Turn off the meat timer and turn up the colour. Cauliflower becomes cream, mushrooms bring the savoury drama, blistered cherry tomatoes burst with sweetness, herb-green sauces glow – this is vegetarian pasta at its most imaginative. These are the kind of pasta recipes that aren’t meat-free out of duty – they’re veggie-forward by design. Bookmark now, thank your crisper drawer later.
A clever blend of cashews, cauliflower and soy sauce mimics silky Alfredo, giving you creamy veggie pasta recipe that’s conscious yet comforting.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
A celebration of Mediterranean veggies – eggplant, zucchini, capsicum and tomato – this pasta is finished with a fragrant rosemary and smoked paprika oil that adds an irresistible, aromatic layer.
Credit: Jimon Kim
If you're lucky enough to have fresh figs at hand, turn into a jammy sauce for pasta. It may sound unexpected, but the pairing works in the same sweet-salty way as having a cracker with a piece of cheese and fig. Choose ripe figs that are soft and juicy enough to help create a sauce for the pasta.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
Three simple steps, ready in just 15 minutes – yet every forkful of this juicy spaghetti recipe delivers fresh, fruity pops of tomato balanced by garlic oil.
Burst tomato spaghetti Credit: Kitti Gould
Pesto pasta is a perennial crowd-pleaser – this version offers an earthy rendition: Tender lasagne-sheet ribbons are tossed with dried porcini for savoury depth, then crowned with a textured pesto of basil, tarragon, pecorino, walnuts and garlic.
Credit: Mary Makes It Easy
A colourful, flavour‑packed ode to spring that feels both fresh and charred. By grilling – not boiling – the vegetables, this primavera pasta recipe inherits a smoky and caramelised edge.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
Every spoonful hides a garden’s worth of vegetables in a rich tomato base. Loaded with onion, carrot, celery, capsicum and zucchini – a smooth and luxurious sauce, with brightness from the vegetables.
Credit: Adam Liaw
These rustic pasta squares – known as sagne a pezze, ‘short broken pieces of lasagna’ – are beloved in the Abruzzo region of Italy for their ability to cradle sauces. In this case, a fragrant and fresh combination of zucchini, broad beans, lemon zest, mint and creamy ricotta. Drizzled with olive oil to serve, it’s a soulful bowl of spring in central Italy.
Credit: Penguin Australia
With eggplant, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and balsamic vinegar roasted on one tray, this sauce becomes sweet, caramelised and effortlessly infused – ready to swirl through pasta for weekday ease.
Credit: Donal's Meals in Minutes
This velvety parsnip sauce is reminiscent of béchamel, while a toasty breadcrumb topping adds contrast and crunch – a clever way to transform humble ingredients into an impressive and easy, vegan-friendly pasta.
Creamy parsnip pasta with leftover bread crumble. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey
Inspired by a village restaurant in the hills of Tuscany, this meatless lasagne builds rich, umami depth from dried porcini. The ragu is cleverly adaptable – vegan if you skip the cream, kid-friendly without the chilli – and can be used as a sauce pasta or polenta.
Credit: Ebury Press
This classic carbonara pasta gets a fresh twist with silky zucchini ribbons, zesty lemon and just enough chilli to tingle. It’s light, elegant and is ready to serve in just a few minutes and simple steps after the pasta is cooked.
Credit: Sam Linsell
Kale gets the star treatment in this ultra-smooth, vitamin-rich pasta. Blended with white beans and garlic, it’s nourishing and surprisingly luxe.
Creamy kale pasta. Credit: Jonathan Cape / Issy Croker
This vegetarian lasagne is an ode to spring, layering sweet peas, basil and tender artichokes between clouds of ricotta and tender pasta sheets. It’s lighter than your usual bake, but every bit as satisfying.
Credit: Chris Middleton
Craving a creamy pasta that still feels wholesome? Blitz steamed cauliflower and garlic-sauteed mushrooms into a lush sauce, which will cling to nutty wholemeal linguine. Toasted pine nuts and more buttery garlic mushrooms add the finishing touches.
Credit: Benito Martin
Roasted cherry tomatoes collapse into jammy sweetness, coating chewy cavatelli in this minimal-ingredient marvel. A scattering of pistachios adds crunch and a nutty contrast.
Cavatelli with roasted cherry tomatoes and pistachios Credit: Julia Busuttil-Nishimura
Jamie Oliver adds spinach and broccoli for a mac’n’cheese you can feel smug about – a feel-good bake that sneaks in greens without losing the golden-crusted comfort, delivering nostalgia and nutrition.
Greens mac 'n' cheese. Credit: Jamie Oliver Enterprises / David Loftus
This Sardinian-style pasta is all about delicate balance – subtly sweet zucchini flowers, the brightness of lemon and chilli, chunks of herb-coated ricotta baked until just bronzed. Beautiful to serve, even better to eat.
Source: SBS / SBS Food
If pasta could taste like a garden, this would be it. Penne is dressed in sweet pea pesto, then scattered with the season’s best vege for snap and colour, finished with garlic breadcrumbs for texture and depth.
Credit: Savannah van der Niet
This southern Italian pasta plays with salty-sour notes: capers, olives, lemon and roasted cauliflower meet orecchiette in a dish that punches above its prep time.
This recipe leverages a carbonara-style method of making creamy pasta with an egg emulsion, but adds a burst of green goodness by incorporating blended spinach, basil, and parsley. The result is a creamy, herbaceous sauce that is as vibrant to look at as it is to eat.
Green egg spaghetti Credit: Kitti Gould
Finely chopped broccoli soaks up garlic oil and pasta water before crumbled feta melts through to form a creamy ragu. It's a quick-build sauce that feels slow-cooked, and is perfect for any short pasta.
Credit: Danielle Abou Karam
