Creamy Vegan Artichoke and Spinach Pasta

This creamy vegan artichoke and spinach pasta is plant-based, dairy-free, comfort food at its best! Ready in just 15 minutes, it's a quick vegan pasta recipe that works great for a lazy night dinner.

Spinach and artichokes are a match made in heaven, and this vegan spinach and artichoke pasta is just like eating a delicious dip in pasta form.

What's even better, the artichoke pasta sauce is ready in just 15 minutes, so there's no excuse for not cooking dinner from scratch, even on a busy night.

You can make this easy vegan pasta sauce with store-bought plant-based cream or use your own cashew cream if you have some on hand.

What do you need to make spinach artichoke pasta?

What I like best about this vegan artichoke pasta is that you only need a handful of ingredients to make it, and you may already have them in your fridge.

Here's what you need to make delicious, creamy, plant-based pasta in just 15 minutes:

Pasta — I used tagliatelle to make this recipe, but you can use just about any kind of pasta you like, long or short. Fusilli would great for this kind of sauce, as would linguine. Your pasta, your choice!

Artichokes — Depending on where you live in the world, you can choose from fresh or canned artichokes or opt for artichokes that are jarred in olive oil and spices. Artichoke hearts in water are the best choice here because you can use them as-is, but if you're like me, stuck with a very limited choice, artichokes in oil would work too. Just make sure you drain them well and pat them dry with kitchen paper towels, so you don't end up with a sauce that's way too oily.

Cream — I used the Elmlea plant-based double cream alternative for this. Making your vegan cream is always best, but on days when you don't have the time to soak cashews, store-bought cream comes in super handy.

Spinach — Baby spinach is great for this recipe because it takes just a couple of minutes to wilt. I like to really feel the spinach in this sauce, so I recommend 150 g (5 cups) in the recipe card below, but you can tweak the quantity as you like.

Pine nuts — Toasted pine nuts are optional but highly recommended because they take this spinach artichoke pasta to a whole new level. I use 30 grams (1 ounce) for this recipe, but feel free to add more — the joy of finding them with every bite is really worth the extra calories!

How do you make the pasta?

You can make the sauce while you boil the pasta, so start them both at the same time. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then salt it generously (about 2-3 tablespoons of salt for a large pot of water). Before draining the pasta, don't forget to reserve some pasta water as you will need it for the sauce.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pan and fry the shallot and garlic, then add the artichokes and continue to cook for a minute.

Next, add the cream to the pot, cook until it thickens a bit, and tip in the baby spinach. Cook for a couple of minutes until it wilts, then transfer the drained pasta to the pan, and cover it in the sauce using tongs.

At this point, the sauce might be a bit dry, so add some of the pasta water you reserve, stir well, and continue to cook until the sauce thickens again. The starch in the pasta water will accelerate the process, and remember that the pasta will continue to absorb the sauce and thicken as it cools down when you turn off the heat.

When the sauce has the right consistency, add the toasted pine nuts o the pan and mix them in (reserve some for sprinkling on top when you serve the pasta). Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

And that's it! The whole process shouldn't take more than 15 minutes, and now you have a delicious bowl of spinach artichoke pasta to tuck in.

If you liked this sweet potato chickpea stew, you might also like some of my other easy vegan recipes.

Vegan Creamy Pasta e Fagioli

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