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Coconut pasta is an easy dinner recipe that simply means a tomato based pasta with coconut milk. It’s delicious, vegan and vegetarian friendly and perfect for a quick and easy week night meal. This is one of those recipes that you most likely would have all the ingredients in your pantry, and serves as a side dish or a main dish with a side of yummy vegetables.
Coconut Pasta
You are probably wondering ‘pasta with coconut milk? yep just like coconut rice with tomatoes and coconut rice without tomatoes you can definitely make a sumptuous dish with coconut milk.
This easy dinner recipe is easily adaptable to suite your needs. if you are gluten free, be sure to use gluten free rotini. You can also use whole grain pasta for more fiber. If you love an al dente texture in this dish, Be sure to check out my how to cook the perfect pasta guide.
Ingredients needed to make Coconut milk Pasta.
- Tomato Paste
- Coconut oil
- Onions
- Pepper
- Bouillon
- Ground Oregano
- Gralic
- Salt
- Green bell Pepper
- Spring Onions
I use Rotini for this dish but any one would work. However, the only difference would be in the ratio of sauce to pasta will differ. For instance, if you are using Spaghetti or Linguine for this recipe, you will need to double the sauce ingredients in this recipe for the same amount of rotini pasta used.
For Elbow, Penne and farfalle pasta the ration stays the same. See below
For spaghetti:- double sauce : 1 lb spaghetti or linguine Pasta
For Rotini, elbow and penne pasta:- same quantity of sauce in this recipe : 1 lb of rotini, elbow, penne or Farfalle pasta (also known as as Bow tie or Butterfly)
How to make it Coconut Pasta
You can either make it as a one pot dish where everything together or make the sauce first, cook the pasta and then mix it all up. I prefer the later because it gives me a bit more control on how my pasta turns out with regards to texture.
Make ahead instructions and how to store.
This recipe can be made up to a week ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Simple store in portioned air tight containers and keep in the refrigerator till you are ready to use it. Depending on family size, storing in portioned containers prevents reheating more than you need.
I haven’t tried freezing pasta so I don’t know how this would hold up in the freezer. What I have done previously to buy me some time was to make so coconut pasta sauce which I can easily freeze for later and serve over plain spaghetti or mix it up Jollof style.
Quick Recipe Notes and Tips
- After adding the coconut milk, you will need to cook sauce till it thicken and reduces to about half the size
- While cooking the sauce stir frequently to prevent sticking.
Trust me You need to make this jollof style coconut pasta because it’s easy to make, delicious, and gets ready in no time. Your perfect week night dinner!
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Coconut Pasta (Coconut milk Pasta)
Ingredients
For coconut milk pasta sauce
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 1 habanero pepper (chopped) substitute with ground cayenne pepper or dry pepper flakes
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 2 tsp bouillion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dry oregano (substitute with italian seasoning)
- 1 can coconut milk (400ml)
- 1/2 small green bell pepper (chopped) optional
- 3 stalks of spring onions (chopped)
For Pasta
- 6 qt water
- 1 lb rotini pasta
- 1 Tbsp salt
Instructions
Make the Coconut milk Pasta Sauce
- Saute onions in coconut oil till translucent
- Stir in the tomato paste and pepper, allow to cook for about 2 mins then add the coconut milk, spice blend (Bouillion powder, oregano and garlic powder)
- Allow sauce to simmer till it reduces to a semi thick sauce. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
- Turn off heat and stir in chopped green bell pepper and/or spring onion. they will soften in the residual heat.
The Pasta
- Add salt to 6 quarts of water and bring to a boil
- Pour uncooked Rotini pasta into boiling water.
- Allow pasta cook for 8 minutes, then drain with a colander
- Transfer pasta back to pot. Mix in the coconut pasta sauce until well combined.
- Serve warm
Notes
- Use Vegetable Bouillon for a complete vegan meal.
- I increased the amount of the coconut milk from 200ml to a whole can because I found that it tasted more ‘coconut-y’ which I liked. feel free to use the 200 pls if you prefer a less coconut-y taste.
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