Spicy Vegan Pasta Primavera

This is vegan Pasta primavera is your comforting and hearty pasta fix! It comes together all in the instant pot, it’s easy to make, and perfect put together for a weekday meal. I hope it becomes a part of your family table as it did mine

What you need to make this Vegan Pasta Primavera

dried pasta; I used penne, you could use any kind you have.
aromatics; red onion, lots of garlic, and serranos
fresh basil leaves
1 tsp red chilli flakes
juicy tomatoes
fresh baby spinach (you could use any greens in this recipe)
olive oil
coarse kosher salt
oat milk (or any creamy plant milk); This is the key, to give the sauce a smooth silky velvety finish
measured water **

*this recipe is perfect to add in any other veggies you prefer; some great adds are peppers, zucchini, eggplant or asparagus!

How to make Vegan Pasta Primavera

The recipe below is using the instant pot, but these steps can easily be followed to make it on the stove top using a dutch oven or a heavy pasta pot.

Turn on Saute mode in the Instant Pot, set to “more” indicating highest heat for sautéing. Add the measured olive oil, and wait about 30 seconds. Now add in garlic and serranos and fry about 20 seconds until the garlic starts getting slightly golden brown. Add chopped onions and saute for 5-6 minutes until the onions soften.

Add the chopped tomatoes, and cook until the tomatoes break down and create a chunky sauce. This will take about 10 minutes. Add measured salt, fresh chopped basil, spinach and toss together well. Cook this for about 5 minutes, until the spinach starts wilting.

Add in the pound of dry pasta directly from the box and toss together again making sure all the veggies and bits from the bottom are mixed evenly along with the dry pasta. Add measured water.

**Water:
The measure of water that I find works perfectly is adding liquid just until it comes up to the surface of the ingredients in the pot. This technique works for any veggie, any quantity of pasta or type of pasta you use since the water is relative to whatever veggie/pasta quantity you’ve created.

**Cooking Time:
Exactly half the cooking time of what is on your box of pasta (which you’d normally use for the stove top cook and drain method). My whole grain penne box said 10 minutes, and I set manual high pressure cooking to 5 minutes. This method works like magic every single time resulting in perfectly al dente pasta with a spectacular bite to it!  If you like your pasta on a slightly softer side, you could add 1 minute more to whatever your number is.

Once the measure water is added, add crushed red pepper, mix well and turn off Saute mode. Cover with the Instant Pot lid, set to Sealing position. Set Manual mode, and set 5 minutes. Let IP do its magic.

Once the IP finishes cooking and you hear the beeps, there is no resting time. Make sure you open the vent to Venting position immediately. Please be very careful as you are releasing extremely high pressure steam.

Once all the steam is released, open the lid, and add a dash of oat milk to the pasta. Mix well, but be gentle. Let rest open for about 10 minutes and let all the flavors meld together.

Serve hot with more fresh basil on top.

If you like this recipe, also check out

Delicious Vegan Pesto Pasta with Crispy Mushrooms

Delicious Zhoug Sauce Pasta with Tomato Relish

Kale & Mushroom Quinoa Fried Rice

Refreshing Summer Pasta with Mint Pesto

Incredible Mediterranean Pilaf Bowl

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