Can you meal prep pasta?

Pasta is safe to meal prep if prepared and stored properly . And yes, you can safely reheat it when needed.

How to accompany pesto pasta?

Serve the pasta with some crusty bread or freshly baked Rosemary Focaccia with Roasted Garlic to capture any creamy pesto left on your plate. For a side, I suggest staying light and fresh to balance the rich pasta sauce. A bright and crunchy Lemon Parmesan Lettuce Salad is this pasta recipe's perfect match.

How long can meal prep pasta last in the fridge?

Seafood: Consume cooked seafood within 2-3 days. Cooked Vegetables: If refrigerated promptly, they can last up to 5 days. Grains and Pasta: When stored properly, they are safe to eat 3-5 days post-cooking.

How to keep pasta fresh for meal prep?

Drizzle the pasta with a little bit of olive oil, 1 to 2 teaspoons of oil per pound of pasta. Toss to coat and spread the pasta in a single layer on a sheet pan to cool. Once completely cooled, put the pasta in an airtight container or ziplock bag for storage in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Arugula Pesto Pasta Meal Prep | Meal Prep on Fleek (2024)

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Arugula pesto is easy and tastes great with pasta and tons of other green veggies. Serve this vegan dish at room temperature or hot. Either way, you'll love this vegan arugula pesto pasta meal prep!

Just look at this pasta dish. It's glowing with the promise good health! Admittedly, we don't do a whole ton around here with pasta, but this one, we can get behind big time. Can you even count how many different veggies are in there? No, because they're all green! We've done the counting for you for this healthy meal prep, so don't worry. Broccoli, zucchini, peas to start. You can fill in the rest for this vegan pasta meal prep.

What is Pesto?

Pesto is basically a sauce and it's traditionally made with basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese and olive oil, but you can make pesto with any kind of green. Here we use arugula for a peppery bite, but you can also make pesto with carrot greens, parsley, or spinach. To make this vegan pesto, we use nutritional yeast for its nutty taste, to substittue the Parmesan, and walnuts add nutrition and are far less expensive than pine nuts for making pesto.

Vegan Arugula Pesto Pasta Meal Prep Ingredients

For the pasta . . .

8 oz pasta of choice
2 tsp. avocado oil, or oil of choice
2 cups sliced zucchini, halves or quarters
2 cups frozen green peas
4 cups broccoli florets, steamed or roasted
8 tbps. arugula pesto, or more to taste

For the arugula pesto . . .

1 cup lightly toasted walnuts
2 garlic cloves
2 cups baby arugula
½ cup olive oil
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup nutritional yeast
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. ground black pepper

How to Make Vegan Arugula Pesto Pasta Meal Prep

All those ingredients for the pesto combine in the bowl of a food processor. Combine them and process until smooth. You cook the pasta according to package directions, save a little of the water to thin out the pesto if needed, and then cook the veggies, too in a skillet while the pasta cooks.

Substitutions and Alterations

Use whatever kind of pasta you like but we are partial to short and stubby types, such as this rotini. Penne, ziti, or campanelle would work. The short pasta is especially good if you decide to serve this as a cold or room temperature pasta salad. It's versatile.

Feel free to use any kind of plant-based gluten-free pasta here instead, such as a chickpea or quinoa based pasta.

How to Serve Arugula Pesto Pasta

Meal prep this for the week and it's good for 4 to 5 days. You can certainly reheat this healthy meal prep in the microwave, just keep an eye on it. The stovetop works well too. Either way, add a bit of water to the pasta (or olive oil) to make sure it does not dry out (microwave) or stick to the pan (stovetop).

You can freeze any leftover pesto. We love to use ice cube trays for this task, and then once the pesto is frozen into cubes, pop them out of the tray. Transfer to a zip-close plastic bag and label it with the contents and date. Then, when it's time to use it again, just take it out of the freezer and pop it right into the pot with cooked pasta. The heat from the pasta will defrost the pesto; just keep stirring until it's combined.

Tips for Vegan Arugula Pesto Pasta Meal Prep

You can make the pesto a day ahead of when you want to cook this meal and prep it for the week (or for immediate consumption!).

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Ingredients

8 ounces pasta gluten free, if needed
2 teaspoon avocado oil
2 cups sliced zucchini
2 cups frozen peas
4 cups broccoli florets steamed or roasted
8 tbs arugula pesto or more, if desired

Arugula Pesto (makes about 1 cup)

1 cup lightly toasted walnuts
2 cloves garlic
2 cups baby arugula
½ cup olive oil
2 teaspoon fresh squeeze lemon juice
¼ cup nutritional yeast
½ tsp salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Pasta

Cook pasta al dente, according to package instructions. Reserve ½ cup of cooking water and drain the rest.
While pasta is cooking, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Then add sliced zucchini and cook for 3-5 minutes until tender. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cook frozen peas according to package instructions.

Arugula Pesto

Place walnuts, garlic, arugula, nutritional yeast, salt, black pepper, and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with thte blade. Pulse for a few seconds until walnuts are roughly chopped. With the food processor running, slowly pour in olive oil. Continue to process until mixture is well combined. Taste for seasoning and adjust with additional salt, pepper, or nutritional yeast to your preference.
In a large bowl, combine pasta, zucchini, green peas, broccoli, and arugula pesto. Add 2 tablespoons of reserved pasta water to moisten the miixture. Add additional pasta water asdesired, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add additional arugula pesto as desired. Serve pasta chilled, at room temperature, or hot.

Notes

WW Smart Points= Green:17 Blue:14 Purple:14

Nutrition for 1 out of 4 meals:

28g Protein | 62g Carbs | 34g Fat | 14.5g Fiber | 635 Calories

Nutrition

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