There’s no cream in this creamy pasta recipe. Instead, the roasted zucchini creates a delicious, creamy zucchini pasta sauce. Perfect as a meatless main dish or as a side with your favorite protein!

Pasta with Creamy Zucchini Sauce
This easy pasta with creamy zucchini sauce is made with roasted zucchini, onions, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. The vegetables are pureed until smooth and tossed with the pasta. My daughter Karina loved this recipe!! It’s so good. You won’t believe the sauce has no cream! More of my favorite creamy pasta recipes without cream are this Cajun chicken pasta, and spaghetti with butternut leek Parmesan sauce.

Creamy Zucchini Pasta Sauce Ingredients
This recipe is inspired by Pasta alla Nerano, Italian zucchini pasta, with fresh summer zucchini and grated Parmesan. The main difference is that you’ll blend these and other ingredients into a rich sauce. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.

- Zucchini: Slice three to four medium zucchini.
- Onion and Garlic roast with the zucchini.
- Olive Oil gets drizzled over the veggies.
- Salt and Pepper season the vegetables. Also, you’ll need some salt for the pasta water.
- Broth: Use chicken or vegetable broth for the sauce.
- Parmesan: Grated parmesan cheese adds flavor and creaminess to the zucchini sauce without adding cream.
- Pasta: Any small pasta shape will work. Cavatappi, fusilli, or rigatoni are all good options.
How to Make Pasta with Creamy Zucchini Pasta Sauce
The combination of Parmesan cheese and starchy pasta water is the secret to a silky, creamy sauce without cream in this zucchini pasta recipe. I usually cook the pasta while the veggies roast, and then blend the sauce before putting it all together in one pot. See the recipe card at the bottom for printable directions.



- Roast the zucchini. First, toss the zucchini, garlic, and onions with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture on a sheet pan and roast at 425°F for 25 minutes until tender and browned.
- Cook the pasta. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil while the vegetables roast. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions for al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the water, and return the noodles to the pot.
- Make the creamy zucchini sauce. Remove the vegetables from the oven when done and transfer them to a blender. Add the parmesan cheese and broth and puree until smooth.
- Combine with pasta water. Pour the zucchini sauce over the pasta, adding the reserved water to loosen the sauce to your desired consistency. Top with fresh black pepper and serve with Parmesan.

Variations
- Squash: Swap zucchini with yellow squash or use a combination of both.
- Pasta: Use whole wheat pasta for more fiber and protein or make it with gluten-free pasta.
- Vegetables: Add tomatoes to the pasta for an extra vegetable.
- Protein: Toss in grilled chicken or shrimp for additional protein. You can also add some mozzarella cheese.
- Herbs: Top your zucchini pasta with fresh basil.
What to Serve with Zucchini Pasta
I serve this light and creamy zucchini pasta with crusty sourdough bread or panzanella and a protein for an easy summer dinner. For a low-carb side, try a fresh green salad.
How to Store
- Refrigerate this easy creamy zucchini pasta for up to 4 days.
- Freeze for up to 3 months. To eat, thaw it first and then microwave until warm.

More Zucchini Recipes You’ll Love
Whether you grow your own zucchini or stock up at the local market, these are more of my favorite zucchini recipes that you can try.
Pasta with Creamy Zucchini Sauce

Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, cut 1/2-inch
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed
- 24 ounces zucchini, skin on cut in 1/4-inch slices (from 3 to 4 medium)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, fresh grated
- 1 pound pasta, such as cavatappi, fusilli or rigatoni
Instructions
- Toss zucchini with garlic, onion, olive oil, salt and pepper and spread on a sheet pan. Roast 425F about 25 minutes, until tender and browned, tossing halfway.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When boiling, add the pasta and cook according to package directions for al dente.
- Drain the pasta reserving some of the water and return to the pot.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven when done and transfer to a blender. Add the parmesan cheese and broth. Puree until smooth.
- Toss with the pasta, adding reserved water, as needed to loosen the sauce to your desired taste.
- Top with fresh black pepper and serve with Parmesan cheese, if desired.













