I’m back with another revamped dinner recipe that’s packed with veggies and fresh, amazing flavors you’ll fall in love with. I first made this roasted vegetable pasta back in 2018 and absolutely fell in love. A rainbow of roasted veggies, homemade cashew pesto, and a sprinkle of tangy goat cheese — dream come true!
This pasta was my effort to please Tony’s pasta-loving taste buds and still satisfy my craving for veggies. After I made it I put it into a tupperware for Tony to find and guess what? A day later a few pieces of roasted zucchini and two curly pasta pieces remain. #TYPICAL
It’s truly the perfect vegetarian dinner or lunch to make for the week, and also makes a great side dish for potlucks and parties. I love it hot or cold, and you know I included plenty of ways to customize it throughout the post. Enjoy!
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Everything you’ll need to make delicious roasted vegetable pasta
This CRAZY GOOD ROASTED RAINBOW VEGETABLE PASTA has goat cheese and a creamy cashew pesto you’ll want to add to everything. Here’s everything you’ll need:
- Veggies: we’re using eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, red onion and grape tomatoes (if you’d like) but you can mix and match based on what you have in your fridge, too!
- Oil: you’ll want avocado oil or olive oil for roasting up those delicious veggies.
- Seasonings: just a bit of garlic powder, salt & pepper throughout the recipe.
- Cashews: feel free to use raw cashew or cashew butter for the base of the delicious cashew pesto.
- Basil leaves: for that fresh pesto flavor.
- Pasta: I love using cellentani or cavatappi (these little swirls) but you can use any type of pasta you’d like, including whole wheat or gluten free pasta.
- Goat cheese: a bit of goat cheese adds an irresistible creamy, tangy flavor to the pasta.
Customize your pasta
There are tons of fun and delicious ways to really make this easy roasted veggie pasta dish your own! Here’s what I can recommend:
- Choose your veggies. Roasted broccoli, mushrooms and/or brussels sprouts would also be delicious. When winter hits try this recipe with roasted squash! Feel free to stir in spinach for an extra boost of greens, too, and add Mediterranean flavor by mixing in olives or feta instead of goat cheese — you do you.
- Pick your cheese. I love the tangy flavor of goat cheese, but this pasta would also be delicious with crumbled feta.
- Add protein. This roasted veggie pasta packs over 10g of protein per serving, but is the perfect base for your fav extra proteins. Keep it vegetarian by adding a can of chickpeas, or mix in grilled or baked chicken or shrimp!
- Go vegan. Feel free to omit the goat cheese crumbles to keep the pasta vegan and dairy free.
Can I use a different grain?
Sure! You can choose any pasta shape you’d like (even gluten free, as I mentioned) or you can try this recipe with quinoa, farro or pearl couscous. Note using quinoa would keep the recipe gluten free, too.
Perfect roasted veggie pasta in 4 steps
- Roast your veggies. Preheat your oven and divide the veggies between two trays lined with parchment paper. Drizzle each with olive oil and a sprinkle garlic powder and salt and pepper. Toss everything together, then spread out evenly on each pan and roast. Stir the veggies and rotate the pan halfway through the baking time.
- Make the pesto. While the veggies are roasting, you can make the pesto: add the following to the bowl of a food processor or high powered blender: cashews, basil avocado/olive oil, salt and water to thin. Process until thick, but smooth. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta. Next, cook the noodles according to the directions on the package until it’s al dente. Drain, then add back to the pot.
- Toss together & serve. Add the pesto, roasted veggies and half of the goat cheese to the pasta. Divide into bowls or meal prep containers, garnish with remaining goat cheese and extra basil leaves. Then serve & devour!
See how to make the roasted vegetable pasta
Looking to grill the vegetables?
You can! Fire up the grill this season and get all of my best tips & tricks for grilling vegetables here. Once they’re grilled, add them to the recipe as written and enjoy!
Make it extra creamy
After you cook your pasta, reserve a few tablespoons of the starchy pasta water and add it to the homemade pesto. That will create an extra creamy pesto sauce and be even more delicious when you mix it all together with the goat cheese.
How to store this roasted vegetable pasta
Store this healthy roasted veggie pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. It’s delicious eaten hot or cold, so feel free to dig in straight from the fridge or warm it up a bit in the microwave!
