One-Pot Mushroom Pasta (Gluten-Free + Vegan)

This quick and easy one-pot meal is the perfect answer on busy nights. Cooking the pasta in the coconut milk and vegetable broth builds flavor and reduces the liquids to a yummy cream. Nutritional yeast and fresh lemon juice add punchiness while red pepper flakes add a touch of heat.

Important Ingredients

• Garlic — Fresh garlic cloves deliver the best flavor, and feel free to add more than 4 cloves if your garlic cloves are small. I add at least four decent-sized garlic cloves.

• Yellow Onion — Onion is essential for flavor-building in this recipe. I use a full cup of yellow onion, usually equivalent to a medium to large onion.

• Mushrooms — Feel free to use your favorite mushrooms. I like oyster, baby bella, and shiitake.

• Vegetable Broth — One of my favorite vegetable broths is Kitchen Basic's Vegetable Stock. A quality broth can enhance flavor.

• Coconut Milk — I buy So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk in a box at Costco, but any boxed or refrigerated coconut milk will work. I don't recommend canned coconut milk in this recipe, as the flavor is somewhat different.

• Nutritional Yeast — I highly recommend nutritional yeast in this recipe. It's an essential component to the flavor building. If you are eating dairy-free, it's a required pantry staple, in my opinion. I like Anthony's Nutritional Yeast. It's a good price for the amount.

• Vegan Butter — A quality vegan butter adds to the flavor in this recipe. I like Earth Balance Vegan Butter.

• Fresh Lemon Juice — While it is quicker to use pre-packaged lemon juice, it really makes a difference in taste to use the freshest ingredients, and I highly recommend using fresh lemon juice in this recipe.

• Gluten-Free Pasta Noodles — Just about any gluten-free pasta will work in this recipe, but I'm a fan of corn-based pasta, as I find they have a better taste and texture. I like La Veneziane, but Target's Good & Gather brand of gluten-free pasta is great too.

How to Make this Recipe

Prep. Chop garlic, onions, and mushrooms.

Warm pan. Warm a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add avocado oil, or another high heat oil.

Saute. Saute garlic, onion, and mushrooms at medium heat for 6-9 minutes or till mushrooms are softened and onion is translucent.

Add liquids and spices. Add vegetable broth, coconut milk, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and dried basil. Cover and bring to a boil.

Add gluten-free pasta noodles. Add gluten-free pasta. For best results, measure the pasta with a digital scale. Using more or less pasta will affect the liquid content. Cover and simmer on low, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 12-20 minutes, testing pasta for doneness around 12 minutes. When pasta is tender, turn off heat.

Add vegan butter, etc. Stir in vegan butter, nutritional yeast, and fresh lemon juice. Season with extra salt and pepper as desired.

Top with Green Onions. Top with green onions and fresh basil, if desired.

Recipe Notes

Let's talk about liquid content. The best result for this recipe is for the pasta to absorb most of the liquid from the broth and coconut milk, but not all of it. This will leave enough liquid behind to form a creamy sauce when the nutritional yeast is added and absorbed.

Substitutions

Sub coconut milk. Almond milk can be used in place of coconut milk.