I’ve made this sauce a few times now. It’s definitely a delicious way to use up zucchini! Sadly the last time I made it, I didn’t have enough garlic, but it was still good. 😊
For those asking about freezing leftover sauce… Yes! You can freeze it! Depending on how thick your sauce is, you may just need to add a little extra liquid after defrosting, but it was as good as the day I made it!
I loved it! Super easy to prepare. I doubled the garlic gloves. Next time I will make a bigger batch 🙂
I made this tonight. It was delicious and so easy. I didn’t have enough parm so I added some nutritional yeast and a handful of basil while blending. I served it w vegetarian chicken cutlets chopped up over it. And chopped basil and parsley. I’d definitely make again. Delicious!
Thanks Sandra!
Made it today, very tasty! I also squeezed some lemon into it after everything was mixed and it really gave it a nice zing. Oh, and I figured since I was cheating by eating carbs I would go for the gust — I toasted up panko breadcrumbs with seasoning in butter and sprinkled it on top. VERY good!
Love it. Can you make a big batch and freeze?
Has anyone froze the leftover sauce?!
Delicious my husband loved it!
Love love love
Perfect recipe when one has loads of zucchini. This was easy and tasty. Loved this. Flavorful and delicious 😋
Thank you.
I love this recipe as soup … I just add more broth. The first time I made it, I accidentally used more broth and discovered it was fabulous as soup (as well as over pasta). It’s super creamy and delicious. Reheats beautifully, too. I brown everything on the stove top because it’s summer. My new favorite comfort food! 🙂
I’ve made this a few times- delicious. I now slightly brown zucchini in a frying pan with oil and garlic. It cooks up much quicker and it doesn’t heat up the house with the oven being on. I’ve also added ricotta cheese and Italian sausage and basil to the finished pasta.
A great way to use extra zucchini! We have enjoyed it several times and planned to try freezing some for when we don’t have zucchini coming out of our ears.
Been looking for this kind of recipe and so happy I found it. My kids loved it and my lactose free husband loves it as well. Served it with turkey meatballs. Adding this to the rotation!
So glad you all loved it!
I don’t have a high speed blender. Which would give the best result: stick blender, regular blender, or food processor?
I used a regular ninja blender, but I can see an immersion blender working perfectly for this too. The food processor may make it too grainy.
I just made a second batch of this delicious sauce. The first batch was a brighter colour and this one was a bit brownish, but still tastes great. I added some grated lemon peel to bring some brightness.
Love all of your recipes…..well except anything with “runny “ eggs….
But soooo many more to choose.
Delicious! And easy! It does make A LOT but that’s great because I’ll lunch for a few days too. I used chickpea pasta to add some protein. I’m even looking forward to trying it cold like a pesto pasta salad. Thanks again!
Yum! only change is next time I will do more sauce/less pasta. A great side dish to add to our garden zucchini rotation!
Made this exactly as written except used spaghetti noodles and it was delicious! Once again Gina came through with another delicious recipe. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This would make a nice pasta with sauce for toddlers! Mild flavor but sticks to pasta nicely.
I’ve made this a few times and served it to a number of people and everyone likes it. It also freezes as well, which is a bonus. Thank you.
I found this recipe on TikTok. It was absolutely delicious, and even my kids enjoyed it! I made it as written, but used three yellow squash from my garden instead of the green zucchini. I used garlic powder instead of regular garlic, I was afraid of it burning in the oven. I used 7 oz. of shell pasta instead of a pound and added the breasts of a Costco rotisserie chicken. I ended up adding the full one cup of reserved pasta water as well. I will certainly make this dish again!
So happy you loved it!
Wrap the garlic in foil and roast it whole
Made this for dinner tonight. Absolutely delicious! Followed the recipe exactly and wouldn’t change a thing. Served it with rigatoni and chicken cutlets. Tasted so rich but it’s actually light if that makes any sense. Thank you so sharing this recipe!
Made this tonight for my family and it was a huge hit with everyone! My dairy loving toddler had no idea there was no cream, and that I snuck so many veggies in! I will definitely be adding this to our meal rotation, so easy and felt good about feeding it to my kids. Thanks Gina!!
