Easy Vegetable Spaghetti in 30 Minutes
“Excellent vegan choice” Judi “Love this recipe” Helga
Whip up a nutritious and flavorful vegetable spaghetti with your favorite veggies, capers, lemon, and garlic. This easy meatless meal comes together with simple ingredients in 30 minutes – perfect for any season.
What to expect
The core ingredients in this versatile vegetable spaghetti recipe are pasta, olive oil, garlic, lemon, and capers (or olives). I love to add spinach too. Use what’s freshest or seasonal.
The beauty of this dish is its versatility. You can easily customize it based on your mood, with whatever veggies you have on hand, or what’s fresh and seasonal. I sometimes top the spaghetti with roasted shrimp, tofu, or grilled chicken for extra protein.
The sauce is forgiving. Instead of measuring, you can taste and adjust as you go, until you’re satisfied. If you’re not comfortable with that method, use the recipe as a guideline to get you started.
In summer, I typically use fresh garden vegetables like tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and asparagus. In winter, I swap in canned diced tomatoes (with no juice), eggplant, peppers, and baby spinach.
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
Ingredients: Spaghetti, fresh or canned tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, other chopped vegetables, capers, lemon, red pepper flakes, and spinach.
- Spaghetti: Use whatever spaghetti noodles you have or like best – spaghettini, angel hair, capellini, or vermicelli.
- Tomatoes: Any fresh, ripe tomatoes (heirloom, beefsteak, field, or cherry) when in season.
- Vegetables: Zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers (green, yellow, or red), onions, mushrooms, green beans, or asparagus.
- Flavor boosters: Capers, lemon, kalamata olives, red pepper flakes, and fresh herbs like basil, thyme, parsley, or oregano.
Subsitutions
- Pasta: Whole wheat or gluten-free spaghetti works just as well.
- Tomatoes: If tomatoes are out of season, use a small can of diced tomatoes, drained.
- Herbs: Substitute dried Italian seasoning when fresh isn’t available (though fresh is best).
Variations:
- Frozen spinach: Use frozen chopped spinach instead of fresh. Add 1-2 cups to the boiling pasta in the last 3 minutes. Drain it with the pasta.
- Add-ins: Before serving, top the spaghetti with some grilled or roasted shrimp, grilled chicken or tofu.
- Also see shortcuts below.
Step by Step Instructions
Tips for cooking pasta
- Use a pot large enough to cook the pasta evenly.
- Salt the water generously.
- Add the pasta only once the water is at a rolling boil.
- Cook until al dente, or to your preferred texture.
- Never rinse cooked pasta – starch helps the sauce cling to it.
Shortcuts
- Use frozen garlic cubes – just stir them right in.
- Skip the chopped vegetables and instead use extra tomatoes, olives, and chopped spinach or toss in leftover cooked vegetables.
- Use drained, rinsed, roasted red peppers from the jar instead of fresh.
- Use canned diced tomatoes like San Marzano without the juice instead of chopping fresh tomatoes.
What to serve with vegetable spaghetti
For a quick weeknight meal, I serve this recipe on its own or with some warm crusty multigrain bread. It also pairs perfectly with a glass of white wine.
For a more substantial meal:
- add tofu, poached shrimp, BBQ shrimp (grilled) or grilled chicken,
- serve with a citrus salad over greens
- start with a cup of soup e.g. butternut squash soup or curried lentil soup.
- And how about finishing the meal with 8-minute microwave brownies?
More pasta recipes to try
- Mediterranean pasta
- lemon pasta with shrimp in 30 minutes
- mushroom spinach pasta
- fresh tomato pasta with lemon and olives
- homemade spaghetti meat sauce
Or check out our full collection of pasta recipes.
Please leave a 5 star rating ***** with a comment in the recipe card below if you like the recipe, Thank you so much!
Vegetable Spaghetti (30 Minutes)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces spaghetti or other pasta, Note 1 assumes moderate 2 oz per person
- 1/4 cup Optional garnishes: chopped parsley, fresh chopped basil, grated Parmesan cheese (note: Parmesan cheese is not vegetarian)
Vegetable Sauce
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 cups vegetables, diced 1-2 inches/2.5-5 cm, Note 2
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (3 tsp)
- 3 medium tomatoes, chopped, Note 3 (or 1 can 375 ml diced tomatoes, drained – about 1 cup)
- 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and chopped
- 1/2 cup olives, chopped or 3 tablespoons olive tepanade (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
- 1 lemon (2 tsp zest, juice from 1/2 lemon)
- 4 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- BEGIN SAUCE: Heat a large saucepan to medium high heat. Add olive oil. Add chopped vegetables and sauté about 8 minutes until tender. Reduce heat to medium heat. Add garlic, olives (if using), capers, lemon juice, tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, for another 3-5 minutes.
- COOK SPAGHETTI: While sautéing vegetables, bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions Drain, RESERVING 1 cup/250 ml of the pasta liquid. Put spaghetti back in the warm pot. Add 1/4 cup/59 ml of the liquid and cover to keep warm. Set aside.
- FINISH PASTA: Add spinach to vegetable mixture. Stir until wilted, about 1 minute. Add lemon zest. Add cooked pasta to vegetable mixture and stir to combine well. Add pasta water a little at a time to get the consistency you like. Taste and adjust seasonings including salt and pepper if needed.
- SERVE: Transfer to a serving platter or serve straight from the pan. Add a drizzle of olive oil if desired as well as the garnishes you like. Pass extra Parmesan (for non vegetarians).
Recipe Notes
- Spaghetti options: Use any type of spaghetti you have – regular, spaghettini, capellini, vermicelli – or any other type of pasta. Whole wheat spaghetti or gluten-free pasta will work great too.
- Vegetable options:
- zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, green beans, snap peas and/or asparagus
- **If using vegetables that cook very quickly such as asparagus, zucchini or snow peas, add them toward the end of sautéing the vegetables to avoid overcooking.
- Tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes in summer – heirloom, beefsteak, field or cherry tomatoes – are all great choices. If not in season, use a small can of diced tomatoes, drained.
- Variations:
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- Frozen spinach: Use frozen chopped spinach instead of fresh. Add 1-2 cups to the boiling pasta in the last 3 minutes. Drain with pasta.
- Add-ins: Before serving, pile some grilled or roasted shrimp on top, grilled chicken or tofu.
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- Make ahead:
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- You can make the vegetable ‘sauce’ ahead, but I suggest you only add the chopped fresh spinach when you reheat it to serve so that it stays vibrant green. Cook the pasta just before serving and add to the vegetables.
- Alternatively, make the whole thing and just rewarm it on the stove with some extra pasta water or plane water. I absolutely love leftovers of this dish too!
- Store leftovers in a covered container for up to 3 days.
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Thank you for the kind words!
Love this recipe
Excellent vegan choice