Zucchini Noodles with Pesto
Five ingredients. One skillet. Fifteen minutes between opening the fridge and sitting down to eat.
Spiralized zucchini picks up olive oil and pesto in a way that regular pasta never quite manages — thinner strands mean more surface contact, more flavor in every bite. Cannellini beans bring 10g of fiber and a creamy weight that turns this from a side dish into an actual 494-calorie meal. Cherry tomatoes soften in the residual heat and burst into the pesto, pulling everything together.
The whole thing comes together in one pan. No boiling water. No colander. No waiting around.
Five ingredients. One skillet. Fifteen minutes between opening the fridge and sitting down to eat.
Spiralized zucchini picks up olive oil and pesto in a way that regular pasta never quite manages — thinner strands mean more surface contact, more flavor in every bite. Cannellini beans bring 10g of fiber and a creamy weight that turns this from a side dish into an actual 494-calorie meal. Cherry tomatoes soften in the residual heat and burst into the pesto, pulling everything together.
The whole thing comes together in one pan. No boiling water. No colander. No waiting around.
Ingredients
- zucchini 1
- cherry tomatoes 10
- olive oil 1 tablespoon
- cannellini beans 4.5 ounce
- pesto 2 tablespoons
Method
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Using a spiralizer or julienne peeler, create zucchini noodles from the zucchini. Chop the cherry tomatoes.
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Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini noodles and sauté for about 3 minutes until they are slightly softened but still crisp.
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Rinse and drain the beans.
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Add the cherry tomatoes and beans to the skillet. Toss to combine and heat for another 3 minutes or until the tomatoes are softened and the beans are warmed through.
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Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the pesto until the noodles, tomatoes and beans are well coated.
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Transfer the zucchini noodles to a plate.
Zucchini releases water as it cooks. Pat the zucchini dry before spiralizing and don’t skip the off-heat rest in step 5 — that extra moment lets moisture evaporate so the pesto coats the noodles instead of pooling on the plate.
Behind this recipe
Can I use regular pasta instead of zucchini noodles?
You can, but the swap changes the numbers. Zucchini noodles keep this meal at 40g of carbs and 494 calories. A standard serving of dried pasta (about 80g) would add roughly 250 calories and 55g of carbs on its own. If carb content isn’t a concern, whole wheat penne with the same beans and pesto makes a solid variation.
Is olive oil safe to cook with at medium heat?
Studies testing olive oil under the kind of heat a home skillet actually reaches found that polyphenols and antioxidants stayed stable. Medium-heat sautéing — exactly what this recipe calls for — is well within that safe range.
Read the full evidence reviewHow much fiber is actually in this recipe?
10g per serving, roughly a third of most daily intake recommendations. The cannellini beans do the heavy lifting — white beans are one of the highest-fiber legumes you can buy. The zucchini adds another couple of grams on top.
Read the full evidence review
