Weeknight Garlic Veggie Pasta
on Aug 19, 2021, Updated Mar 11, 2025
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What Makes This Recipe Great
Are you guys ready for your new weeknight staple meal? Here it is! This Weeknight Garlic Veggie Pasta has everything you need for a meal that is nutritious, delicious and sure to please the whole family. We had it earlier this week and Milo and Ruth both devoured it! The best part of it is that you can use whatever meat you have on hand and whatever veggies you have too. The cashew cheese sauce is delicious and coats everything to perfection.
Ingredient List
- Cashews– unsalted is preferred for this recipe
- Chicken Broth– veggie broth can also be used if you need a substitute
- Nutritional Yeast– this can be found in the baking aisle or healthy food section
- Minced Garlic
- Garlic Powder
- Salt & Pepper
- Gluten Free Pasta– if you don’t love gluten free pasta, use any of your favorite kind
- Oil
- Ground Meat– this recipe was created using beef, but ground chicken or turkey can be substituted
- Frozen Veggie– any tri-veggie mix will work for this recipe
How to make Weeknight Garlic Veggie Pasta
This can easily be one of the easier recipes you try this week. You probably have all the ingredients in your fridge or pantry, it is a dynamic recipe that can be substituted with what you have on hand or what your dietary needs are. Let’s walk through the recipe
- First we want to make the garlic cashew sauce. Take the soaked and drained cashews, chicken broth, nutritional yeast, garlic, garlic powder and salt toss it all in a blender and blend until combined and smooth.
- Cook your pasta accordingly and set aside
- While the pasta is cooking, place a large skillet on the stove and start to cook your meat down with some oil
- Cook the meat down for about 5 min making sure to break it up and ensure it cooks evenly, you will then want to add the salt garlic powder and pepper
- Next add the frozen veggies in with the meat, this will allow the meat to continue cooking and cook the veggies
- Once all the meat and veggies are cooked through add the cooked pasta to the pan as well as the cashew sauce. Mix thoroughly and salt and pepper to taste.
- This can be stored in the fridge for a 2-3 days after cooled
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Weeknight Garlic Veggie Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes-2 hours
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 12 oz gluten free pasta, penne or fusilli are best
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 lb ground meat, turkey, beef, pork, sausage or chicken
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 3 cups frozen veggies
Instructions
- Start off by making your garlic cashew sauce. In a blender combine soaked and drained cashews, chicken broth, nutritional yeast, minced garlic, garlic powder and 1 teaspoon salt.
- Blend until smooth and set aside.
- Cook your pasta according to package directions and set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, place a large skillet, pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add oil to the pan then add in ground meat and break it up to cook evenly.
- Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally while breaking up the meat, until browned. Add in 1 teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon garlic powder and ¼ teaspoon pepper and stir to combine.
- Add in the frozen veggies and cook everything until the veggies are soft and the meat is cooked through (about 5-7 more minutes).
- Add the cooked pasta into the pot with the meat and veggies then pour the sauce on top and stir it all together to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
- For frozen veggies, I like mixing a peas and carrots mix with broccoli.
- You can also use leftover veggies and just add them in at the same time to heat.
- You can use any pasta you like, my favorite in this dish is either penne or fusilli.
So easy and full of flavor! This is the second time I’ve made this and can’t wait to make again.
So glad you love it!