More pasta recipes you’ll love
- Vegan Pasta Primavera with Creamy Garlic Cashew Sauce
- Bacon Parmesan Brussels Sprouts Spaghetti
- The Best Vegan Mac and Cheese You’ll Ever Eat
- Date Night In Cilantro Pistachio Pesto Shrimp Pasta
- Kickin’ Vegan Taco Pasta with Sweet Corn
Get all of my pasta recipes here, and more delicious zucchini recipes here!
If you make this healthy mediterranean pasta recipe be sure to tag #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation! You can also leave a comment below and rate the recipe. Thank you for making AK recipes!
Roasted Rainbow Vegetable Pasta with Cashew Pesto + Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- For the veggies:
- 1 baby eggplant, sliced and quartered (or sub 1 zucchini)
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced and quartered
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
- 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks
- 1 red onion, cut into chunks
- Optional: 1 package grape tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
- For the cashew pesto:
- 1/3 cup roasted or raw cashews OR 2 tablespoons cashew butter
- 1 cup basil leaves (from 1 oz package)
- 2-3 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2-3 tablespoons warm water, to thin pesto
- For the pasta:
- 2 ½ cups (8 ounce) cellentani pasta (or pasta of choice -- can use whole wheat or gluten free)
- ½ cup goat cheese crumbles, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the veggies between two trays, then drizzle each with 1 tablespoon of oil and a sprinkle garlic powder and salt and pepper, to taste.
- Toss together to coat the veggies, then spread out evenly on each pan. Roast for 15 minutes, then stir the veggies and rotate the pans and bake for 15-20 minutes more until veggies are tender.
- While the veggies are roasting, you can make the pesto: add the following to the bowl of a food processor or high powered blender: cashews, basil avocado/olive oil, salt and water to thin. Process until thick, but smooth. Set aside.
- Next, cook the pasta according to the directions on the package until it’s al dente. Drain, then add back to the pot.
- Fold in the pesto, roasted veggies and half of the goat cheese. Divide into bowls or meal prep containers, garnish with remaining goat cheese and extra basil leaves, if desired. Serves 4 as a meal and 6 as a side.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on January 29th, 2018, and republished on March 29th, 2022.
52 comments
This looks amazing and has summer picnic dish written all over it! Craving that warm weather ☀️ I hope you’re starting to feel better ❤️
Yes! This one will be perfect for summer. Great for potlucks! Thanks so much, Courtney 🙂
Making. this. tonight. 🙂
I didn’t see the grape tomatoes in the video, do you roast them or add them in fresh at the end?
I roasted them with the other veggies. Yummy!
I was going to ask the same question. I don’t usually add tomatoes when roasting vegetables so I wonder if it’s not supposed to be in there?
Hi! The tomatoes are optional, and feel free to roast them OR put them in fresh at the end (based on your taste preference.) I think both ways would be delicious!
This is delicious. I finally made it after drooling over the recipe all week. Thank you; this is going with me next time I go somewhere to share food.
So happy to hear that! And yes – this one is perfect for parties & potlucks. Enjoy!
I made this last night. Love it! Eating leftovers now, love the chickpea idea, gonna add! Goat cheese, just LOVE!
I’m so glad you loved it! And yes this is amazing for adding in your fav proteins. Goat cheese is love!!
Are the cashews raw or roasted?
I typically use raw!
I just served this recipe with the Fiesta Mango Black Bean Salad to my family for lunch…what a hit! Traditional eaaters, they are highly skeptical of anything healthy or vegetatian but they gobbled this up! Very filling as well. I forgot fresh basil at the store and ended up using jarred pesto and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, but I’m anxious to try the cashew pesto next time. Will be adding this as a summer staple.
Yay! I’m glad they liked this recipe too! The cashew pesto is SO delicious. Hope you get a chance to make it!
wow, yum, i m trying this recipe with added kidney beans (protein)…
Perfect – enjoy!
I made this recipe for my family and they loved it.
So happy to hear that!
Monique this was DELISH!!! Wow! The pesto and roasted veggies with the goat cheese was just perfect. So much flavor!!!
Isn’t it an amazing combo?? Happy to hear that you loved it!