Win, win! ♥
Please tell me if it can last longer than 4 days in the refrigerator. Thank you.
I love this recipe. I made it for the first time this week and my two picky kids loved it too (they didn’t realize it had veggies in it)! Wondering if there are other veggies I could use too that would work for this just as well?
This recipe is so good and easy!! I used yellow squash and zucchini. I think it woild be great with some grilled shrimp or chicken Sausage too! I only wish I had this recipe when my kids were young so I could sneak veggies into their “mac & cheese”
This was amazing-so much flavor! Absolutely delicious and easy to make.
Thanks Peggy!
Made this tonight for me and my husband (boys were gone, they don’t like zucchini), we LOVED it!! Thanks Gina, scrumptious meal 🙂
Our family of 3 loved this recipe! We cooked 1/2 the pasta called for and am saving the 1/2 the sauce for another day. We chopped up freshly grilled chicken thighs and mixed it in. Yum!
Wondering if I could replace the Parmesan with nutritional yeast?
Did you try nutritional yeast? I have a dairy free little and would love to try the recipe and also make it safe for him!
Delicious way to use zucchini!
If there was more stars I’d rate all of them. This was so good and easy to make. My new go to. Thank you so much for coming up with this. I’ve shared it many times! 😍
Can this sauce be frozen?
Delicious! Did the yellow squash and zucchini and onion. So simple and tasted amazing.
In fact, add a bunch more broth and make it into a wonderful soup.
This was delicious! It will be a great recipe for when my garden overproduces zucchini! I had a little leftover sauce and we used it as pizza sauce with sliced tomatoes, crumbled sausage and fresh mozzarella!
This was delicious! Used home grown zucchini and garlic, with lentil pasta. Colouring was more olive than green (our zucchini skin was thick and dark) but still tasted great. Has made it to the summer recipe list already.
Is the 390 calories just for the sauce or for the pasta and the sauce together? Thank you!
Together! 🙂
Garlicky, delicious, and satisfied my pasta craving without blowing all my WW points. The biggest victory – my 17 year old who has refused to eat zucchini in the past went back for seconds!
Perfect!! I love kid approval! 🙂
Surprisingly delicious for such a simple recipe! Made a 1/2 batch with 1 lb zucchini; nice and bright green.
I loved it! Didn’t have parm so used some italian blend cheese shreds and had no broth that wasn’t industrial size so put a can of chicken noodle soup in and it was still great! Also added some basil.
This was delicious! I made it as written. I made the sauce early in the day then heated it up when we were ready for dinner. Some people commented on their sauce being brown in colour. Mine was a sage green. We ate more than we should have. It was that good! 🤗 We will definitely make this again!
A surprise how good this is. I was out of parm. so used some laughing cow wedges which melded right into it. Great way to use zucchini.
This is delicious!! My husband was a bit on the fence, but loved it. Can this be canned vs. stored frozen?
I’m making up a batch and freezing it, minus the cheese/broth
The flavor was outstanding, and my husband was extremely skeptical. I did add a little mozzarella, as suggested to the pasta and sauce mixture. Next time, I will nuke the sauce a minute or two in the microwave as we like our sauces very hot and it was only warm after I finished blending everything even though I heated up the broth and used some hot pasta water for thinning. That said, it’s a delicious way to get vegetables into a picker eater.
The perfect recipe for summer zucchini! I’ve made this recipe twice already. The roasted vegetables don’t have to stop at pasta sauce. I roasted some summer squash along with the zucchini, added a bit more chicken broth and made the most delicious soup.
WONDERFUL! I did cook up some extra large shrimp (little butter/garlic) and added the flavorful liquid from that in the zucchini sauce as well. It was delicious 🙂
This was so creamy, tasty and absolutely delicious! Very easy to make and will definitely make it again!
I never leave comments… but this recipe is so so so so good and easy, I just had to!!! I topped mine with some crumbled sausage. Holy yummmmm.
Wow- seems like such simple recipe but absolutely blew everyone away.
We substituted yellow peppers for onions and added a bit of red pepper for a subtle heat.
Absolutely delicious- will make lots more. Thank you Gina!!
