No more excuses: this healthy zucchini noodles with creamy cashew sauce recipe is both yummy and easy to make.

I have always struggled with motivation to eat healthily. Coming home, tired after a long day of work, cooking even a pot of pasta seemed overwhelming. I am sure you can relate to this.

I knew that to keep up with my healthy habits, I had to keep it super simple. So I went on a mission to find healthy and delicious recipes that were so simple I could do them in no time. Banned were the long lists of hard-to-find ingredients. Banned were the complicated recipes that left the kitchen as a post-war disaster.

May I present to you my go-to recipe: zucchini noodles with cashew sauce. Crunchy and fresh zucchini noodles play perfectly well with the creamy and nutty cashew sauce. You can serve the dish cold or warm, which makes it perfect for both summer and winter months.

It’s a perfect gluten-free, raw, vegan, paleo and keto dish. All you need to make it is 3 ingredients – zucchini, cashews, and garlic.

What you’ll need

All you need is a zucchini, cashews, garlic, and some salt (ok, so technically it’s 4 ingredients). I call it the basic starter recipe, which you can make fast and easy.

After that, you can expand on the basic recipe by swapping and adding more ingredients. Instead of zucchini, you can use squash, cucumber, bell peppers, or any other vegetable. You can, of course, use a combination of them.

Swap the cashews for whatever nuts you have at hand: walnuts, pecans, pine nuts. You may need to soak some of them longer, though.

Endless variations

Feel free to add spices and herbs to the sauce, like oregano or paprika. Add vegetable broth instead of water.

Add tomato paste for an Italian vibe. Or fresh basil leaves for pesto. Also, you can add some olive oil and nutritional yeast to enhance the flavors.

Now, let’s make it. It’s so simple you’ll be surprised.

Step 1: Soak cashews

Place cashews in a bowl and add enough water to cover the nuts. Soak them for at least 2 hours.

Don’t wait too long though: if soaked for too long, the cashews will loose their creamy consistency.

Step 2: Blend cashews and garlic

Drain your soaked nuts, and put them in the blender or a food processor. Add the garlic cloves, salt, and water. Blend on high until you get a creamy consistency.

A good tip is to not add all the water at once: this way you don’t risk to add too much water and get a sauce that is too liquid.

Leave some water and see if you like the consistency. If the sauce is too thick, keep adding water until you are satisfied.

Step 3: Spiralize your zucchini

This is where the magic happens. Grab your spiralizer and slice the zucchini into thin strips.

I love using a julienne peeler for this task. It’s compact and doesn’t need assembly, unlike those complicated spiralizers. The cleanup is super easy as well: wash it under running water, use a brush to get any bits that get stuck.

Also, it’s made of stainless steel, which is more eco-friendly than the plastic versions.

You don’t need to assemble it, it doesn’t take any space, and the clean-up is super easy.

The julienne peeler that we selected for the job has super sharp blades and is made of high quality stainless steel.

The whole process won’t take you more than 10 minutes. And the best part is that there’s virtually no cleanup!

Place your zucchini noodles on a plate. Here you have an opportunity to play Picasso and use your fancy plating techniques. Top the noodles with your creamy cashew sauce. It’s time to serve!

I hope you’ll give this recipe a try. Feel free to download it and print for your convenience.

If you end up making it, let me know what ingredients you used in the comments below!