I’ll be honest: You need this avocado pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes in your life. No jokes. No kidding. Completely serious. And utterly delicious.

Avocado Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes

I am always on the hunt for new pasta recipes. Always.

Because as much as we looooove my one-pot creamy sausage pasta, we also love having new recipes in our back pocket for easy weeknight meals.

Avocado Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes

Funny thing is, we don’t actually eat a whole lot of pasta. Not nearly as much as we used to, before I started to love cooking.

Back in the days when Kyle actually rinsed the lemon sauce off of a Barefoot Contessa recipe I made.

I’ve told you about that story, haven’t I? It’s probably the only Contessa recipe he didn’t love. And I learned about his distaste for lemon that night through a windfall of tears, of course.

Avocado Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes

So when Kyle suggested we make avocado pasta for dinner a few years ago, I about fell off my chair. Surely he didn’t say avocado pasta, did he??

And you know what I did?

I turned around, opened the fridge and pantry, and pulled out all of the ingredients we needed to make this avocado pasta with burst cherry tomatoes. Just as quickly as that!!

Seriously, guys – just like that! The ingredient list is so short!

Avocado Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes

What I love even more about this avocado pasta meal is how fast and insanely easy it is to make! Roast the tomatoes. Boil the pasta. Throw the avocado sauce ingredients in the food processor and blend.

Aaaaand done! Yup! This is a 25 minute meal!

If you want to skip roasting the tomatoes, or add other roasted (or grilled!!) veggies, that’s totally optional!

Zucchini? Corn? Peppers? All the yeses!

We’ve made this recipe many times without the tomatoes and it was still so so so good!

Avocado Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes

I sort of still feel like avocados are a stranger to some of the recipes people are adding them to, like brownies and pudding, and I admit to being a little hesitant about using them as a sauce base for pasta.

Maybe it’s because I was way late to the avocado train.

I mean, until 2008, I don’t think I’d ever eaten guacamole. Can you believe it?!

But they completely work as an avocado sauce for this pasta! If you can strip away your expectations that this meal will taste like guacamole pasta, with flavors centralized around lime and cilantro, you’ll see that the avocados are actually a really nice neutral base flavor.

And with the addition of basil, garlic, and cheese, this sauce is almost like an avocado pesto.

Avocado Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes

In my humble (ha!) opinion, it’s absolutely delicious and it’s easily become one of our favorite less than 30-minute weeknight meals!

Could it not be more perfect for a quick summer meal?

Avocado Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Avocado Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Yield: 3 to 4 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Avocado pasta with burst cherry tomatoes is a quick, delicious, and satisfying vegetarian meal. Pasta is tossed with a silky avocado pesto sauce and then topped with roasted cherry tomatoes. This takes about 25 minutes to make so it's a perfect busy weeknight meal!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 12 oz pasta shapes or noodles
  • 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • Juice from ½ lemon
  • About 1 tsp lemon zest
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 small or medium ripe avocado
  • Handful of fresh basil
  • 3 tbsp finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving (see note below)
  • Up to 1 cup reserved pasta cooking water

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425° F. Toss the tomatoes with a couple glugs of olive oil and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper on a large baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, tossing with a spatula once during the cook time, until they are spotty brown, soft, and the juices have just started to release.
  2. While the tomatoes roast, cook the pasta according to package directions, reserving 1 cup of the water towards the end of the cook time. Drain and return the pasta to the hot pot.
  3. While the tomatoes roast and the pasta cooks, pulse the garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a food processor until the garlic is fairly well-chopped. Halve, pit, and scoop out the avocado flesh from the skin and add it to the food processor along with the basil, cheese, ½ teaspoon salt, and a few cranks of black pepper. Process until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.
  4. With the machine running, stream in the reserved pasta water until the sauce loosens up and is almost runny. You won't likely need the whole cup of water but I like to keep a little extra just in case. You want the sauce thick enough to nicely coat the pasta but not too thick that it's like a paste.
  5. Pour the sauce over the pasta in the pot and mix to coat, adding extra water if needed. Divide the pasta between serving bowls and top with the roasted tomatoes. Serve with extra cheese sprinkled on top, if desired.

Notes

This is a very filling and satisfying vegetarian meal on its own (if you're open to dairy in a vegetarian diet) but feel free to make it a side dish to some roasted or grilled chicken or pork sausage or grilled chicken if you need that meat factor with your meals. We've made this avocado pasta at all times of the year and when we're not firing up the grill, we've roasted and sauteed sausages and chicken to tuck in alongside of the pasta. Oh! And broiled salmon is also a killer addition to this meal!!

To make this a vegan meal, which we've also done - and done well, I might say! - we swapped out the cheese for about a ¼ cup of nutritional yeast. It gives the sauce a similar cheesy flavor without any animal products. Vegan pasta is available commercially or you can make your own!

loosely adapted from Food52

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Leave a Comment

  • Annie @ Annie's Cooking Lab
    July 23, 2017 at 4:23 PM

    This looks amazing! I’ve never used avocado in pasta before. Definitely adding this to the menu soon!

    • Tara
      September 6, 2017 at 7:18 PM

      Thanks, Annie! Using avocado as the sauce was a leap for us but it’s such a subtle flavor and obviously, we completely loved it!

  • Kathy Hobart
    July 26, 2017 at 4:25 PM

    I wish to print avocado pasta

  • […] this summer? I feel like I haven’t made nearly enough ice cream. On a healthier note, this Avocado Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes sounds amazing. I need to get on […]

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  • Amber Demacsek
    August 25, 2017 at 6:31 PM

    Hi there! Can’t wait to try this delightful looking recipe! Can you tell me how much Olive Oil is blended with the garlic and lemon juice in step 3 please 🙂

    • Tara
      September 6, 2017 at 7:30 PM

      So sorry about this omission, Amber, and thanks for catching this! It’s 2 tablespoons olive oil in Step 3. I just made the change on the recipe. 🙂

  • Mrs Singh
    January 14, 2018 at 4:50 AM

    Hi Tara
    wanted to let you know that I made this last night
    I didn’t have cherry tomatoes so used the Zucchini that I had instead
    It was so great and and yummy and I must tell you that I have
    never had such a tasty Vegie Pasta dish
    Thankyou so much sharing such a lovely dish
    God Bless
    Regards Mrs Singh
    Malaysia

    • Tara
      January 17, 2018 at 9:05 AM

      Hi Mrs Singh! First, let me say that I’m so excited to hear this meal made it all the way to Malaysia! So cool!! I’m so happy to hear that you loved it, too. My husband and I were just as surprised as you at how great an avocado pasta sauce could be. Thank you so much for coming back to let me know what you thought of this meal. I hope you find others here that you love just as much.

  • Julia
    April 23, 2018 at 11:04 PM

    Made this tonight, it is easy and delicious! I used vegetable rotini and added a 2nd avocado because our tree is going nuts right now. It was so good and the roasted tomatoes really added a lot of flavor. Will make again. Funny side note, I didn’t realize we had zero Parmesan cheese when I started so I cobbled together 3 packets of pizza delivery cheese packets – lol – still good.

    • Tara
      April 24, 2018 at 10:27 AM

      Necessity is the mother of invention! I love that you had delivery cheese packets leftover in your fridge – sounds just like mine! I’m so happy to hear you loved this avo pasta, Julia, but I can’t say that I’m not a tinsy bit jealous of your AVOCADO TREE!!! How amazing! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know how this turned out for you; I really appreciate it! And if you EVER get tired of those avocado, I know someone who can take them off your hands. 🙂