This creamy, dreamy, kid-friendly pasta is packed with the plant-based form of vitamin A – carotenes!
If your house has been stuck in the endless cold-and-cough cycle lately… welcome. You’re not alone. It truly feels like everyone has been sick for the past three months straight — and while we can’t fully control the germs floating around school classrooms, we can support our kids’ bodies with nourishing meals.
Enter: Creamy Carotene Queen Pasta – a scrumptious, kid-friendly meal that is packed with plant-based vitamin A, aka carotenes.
This recipe is a riff on our beloved Carotene Queen sauce from our book The Nut-Free Lunch Box Book — a rich, tangy, creamy pasta sauce made from roasted carrots, onion, garlic, and roasted red peppers.
It’s loaded with flavor, naturally sweet from roasted veggies, and (most importantly) kid-friendly. If your kid hates veggies but loves pasta, this one’s for you.
Vitamin A Benefits: Why We’re Leaning Into Carotenes Right Now
Carrots and red peppers are packed with carotenes, the plant-based form of vitamin A.
Vitamin A plays several key roles in kids’ health, including:
- Immune support (helps the body fight off infection)
- Vision health
- Supporting the body’s protective barriers (like skin and the lining of the respiratory tract)
In other words: during this extra-nasty sick season, we’ll happily take all the vitamin A-rich meals we can get.
And while vitamin A is found in many brightly colored fruits and veggies, those aren’t always the foods kids naturally choose the most — which is why blending them into a creamy sauce can be such a helpful strategy.
Creamy Carotene Queen Pasta Ingredients
You’ll need:
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 medium sweet yellow onion
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 12 oz pasta of choice
- 1 (15 oz) jar roasted red peppers, drained
- 2/3 cup milk of choice
- 1/3 cup cashews, soaked (optional, for extra creaminess)
- 1 tsp salt + pepper to taste
Easy Serving Ideas (To Make It a Balanced Meal)
To boost staying power, try adding:
- White beans or chickpeas
- Lentils
- Pan-seared tofu or tempeh
- Plant-based sausage
- A side of peas, roasted broccoli, or sautéed spinach
- Use protein-rich legume pasta (we love Brami made with lupini beans)
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Creamy Carotene Queen Pasta
Equipment
- 1 blender
Ingredients
- 2 medium carrots roughly chopped
- 1 medium sweet yellow onion roughly chopped
- 1 head garlic top cut off
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 oz pasta of choice
- 15 oz jar of roasted red peppers drained
- 2/3 cup milk of choice
- 1/3 cup cashews soaked*
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add carrots, onion, and garlic and toss with olive oil.
- Roast for about 30 minutes, until veggies are golden brown.
- While veggies cook, cook pasta according to package directions. When pasta is al dente, drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.
- Transfer veggies to a blender and puree with roasted red peppers, milk, and salt until smooth.
- Add sauce to the cooked pasta. Add pasta water if necessary to achieve desired consistency.
- Garnish with basil or other herbs and serve immediately.
Notes
If you try this Creamy Carotene Queen Pasta, tag us — we LOVE seeing your family’s pasta wins!
