, you can substitute walnuts or you could use the traditional pine nuts.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 355Total Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gFiber: 5gProtein: 6g
Nutritional info is an estimate.
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