Isn’t it good!!!
A great recipe to make when zucchini is in season! I used two medium/large zucchini’s – yellow and green. I added a generous handful of fresh basil to the blender as well, which gave more of a pesto flavour – I highly recommend the addition. I used chickpea pasta and topped with a poached egg! Thanks for another great recipe!
Perfect!!
It was amazing, flavorful and creamy. One question, do I add the roasted garlic and onion with the vegetables from the oven to the blender or just the vegetables?
To the blender.
This was delicious and healthy. My husband and 10 year old had seconds! I used a bit of yellow squash too to get the full 24 ounces of zucchini, all from my garden.
This was very tasty and healthy. Next time I will use the exact cheese because one comment said it was salty. I would add basil to the sauce next time. My husband loved it!
Loved this recipe! It is straightfowrard and delicious. We will definitely make it again 🙂
I have a lot of fresh shredded zucchini from making zucchini bread. Could I use in this recipe? Will it roast if shredded?
Easy, tastes great, and hides the zucchini!
This was easy and delicious
I will make often
Can you freeze the sauce for later use?
This was so easy to make, absolutely delicious and relatively healthy. Entire family loved it – it’s a keeper!
Easy and delicious. Even my veggie-averse kid loves it.
I suggest not adding the garlic to the roasting pan until the last 10 minutes or so, so it doesn’t burn. But this recipe is a keeper.
It came out so good, however a little salty because of the parm but fascinating that is was so easy to make!! Thank you
What a great idea!!! I use low carb pasta to bring down the carbs. Great!!!!
Absolutely amazing! I can’t believe there’s no cream in this. The roasted veggies are key (I may make my zucchini this way for a veggie side dish going forward!).l I didn’t change a thing! Recipe is perfect as is! Thanks. Gina!
PS – just wondering what makes this serving 11 points? The pasta?
We give this 5 stars.
First had it in Italy and this is just as good!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
This was stupendous. Easy to make and absolutely delicious! And it feels good knowing you’re getting a lot of veggies. I served it as a main and used broiled chicken thighs for my protein, and blistered grape tomatoes for some punch – delicious but the sauce is fantastic on its own. This is going into the regular rotation!
We loved it and the hubby thought the cheese flavor was exceptional. I had to tell him it was roasted veggies! This will be added to our favorites.
Excellent recipe, thanks for all you do!
This was so good. I used chickpea pasta and I also put some frozen broccoli Florettes in the water to add to the dish at the end . It was delicious!
I didn’t change anything! What an EXCELLENT sauce!
Delicious recipe! Definitely don’t feel guilty eating this pasta dish when the sauce is all veggies. I decided to add ground turkey in as my protein and it was great. Thanks for the recipe!!
Made for dinner tonight. “Delicious” was the verdict from everyone. Creamy consistency, garlic, onions and olive oil. I would like to try adding a few leaves of basil on the next round. Simple recipe came together quickly, just the time to roast the zucchini. Thank you.
Super tasty! I roasted for the time allotted but when I took them out, the veggies weren’t really browned but were done. Sauce was a lovely bright green color. Makes quite a bit! Froze half my leftovers in ice cubes for later and popped the other half in the fridge for tomorrow
I love this recipe! The first time I made it, I used zucchini that had very dark green skins and roasted for the allotted time and the sauce turned out a nice green color. The second time I made it, I used zucchini that had lighter green skins, and admittedly roasted it longer and the recipe calls for as I love a deep roasted flavor, especially with onions and garlic. The sauce came out a greenish brown which was not a very appetizing color, however, the flavor was absolutely amazing! I am wondering if there is a way to maintain the green color while roasting the vegetables to get that deep roasted flavor. Can you add some raw or blanched and drained spinach, which I assume will not change the flavor? Or do you have any other suggestions? I did add a handful of fresh basil, but that did not make much of a difference color wise. It did add a slight tinge of green. For me, I can care less about the color given the amazing flavor, but for others I imagine they might do a double take before digging because of the offputting color. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Spinach or basil would be great!!
Absolutely delicious and satisfying. Will definitely make again.
