Creamy Avocado Lime Sweet Potato Noodles
- PREP
This healthier take on pasta with avocado sauce is simple, fresh and quick to make. The sauce is perfect for tossing with vegetable noodles or regular pasta (it’s also excellent as a dip for veggies or spread for sandwiches). The recipe below makes about 2 cups of sauce. You will only need about 6 tablespoons. Don’t worry though, you can store it and keep in the fridge for days. It’s even freezer-friendly! Check the notes section below for our tips on storing it.
You Will Need
Creamy Avocado 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
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
6 tablespoons creamy avocado sauce or more as needed
Cilantro leaves, toasted pepitas and queso fresco for serving
Directions
Make Sauce
Add pepitas to a skillet over medium heat. Toast, stirring often, until the seeds begin to pop, 3 to 5 minutes. Take off of the heat and set aside 2 tablespoons of the seeds for serving. Use the rest to make the sauce.
Add pepitas (minus the reserved tablespoons for serving), avocado flesh, cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, lime juice, olive oil, water and the salt to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. If the sauce seems too thick, blend in a few more tablespoons of water. Taste then adjust with more salt as needed (we use about 1/2 teaspoon).
Store sauce in the refrigerator with a sheet of plastic wrap pressed on top to prevent air from turning the avocado brown.
Cook Sweet Potato Noodles
Heat the oil in a wide non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add sweet potato noodles to the pan and season with the salt. Toss with pasta tongs and cook until al dente — the noodles should be wilted, but still have a slight crunch; 5 to 7 minutes. Do not let the noodles cook any longer or else they will become mushy and fall apart. As they cook, keep tossing so that all the sweet potato noodles have a chance to hit the bottom of the skillet.
Squeeze half of a lime over the noodles then toss with 6 tablespoons of the creamy avocado sauce. If the noodles seem dry, add an extra tablespoon. Serve with a few cilantro leaves, the reserved peptitas and if you like, some queso fresco on top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- How to make sweet potato noodles without a spiralizer: The spiralizer is not the only way to make noodles. You can use a julienne vegetable peeler or a mandoline. You can also use a standard vegetable peeler to make wide noodles or ribbons.
- Make it vegan or paleo: This is a vegan-friendly recipe and is paleo-friendly, simply leave out the queso fresco (and depending on your diet, the salt).
- Substitute pepitas: Pepitas are shelled pumpkin seeds and are quite inexpensive to buy. Pistachios, pine nuts, almonds, and walnuts are also excellent options for making the sauce.
- Add protein: These noodles are more filling than you’d think, but adding some protein on top is a nice idea. We especially love grilled or baked chicken, tofu and shrimp.
- Storing the leftover sauce: Since it has avocado blended in, when the sauce is left uncovered for an extended period of time it might turn brown. To prevent this, press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the sauce and store in the refrigerator. The sauce should last up to a week in the fridge when properly stored.
- Other ways to use the sauce: Use any leftover sauce as a dip for vegetables, a sandwich spread or thin it out a little and use as a salad dressing.
- Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values. We omitted salt from the calculations since you will need to add to your tastes.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste