Tis the season for all the orange food!
Pasta, oh pasta. How I adore thee.
The “savory recipe” part of my brain seriously is struggling at the moment. I feel like I go through phases with recipe creation where all I want to make is dessert. Cookies and cakes and pumpkin spice cinnamon roll muffins. Over and over for days on end.
I think fall does that to me. As soon as I start seeing PSLs in hands and colorful scarves on Instagram, my brain and stomach start craving sweets. Morning, noon, and night.
So much so that when dinner rolls around each night, I sometimes totally just want to grab a bowl of cereal and call it a day.
So, I had to enlist the help of my savory food-loving main-squeeze, Mark. He suggested we try a new one-pot pasta recipe one night.
I’ve seen one-pot pasta recipes loads of times, but I’ve never actually made it. So I shrugged, bought the ingredients, and got to work.
I don’t know why I was so surprised it was so simple, or that it was so delicious, or that it came together in less than a half hour. All of these details made me gleefully happy, so I decided to make a fall version for you guys today!
It’s savory-meets-fall, and I’m so totally into it.
First things first: visual learner? Samez. Here’s a video showing you how to make this yummy pasta:
Second things second: this doesn’t taste like pumpkin pie pasta. That would be ridiculous on so many levels, and I’d never do that to you.
Instead, it’s garlicky, slightly oniony, rich, peppery, and creamy. And spicy if you so desire (I always desire).
Whenever I open my first can of pumpkin in a year, I’m always so surprised how flavorless pumpkin is on its own. The nerd in me would love to research why pumpkin was the gourd-o-choice when creating the fall pies, lattes, candle scents we’ve all grown to love (or hate, I get it) because it really has no flavor on its own.
I guess that’s why it’s such a good base for a bunch of different flavors – you can go traditionally sweet or deliciously savory!
But because pumpkin is such a bland base, I added a bunch of garlic (5 cloves!) and a whole onion to this one-pot pasta. It gives it just enough of a zing, and really creates a flavorful sauce.
Craving more zing? Do it up with some red pepper flakes, vegan parm, and fried sage, which might be my very favorite thing about fall. It’s so crispy and savory and salty and…just so good with pumpkin. I literally eat it plain. Like kale chips. But with sage.
If you’re in a food funk but want to be fall-forward, try this! I think you’ll really love how:
- Simple it is to throw together – less than 30 minutes and, as the name implies, all in one pot!
- Creamy the end result is – so creamy omg!
- Festive it is – it’s orange freakin’ pasta, man!
We love love love it. Oh-so much.
And and! If you have any other savory recipe requests from me, lmk in the comments!
PrintVegan One-Pot Pumpkin Pasta
Creamy, festive vegan pumpkin pasta that comes together all in one pot! A quick and easy fall meal that takes less than 30 minutes to make!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 5-6 servings
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Boil
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
PASTA:
12 oz. fettuccini
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup canned coconut milk*
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt + pepper
red pepper flakes, optional
TOPPINGS:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
10 sage leaves
Vegan Parmesan
Instructions
- Add your fettuccini, vegetable broth, pumpkin puree, coconut milk, garlic, onion, and olive oil in a large pot. The pasta will be sticking out of the liquid for now, but that’s okay. Once it starts to soften, you can lower it into the liquid. Or you can snap the fettuccini in half so that it all fits. Up to you!
- Bring the mixture up to a boil, covered, over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium, vent the lid, and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. You’ll want to cook it until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
- Meanwhile, you can make your fried sage. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add sage leaves and fry until crispy. Immediately remove the leaves from the pan and place them on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Season with salt.
- When your pasta is done, season with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes if desired. Top with vegan parm and your fried sage. Yum!
Notes
*Canned full-fat coconut milk works great here to help you create a super creamy sauce. It also adds a curry-ish flavor to the dish. Feel free to swap that with another non-dairy milk.
Adapted from Apron Strings!
Ohhh I am SO into this! I just tried the fall pumpkin / squash sauce from Trader Joe’s and it was AMAZING, so I have a feeling I will love this too!
Oh yeah! I need to try that stuff soon.
High in calories? Looks yummy!
Ooh I have no idea tbh. I don’t think it would be too high in calories, but you might want to add the recipe to a nutrient counter to make sure!
This looks so good. Now I have a reason other than pie to pick up some pumpkin puree!
:) YES! So good. Let me know if you try it!
The reason why I think you find pumpkin “flavourless” is because you get in out of a can. Here in Oz there’s no such thing as canned pumpkin. We buy it fresh and it tastes great mashed, roasted or pureed for soup – it has a beautiful sweet flavour. I’ve no doubt this recipe would taste even better with real, fresh pumpkin :) .
Totally totally get you. Fresh roasted pumpkin is great! Canned is never as good :)
I made this tonight and it was ahhhmazzzingg. So flavorful, creamy and perfect for a weeknight meal. I used ziti noodles because that’s what I had on had and it was perfection. I can’t wait to make this again. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
So so happy to hear that, Jenny!!
Thanks for this recipe, it was great! The entire family loved it :) We spiced it up with some Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning. Yummy!
Had leftovers for lunch today and it was still as great as ever! And for anyone else making this. Make more than just 10 fried sage leaves! They are the best :) Make more like 10 per serving! :)
Also, I made this with Trader Joe’s yellow lentil+brown rice spaghetti noodle pasta. Super tasty!
My family loved this recipe. I skipped the sage leaves but maybe next time I’ll make them. I liked how this was all made in one pot. I found other recipes of pumpkin pasta but the instructions sounded so complicated. This one-pot recipe made it really simple and stress-free.
So so happy you liked it!! <3 I loooove the sage leaves on top - lmk if you try it!
Could I replace the noodles with zucchini noodles? How would the recipe change? Thanks!
Hey, Ashton! Probably not. The liquid in the pasta is the perfect amount to cook the noodles and keep the sauce creamy. :/ Sorry about that!