Omit the chicken broth…what would be a substitute for the broth ?
Sodium-free veg broth?
This was delicious. I added basil and used a big green zucchini and 4 little yellow zucchini and the color was an exactly the color in the photo. I also added some roasted cherry tomatoes and veggie sausage when I served it. SO GOOD!
so delicious!! it took everything in me to leave some for my family and not eat the whole pot lol!
Delicious! Though I still have plenty of fresh basil, forgot it but even so, this was as good as advertised.
We really enjoyed this dish. I used your suggestion to combine roasted squash and Zucchini made dish a little sweet nicely complemented by parmesan and basil. I added no salt to lower sodium content. Will return to this recipe often.
Deeeelish!! But yes to all those who said it wasn’t the pleasant green of the picture. Since my basil is done for the season, I added a dollop of pesto that I had made before it gave up the ghost. I served it on chickpea pasta(I’m gluten free) with a Waldorf salad. It was a very good and hearty Meatless Monday dinner.
Would this work without the parmesan. We can’t eat it for multiple reasons.
Sure but will be bland, the Parmesan adds a lot of flavor and salt. Maybe nutritional yeast?
This might be my new favorite pasta dish! Made it last night as is, it was amazingly good. Thanks for sharing!
This is delicious! Much healthier than alfredo but just as tasty.
I’ve made this twice. Incredibly tasty! But there is no way in H E double hockey sticks this is coming out green if you get any brown on the veggies. MAYBE if you blanched the zucchini and roast the onion and garlic you might get the best of flavor and green color. Goingto try one more time roasting without getting color and see how it tastes. As pretty as it looks in the picture, I’ll give that up for the deep flavors of well roasted veggies.
PS- served this over kelp noodles the second time. Cut the calories in half and, though a crunchier texture, it was pretty tasty!
Delicious recipe, creamy and satisfying but still light. I have made this twice and my husband and I really enjoyed it. The first time I made it I added some red pepper flakes for a little kick and the second time I added the juice of half a lemon and fresh basil as suggested. The red pepper flakes were ok but the lemon juice and basil really take the flavor to the next level. The leftovers are even better.
Made this today with some summer zucchini and it is delicious! Easy recipe to follow and the sauce turned out so creamy with hints of the roasted garlic and vegetables, will definitely make this again!
Absolutely awesome. I may never eat red sauce again. Thank you.
Hi Gina,
This sounds delicious, want to make this today. Question, how many weight watcher points just for the sauce?
Thanks!!
If you click the WW button you can see the breakdown
Made this for dinner tonight. So easy and sooo good!
This was very good. Flavorful yet light. I’ve never tried a zucchini sauce before, but had a bunch that needed to be used up. This was perfect. Put over cauliflower gnocchi and topped with chicken. Thank you!
I have been avoiding making this as it didn’t look like something my husband would eat. We have a boatload of zucchini that needs to be eaten so today was the day to try it out. I made it exactly as written except I did use the cheap jarred Parmesan. It was amazing and my husband loved it! I’ll be making this again and again. Thank you Gina!
GREAT!!!
I made this with frozen zucchini if you still have a ton!
Wondering Would this work with frozen shredded zucchini ?
Had this tonight with grilled chicken. My 14 month old son LOVED it. I gave him a taste on a spoon after it was blended and he came back asking for more 5 times, and demolished a full plate of rotini with the sauce for dinner. I froze it in 1oz portions for quick dinners for him in the future. Thank you for a delicious meal that we were able to enjoy as a family!
This dish was SO MUCH BETTER than I expected! Creamy, rich and all around delicious. I added some crumbles of bacon and cherry tomatoes to make it a meal. Will definitely be making this again!
delicious and so healthy!
This was simple and delicious. My sauce turned out brown, but no matter.
The whole family loved it, including my teenage boy.
I added basil to the sauce and red pepper flakes for serving.
Amazing easy and delicious 👍👍I just added a hand full of fresh basil and two tablespoons of lemon juice . My family and grandchildren devoured it. Thank you
This was so delicious. Super creamy (without added cream) and light. The vitamix mixer made it so smooth. I put over chick pea pasta. The roasted garlic added so much flavor. A keeper for sure!
