Spaghetti with creamy zucchini sauce is a flavorful one pan meal and the perfect way to use up that extra zucchini! Spaghetti is tossed in a rich cream sauce that's filled with shredded zucchini and carrots.
If you love one pan meals, you'll have to give this spaghetti with creamy zucchini sauce a try. Perfect for your next Meatless Monday meal, and easy enough to make on a busy weeknight.
The best part about this recipe? The creamy zucchini sauce. You're gonna love it! You're basically making a rich, creamy alfredo sauce that's been tossed with shredded zucchini, carrots, and spaghetti.
The result is a light and creamy pasta that's filled with nutritious vegetables.
Have a big zucchini harvest from your backyard garden? This recipe is a great way to use up extra zucchini.
Ingredients and substitutions
Spaghetti can be substituted with any other long pasta, like fettuccine or linguine. I prefer using long pasta because the shredded vegetables tend to cling to it. However, any medium sized pasta, like farfalle or penne, would also work.
If you'd like to make this dish vegetarian friendly, parmesan cheese can be substituted with any other hard parmesan-style cheese that is made with vegetable rennet.
Zucchini and carrot are shredded using the large side of a box grater. Or, you can also grate your vegetables using a food processor.
Any broth can be used in this recipe - chicken, vegetable, or beef.
Heavy cream helps make this sauce thick, rich, and creamy. I do not recommend substituting with milk because your sauce will be very thin.
Pasta and liquid proportions
Since the pasta is cooked in the same pan as the rest of the ingredients, the exact amount of liquid needed to cook the pasta needs to be added to the pan - no more, no less.
Too much liquid will leave you with a watery sauce. Too little liquid and your ingredients can dry out and stick to the bottom of the pan. Or worse - burn.
I highly recommend weighing your pasta to ensure you're using the correct amount. I also recommend measuring your broth using a liquid measuring cup.
This particular recipe uses less broth than my other skillet meals because of the addition of zucchini and carrots. When your vegetables are added to the pan and begin to cook, they will release moisture. This liquid (along with the broth) is what cooks your dried pasta.
Because of this, I do not recommend omitting the zucchini and carrots - their moisture is taken into account when writing the recipe.
What type of pan to use
For this skillet meal, you'll want to use a sauté pan. What is the difference between a skillet and a sauté pan?
A sauté pan has a flat bottom and tall, vertical sides, like shown in the photos. It may also have a second 'helper handle' opposite the main handle.
A skillet has a smaller surface area on the bottom of the pan and sides that flare up at an angle.
A sauté pan is better for cooking large meals, like a one pan meal, because there's simply more space in the pan. Plus, the helper handle makes it easier to move a full sauté pan from the stove.
Spaghetti with Creamy Zucchini Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound zucchini, grated
- 2 carrots, grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 12 ounces vegetable broth
- 8 ounces spaghetti, uncooked
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Instructions
- In a saute pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add zucchini, carrots, salt, and red pepper flakes, stirring to combine. Add broth and spaghetti. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook according to pasta's package directions for al dente pasta. *Halfway through cooking, remove lid and stir to better incorporate pasta. If pasta begins to look dry, add a splash of water to the pan. If pasta sauce looks very liquid, leave lid off for second half of cooking and turn heat to medium/medium-low.
- Remove lid and add heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Stir until melted.
- Remove from heat and allow to set for 5 minutes to allow sauce to thicken before serving.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- 12 ounces of broth = 1.5 liquid US cups
- One pound of zucchini can range from one very large zucchini to four small zucchini.
- *Pasta needs the exact amount of liquid (from broth and from grated vegetables) to cook correctly without leaving extra liquid in the pan. Pasta, broth, and vegetables need to be accurately measured.
- To make vegetarian - replace parmesan cheese with any hard Italian cheese made with vegetable rennet.
This was great! I used a mandolin for the zucchini and then cut them into strips, and I used a veggie peeler to cut the carrots into strips. The was A+! I followed the instructions with no variations and it's a keeper! We can't eat the zucchini as fast as it's growing so I need as many recipes with zucchini as possible. Thank you for sharing! Be well --Jen
I never leave recipe reviews but I just randomly found this and spur of the moment tried it. It was SO good. I will be saving it for a regular family meal.
I originally was looking for how long to roast zuchinni and yellow squash in the oven. Since I had already prepped the zuchinni for that, I made this recipe without the shredded zucchini and then added in the oven roasted zucchini at the end with the cream and parmesan (roasted veggies also had cubed yellow squash, broccoli and onion).
I used angel hair and didn't measure anything very accurately honestly. I accidently put more broth and had to boil some away toward the end. But it probably made up for not having the liquid from the zucchini because the pasta and sauce came out perfect.