Sweet Potato Noodles with Creamy Avocado Sauce
- PREP 15min
- COOK 10min
- TOTAL 25min
These sweet potato noodles feature a creamy, dairy-free avocado sauce. This recipe makes about 2 cups of sauce, giving you plenty of leftovers for more veggie noodles, regular pasta, or sandwich spread.
You Will Need
Sweet Potato Noodles
1 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and spiralized (1 pound of noodles)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Half of a lime
Creamy avocado sauce, recipe below
Cilantro leaves, toasted pepitas, and queso fresco, optional for serving
Creamy Avocado Pasta Sauce
1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 medium avocado, pit removed and flesh scooped out
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves and tender stems
1 jalapeño, seeds, and white membrane removed
1 teaspoon minced garlic (1 clove)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice, from 1 to 2 limes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
Directions
Make the Sauce
Toast pepitas in a skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until they begin to pop (3 to 5 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside 2 tablespoons for serving.
Make the sauce. Combine the remaining pepitas with the avocado flesh, cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, water, and salt in a food processor or blender.
Blend until the sauce is smooth, adding more water by the tablespoon until it is creamy and somewhat pourable.
Taste the avocado sauce and adjust the salt level as needed. We use about 1/2 teaspoon.
Store the sauce in the refrigerator with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface to prevent browning.
Cook Sweet Potato Noodles
Heat oil in a wide, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the sweet potato noodles and season them with salt.
Toss the noodles with tongs until they are cooked al dente (wilted but still slightly crunchy, 5 to 7 minutes). Be careful not to overcook them, as they will become mushy.
Squeeze half a lime over the noodles and toss them with 6 tablespoons of the prepared avocado sauce (adding more if needed).
Serve the noodles with cilantro leaves, the reserved pepitas, and optional queso fresco.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- How to make sweet potato noodles without a spiralizer: You can make sweet potato noodles using a julienne peeler, mandoline, or even a standard vegetable peeler for wider noodles or ribbons.
- Vegan options: This recipe is naturally vegan. Simply omit the queso fresco or use a plant-based cheese.
- Pepita substitutes: Pistachios, pine nuts, almonds, and walnuts work beautifully in the sauce.
- Adding protein: Try grilled or skillet chicken, baked tofu, and roasted shrimp.
- Storing leftover sauce: The avocado in the sauce will brown over time. Prevent this by pressing plastic wrap directly onto the sauce before refrigerating. Properly stored, the sauce should last a few days in the fridge.
- Beyond noodles: Leftover sauce is incredibly versatile! Enjoy it as a veggie dip, sandwich spread, or thinned salad dressing.
- Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We omitted salt from the calculations since you must add to your tastes.