Creamy Kale Pasta

Kale is my favorite healthy comfort food! Kale? Comfort food, you say? YES! Absolutely. Kale is one of those hearty vegetables that, while super healthy, feels oh so comforting to eat, especially in recipes like this one where it’s paired up with pasta and creamy lemon sauce. I was looking for a delicious way to combine kale and pasta, and I found the solution right here on my blog. This vegan gnocchi recipe features a creamy lemon sauce that checks all the boxes. I adapted it a bit, made the sauce a touch lighter, and we ended up with this delicious vegan kale pasta recipe.

What You’ll Need

Dried linguine. I like linguine best for this recipe, but you can absolutely substitute your favorite type of pasta.Olive oil.Lacinato kale. This might also be labelled as Tuscan kale or dinosaur kale at your supermarket. It’s identifiable by it’s long leaves, dark (almost bluish) green color, and scaly texture. Can’t find it? No worries! Good old curly kale will work just fine.Garlic.Flour. This is just to thicken the sauce a bit. The recipe calls for all-purpose flour, but a gluten-free blend should work just fine.White wine. Leave this out or substitute with vegetable broth if you’d prefer a no-alcohol version.Red pepper flakes. Skip these for a heat-free version of the dish.Coconut milk. Use canned full-fat coconut milk for the richest, creamiest sauce. Having said that, if you absolutely hate coconut, feel free to substitute with another unsweetened non-dairy milk. For best results go with something that has a decent amount of fat in it.Lemon juice.Salt & pepper.

How to Make Creamy Kale Pasta

The following is a summary on how to make this dish, with some tips. Scroll all the way down if you’d prefer to skip right to the recipe!

Cook your pasta according to the package directions. Be sure to use salted water and save a bit of your pasta cooking water when you drain it.While your pasta boils, heat up some olive oil in a skillet. Now add your kale. Make sure you’ve removed the stems and torn it into bite-sized pieces. It will seem like a lot of kale when you initially add it to the skillet, but it should wilt pretty quickly and reduce in size. Move some the kale to the side and add minced garlic. Stir the garlic constantly and be careful not to burn it.Now stir in the flour. Keep stirring until it evenly coats the kale and is no longer visible.

Add the wine and red pepper flakes. Let it simmer for a minute until most of the liquid cooks off.Slowly begin stirring in the coconut milk, a bit at a time, then add some salt. Once it’s all in, let it simmer for a few minutes, giving the sauce a chance to thicken up.Now you can add your cooked pasta and take the skillet off of the stove. If the sauce has gotten too thick, you can thin it with a splash of that pasta cooking water you saved.Season the pasta with some lemon juice, salt, and pepper, then dig in!