30-Minute Creamy Carrot Pasta

Want to switch up your sauce for pasta night? This Creamy Carrot Pasta uses bright and subtly sweet carrots as a base to a truly unique, delicious, and vibrant homemade veggie-based pasta sauce.

Not only is this hearty, naturally vegan pasta sauce delicious, but it’s super quick and easy to make. This whole meal comes together in just about 30 minutes.

In this recipe, you will learn how to prep carrots, shallots, and garlic for roasting. You will also learn how to use broth as a base to turn roasted vegetables into a hearty sauce in a food processor or blender, before making it extra creamy by adding coconut milk.

Plus, the detailed directions will keep you organized and help you whip this family-friendly meal up in no time!

Similar to my super popular Sweet Potato Pasta Sauce, this pasta is not only delicious in its own right, but a great way to switch it up from the typical tomato-based sauce.

With a focus on sustainability in the kitchen, I try my very best to eat seasonally. I love carrot season because they are just so versatile and delicious in a number of dishes, including this homemade pasta sauce!

Green tip: Eating seasonally is one of the best ways to live more sustainably, Local foods have less associated transportation costs and fuel emissions. Check when carrots are in season in your area with this Seasonal Food Guide.

Carrot Pasta Ingredients

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Here’s everything you need:

• Carrots. Fresh carrots work best for this recipe for the best flavor!
• Fettuccini. Or any other pasta of choice.
• Shallots.
• Garlic.
• Olive oil, salt, & pepper.
• Vegetable broth. You can buy it or make your own vegetable broth from veggie scraps.
• Nutmeg.
• Coconut milk. I love using full fat, unsweetened coconut milk because of its natural creaminess, subtle sweetness, and well-rounded fruity flavor. However, this recipe works with any unsweetened non-dairy or full fat or reduced fat dairy milk.

Carrot Pasta Tips and Tricks

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What is Carrot Pasta?

Carrot pasta is a bright, plant-based pasta dish consisting of your pasta of choice and a creamy sauce with roasted carrots as the base.

Shallots, garlic, salt, and pepper bring a savory balance to the sweet carrots, and nutmeg and coconut milk round out the sauce for the perfect balance of salty and sweet.

Green tip: Making your own sauces and syrups is a great way to avoid food preservatives that contain toxins that are harmful to plants, animals, and soil.

How to Prep Carrots to Roast for Sauce

The outer layer, or skins, of carrots take a long time to cook and can sometimes get gritty and even bitter when you roast them. In order to get deliciously sweet and tender carrots for your pasta sauce, it’s best to peel the skin off of them completely.

Use a vegetable peeler to peel off the outermost layer of each of your carrots. Once you peel off the skin, you will reveal a shinier and more brightly colored carrot.

You can compost the carrot peels or save them to make your own vegetable broth.

Once your carrots are peeled, chop them into little coins, roughly 1-inch thick. They do not have to be perfectly uniform, but you want them similar in size so they roast evenly.

How to Prep Shallots to Make Pasta Sauce

Just like any other onion, shallots have many layers, making them easy to peel (minus the eye tearing, of course 😆). Start by chopping both ends off of both shallots. Then, slice them in half lengthwise.

At this point, you should be able to easily peel off and discard the outermost layer of the shallot (again, you can save the ends and peels for veggie broth or compost them!)

Once you’ve peeled the outer layer off, they’re ready to roast. No need to dice or slice any further.

How to Peel Garlic Easily

Using fresh garlic cloves goes a long way in this homemade carrot pasta sauce. In order to roast your garlic, you have to peel it first.

My favorite way to easily peel the outer layer off the garlic is by crushing it first. Just place your individual garlic cloves on your cutting board and use the flat end of your knife to push down on the garlic until you hear them crunch.

This will crack the outer layer, making it much easier for you to peel that outermost layer back.

Once you’ve completely peeled your garlic, keep the cloves whole to roast them.

Season Your Vegetables Before Roasting

Add the prepped carrots, shallots, and garlic to a baking sheet and spread them out in a single layer. For less clean up, you can opt to line your sheet pan with aluminum foil.

Next, drizzle the extra virgin olive oil on top and sprinkle on all of the salt and pepper.

How to Evenly Coat Vegetables in Oil & Seasoning

To get the best roast on all of your vegetables, it’s important to fully and evenly coat all of the vegetables with the olive oil.

I find the best way to coat the vegetables in oil is to use clean hands to toss the carrots, shallots, and garlic in the oil, salt, and pepper.

If you don’t want to get your hands messy, you can use kitchen tongs or two large forks to toss everything together instead of your hands.

Then, once again, spread the vegetables out in a single layer, ensuring that no vegetables are stacked on top of one another. Then, roast them at 425°F for about 20 minutes until tender.

Blending Roasted Carrots into a Sauce

Once the carrots, shallots, and garlic are roasted and tender, carefully add them to a food processor or high-powered blender with the nutmeg and vegetable broth.

Turn your food processor or blender on high and leave it to blend for about 3-5 minutes until it is completely smooth and there are no solid chunks left. You may need to use a spatula to scrape down any vegetables chunks that get stuck to the sides.

In this step, there is no such thing as too much blending. Keep blending until your confident that it is completely smooth.

Don’t Over-blend the Carrot Pasta Sauce Once You’ve Added Milk

Next, add the coconut milk. After adding the milk, you don’t want to blend it too much. You just want to mix it until it is combined and creamy.

Use the pulse button on your blender or food processor 3-5 times to just combine the sauce.

Serving Your Carrot Pasta

This Carrot Pasta was designed to be hearty enough to serve as is but is also a super versatile plant-based sauce and pasta dish that works well with a lot of different proteins.

My favorite fish recipes to serve this Carrot Pasta with are:

• Pecan Crusted Halibut
• Blackened Cod

My favorite side dishes to serve up with this Carrot Pasta are:

• Pesto Butter Garlic Bread
• Spinach Arugula Sald with Honey Dijon Vinaigrette

How to Store and Reheat Leftover Carrot Pasta

This pasta with plant-forward sauce will last up to 5 days in an airtight container when stored in the refrigerator. It can also be safely frozen for up to 4 months.

The easiest way to reheat this pasta is in a pot or saucepan over the stove on medium heat. Cover it and stir frequently until heated through.

You can also reheat leftover carrot pasta in the microwave or oven.

To reheat in the microwave, cover and microwave on high for 3-5 minutes, stopping and stirring every couple of minutes, until heated all the way through.

In the oven, add the pasta and carrot sauce to a baking dish, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15-20 minutes until heated thorughly.

With any of these reheating methods, if the sauce gets too thick and dense in the refrigerator, add a splash of vegetable broth or milk.

Green tip: Did you know that of the billions of pounds of food wasted annually, it is estimated that 50% of food waste happens inside of our homes? Decrease your contribution to waste by properly storing and reheating leftovers.

Why You Should Make this 30-Minute Creamy Carrot Pasta

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• The texture. This sauce is so thick and creamy!
• The flavors are balanced. The perfect balance between savory and sweet.
• It’s quick! This meal comes together in just about 30 minutes.