This is amazing! I kind of thought it would be all right, but it is so, so, good!
This is amazing! My 2.5 year old kept saying “this is the best dinner ever” and “this is a fun dinner” all sitting at the table together without him trying to get up immediately. Highly recommend, and thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
P.S. I also played around with the recipe to make variations. One favorite is adding some roasted cherry tomatoes and yellow squash which makes it look more like mac and cheese. My son tolerates spices so played around with that as well to switch it up!
GREAT!!!!
I don’t know if I did something wrong or what happened, but this was a pretty big fail for me. It smelled really good but the texture of the sauce was really off-putting and it was so incredibly bland – no one in my family ate more than a few bites.
I am surprised! Did you blend it well? It should be creamy. Did you use real parmesan cheese or the stuff from the can?
So delicious and easy! Even approved from my picky 6 year old!!
Not bad but the sauce resembled that of baby food so it was totally a texture and color type of thing for me. Likely I’ll make it again but not a top-of-the-list for dinner options. I liked that it was fairly simple to make though.
This is SO much better the next day. Honestly, the first time I made it, I was unimpressed and thought I’d not make it ever again. I mean, it was fine but after I heated up the left-overs the next day, I COULD NOT BELIEVE how much better it was!! So much that I already made this a second time! Today, I made it early in the morning, tossed in the fridge, and re-heated for dinner. Perfection!! So very good!! Thanks, Gina!!
Would this freeze well if I made a big batch to store for easy meals in the future?
This easy creamy zucchini pasta will last up to four days in the refrigerator or freezer for up to three months. To eat, thaw it first and then microwave until warm.
Felt very light after eating not like I used to after cooking pasta with creamy sauce and my kids loved it!
Loved this recipe. Easy to make. I used all green zucchinis but next time I’ll use some yellow. I added 1 lb. Of Italian sausage with onions. 😋 I had men to feed. Shared with neighbor, they loved it to.
As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it, and it did not disappoint! Very easy and extremely tasty!! Will make again and again!!
Awesome!!
I must have roasted the veggies too long and browned them too much as the puree was not an appetizing green as Gina’s pictures. It does taste good and will try again without over-browning. 4 stars for being just a different taste than what I was expecting for topping pasta, but definitely better than too fatty of a sauce that isn’t worth it.
Delicious. I added fresh basil to the blender, other than than I left the recipe as is. Used maybe 1 cup+ of pasta water to thin the sauce. We topped the pasta with the sauce, some sauteed mushrooms and prawns and chopped parsley. Perfect.
So creamy and so delicious!!! Made according to recipe! Plan to make it again!
Very tasty although I did make several alterations:
• to add some protein to this dish, I added 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese to the sauce & a poached egg on top of the pasta serving)
• I also added more seasoning overall, including some garlic powder to the veggies before I roasted them, 3 cubes of frozen basil to the sauce, a pinch of nutmeg & a pinch of chili flakes to the sauce.
I really like zucchini and this recipe is perfect. The creaminess is amazing and the taste is on point. I used penne because I didn’t have any of the others and just as good. Thank you Gina 👏🏻
Very tasty and easy to prepare. My grandkids love it and didn’t even realize they were eating zucchini
I added extra garlic (because that’s I do!) and some roasted pine nuts. So yummy!
Do you think I could substitute a pat-a-pan squash for the zucchini? My sister in law gave me one and I’m not sure how to cook it, since I don’t want to saute it.
You definitely could use patty pan squash.
Made this tonight, the sauce is delicious! I love that it’s healthy and creamy without using cream
I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out well! The flavor is good and not too zucchinny for people who don’t like the taste. I think a tablespoon of pesto could convince hungry people it was not zucchini. It is fast too!
I actually just started doing this with butternut squash! It is so tasty and creamy that I want to do it with all vegetables
This sounds good and is something I want to try. About how many cups (or ounces) of zucchini does this translate to? Zucchini sizes are all over the place and I don’t even know any more what a medium size zucchini is….(haha!). Thanks.
The recipe calls for 24 ounces of zucchini.
This sounds delicious!
It does indeed. 🫠