I just made this for my week’s lunch meal prep. Holy crap, it is SO good! I added some spinach to the pesto for more veggies, left out the goat cheese to avoid dairy (although it would really be the cherry on top of this dish!), and added chickpeas for some protein. Absolutely in love and I’ve never been so excited for lunch!
Perfect! This one is great for customizing. So happy you loved it!
Have made this exactly as written! with brown rice pasta. Super good!!!!Ate hot and cold!
Perfect! So delicious hot and cold.
Ok so I just made this recipe with the same ingredients-aside from feta- but scaled down to one serving. WHAT AN AMAZING COMBINATION! I cooked everything, then set the pasta with the mixed veggies aside in the fridge for an hour. After an hour, I added the pesto & feta. I am hooked. One of my favourite pasta salads ever, and super easy to make. Thank you so much for an incredible recipe!!
Perfect! So glad you loved it!
Made this pasta dish today and it is delicious. Love all the roasted veggies and the pesto! Great combination of flavours. It will be a regular dish in my home!
So happy to hear that, Debbie!
This was a great recipe. I loved all the different veggies and the veggie to pasta ratio and the delicious addition of goat cheese. I had actually never cooked eggplant before because I thought you had to do this weird process with salting it to get out the bitterness but it was perfectly fine the way the recipe is written. My boyfriend loved it too and ate a massive portion of seconds. Thankfully there’s enough left for our lunches tomorrow so we will give it a try cold. Definitely would recommend!
Amazing! So happy you both gave this one a try 🙂 perfect leftovers!
I make this so often. It’s the perfect meal prepped lunch or dinner and is great hot or cold!
Absolutely! Glad you love it 🙂
So easy to make and so healthy!
This is the most incredible vegetarian dinner recipe! Made this last night for a family dinner and everyone loved it, even the kids! Such a nourishing, delicious, and creative recipe. I just added lots of extra roasted peppers and eggplant! Thank you!
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
Amazing summer dish! We make this almost every week in the summer. The veggies are easy to swap out based on what is in season and it makes a good amount, so there are always leftovers, which is a bonus!
YUM. The perfect easy and delicious weeknight dinner. We made this with brown rice pasta to
keep it a little “healthier”. I will definitely be making it again!
Happy that you loved it, Kaitlin! Thanks for the review 🙂
Cant wait to make this soon for me can i use vegan cheese and can i skip red and yellow bell peppers as am not a big fan of red and yellow bell peppers i love eggplant / zucchini / pesto and pasta sooooooooooo much perfect for my after office meals love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
Yes you can definitely use vegan cheese and any veggies you love! Can’t wait for you to try it 🥰
Delicious veggie-packed spring recipe! The goat cheese was the perfect touch and we added sunflower seeds for some crunch. The colorfulness of the dish was so satisfying!
Our whole family enjoy this meatless meal. We used store bought pesto to save time. Highly recommend
That’s a great shortcut! I’m so happy you’re all loving this one ☺️☺️
This was sooo good!! It is a great salad that makes me feel like it’s summer time. The only change I made was that I added cannelli beans for protein and used some pasta water to thin the pesto. I made it as a meal prep and eagerly anticipate lunch time this week 😋
Beans are such a great addition! I’m so happy it turned out amazing 🙂 Thanks for the review!
This is so good! Perfect summer pasta dish!!
I did not add goat cheese and made a couple modifications to the pesto. For the pesto, I added a large handful of spinach, about 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, and more olive oil.
Outstanding! Will definitely be making again.
Yummm that all sounds amazing! SO happy you enjoyed it, Nicole 🙂
Did you soak the cashews before making the pesto? I am excited to try this tomorrow!
Hi! Sorry I’m late. Nope, I don’t soak the cashews — they’ll stay a little chunky in the pesto which I like!
Yum! I had this for lunch today, and it was delicious! I love all the veggies! I used a whole wheat penne for the pasta, Basil has been hard to find in my stores, and when I get it it has been going bad too quickly, so I used your cilantro pesto recipe instead, and it was perfect! I meal prepped this for multiple days and am happy I get to eat it all week.
Simply delicious and so healthy too! Unfortunately my eggplant went mushy and wet while roasting in the oven, however in its place I added the suggested chickpeas and it worked out beautifully. Also doubled the pesto so I won’t have dry pasta in a few days. Loved this recipe.