Easy Spinach Artichoke Pasta Bake
Let’s talk pasta!
One thing I love with recipe development, is remakes! It’s a great way to revisit staples to make sure they really deliver in all areas and also put a fresh spin on them. One of my favorite dishes that I did back in 2018, was this Spinach Artichoke Pasta! At the time there was little to no recipes for it. I questioned, is this something that nobody has tapped into or is it a total bomb lol..
As you would imagine, this recipe concept is just a win win all around!
Pasta gets a bad reputation for being just laden with carbs and lacking in nutrients. However, that can’t be further from the truth. It’s actually the perfect medium to get more veggies on your plate. If you’re not about white pasta, you can always mix it up with healthier alternatives. Today, there are endless options!
Did you know, most people make Spin Dip and then are just done with this flavor duo?
Typically we envision a heavy cheese dip when this combo comes to mind, but there are countless other things you can do and pasta is one of them! The wonderful thing about artichokes is that they pair perfectly with any season, you can find them all year round, and they are affordable making them the ideal addition to a myriad of dishes to up the veggie content.
When wanting to create this baked pasta option, I felt that we could vary the sauce from the original recipe to derive more flavor and achieve a better consistency. When making a great vegan sauce, it can easily dry out unlike the traditional varieties. With this version we added coconut milk and instead of the almond milk salvaged the pasta water as you actually impart more flavor. If you’ve tossed yours already, you can also throw in some veggie broth!
What’s fab about this dish? Honestly, everything. It’s quick, easy, has minimal ingredients, it’s veggie packed, flavor packed, can easily be made in bulk (meal prep), affordable, ingredients are accessible, you don’t have to even sauté the spinach, the sauce is thrown in a blender, it’s not made with heavy cream, you can’t taste the coconut milk, it has notes of garlic, the sauce has plant protein, the sauce can be paired with countless other dishes, you can mix up the pasta, its great for entertaining, the dish is non vegan approved, you can use vegan cheese or traditional if preferred, and it’s just an all around game changing effortless recipe you have to try!
If you love a solid vegan pasta dish that you can enjoy for years to come, this Spinach Artichoke Pasta Bake is it!
Why this recipe is great:
Quick
Easy
Nutrient packed
Minimal ingredients
Made without heavy cream
Affordable
Sauce made in blender
Perf for any season
Can be made fully vegan
Easy Spinach Artichoke Pasta Bake
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
Ingredients
Vegan Sauce:
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 large yellow onion finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 cup raw or roasted cashews, soaked
- 2/3 cup pasta water
- 2/3 cup coconut milk
- 1 tsp salt
Pasta dish:
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- 1 jar of quartered artichokes, drained
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups mixed parm shreds or vegan parm
- 1 box of pasta of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil then cook the pasta until almost al dente (approximately 10 minutes). The pasta will continue cooking in the oven. Save water.
- Soak cashews in boiling water, set aside.
- Saute onion and garlic in butter in a large frying pan or skillet until soft and translucent.
- Place in a high power blender with the soaked and drained cashews, coconut milk, salt, and reserved pasta water. Blend until smooth.
- Transfer the pasta to a baking dish and top artichokes, spinach, and combine. Top with parmesan cheese of choice.
- Place in the oven until golden brown and bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. If you’re not getting those burn marks set your oven to broil and leave oven door ajar and bake for a few more minutes.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
