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It’s no secret that I really love kelp noodles. They’re low carb, while actually containing nutrients. They’re also gluten free, and super easy to make on a hot night when you don’t even want to look at your stove. I’ve made low carb vegan pad thai with these noodles before, as well as takeaway-style low carb vegan lo mein, but I hadn’t really branched out from there until tonight. I realized that I’d had an avocado sitting in my fridge for a few days, and figured I should probably use it up before it turned. I also had some fresh baby spinach and basil, so a kelp noodle pesto seemed like the obvious choice!
This dish is absurdly easy to put together. You basically soak noodles, whip up a pesto in the blender, and serve. This is another dish that almost anyone can enjoy since it’s low carb, vegan, gluten free, nut free, soy free and even paleo AIP (autoimmune protocol) compliant (as long as you don’t add tomatoes or seeds). It’s seriously only 1.3g of net carbs per serving. You could pretty much invite almost anyone to a barbeque or picnic, and they could happily eat this. In fact, it may be my new go-to entertaining meal!
If you end up making this, I’d love to hear how it turned out! Feel free to leave a comment, or tag me on social media!
Notes on Making Kelp Noodles With Avocado Pesto (low carb, gluten free, nut free, raw)
- So long as you use cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil, this is actually raw
- To keep this AIP compliant, just don’t add the tomatoes at the end, or red pepper! Or any nuts or seeds to the pesto.
- While the recipe suggests using a combination of spinach and basil, you could add all of one or the other for delicious results!
- The kelp noodles stay pretty crunchy, even after soaking and smothering with the pesto. It’s really a refreshing texture for warm days!
- These noodles definitely need to be rinsed, and then soaked for at least a half hour before using them. Otherwise, they taste bitter and sad.
Kelp Noodles With Avocado Pesto (low carb, gluten free, nut free, raw)
Ingredients
For the Pesto:
- 1 hass avocado
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1-2 cloves garlic
For the noodles
- 1 package of kelp noodles
Instructions
- Thoroughly rinse the kelp noodles, and then soak them in water for at least 30 minutes. After a few minutes of soaking, it's easier to break them apart from the clump, so that they're more manageable and soak more easily.
- While the noodles are soaking, combine all of the pesto ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blitz until smooth. I like to leave little bits of leaves showing and not pulverize it into oblivion, but the choice is yours!
- After the thirty minutes, drain the noodles and add 1/4 cup of pesto per 1 bag of noodles. The pesto recipe makes packages of noodles worth of sauce!
- Mix the noodles and the pesto really well, top with whatever you'd like, and enjoy!
Nutrition
How many servings does this pesto make?
Great question, Krysten! You’ll end up with about a cup of pesto, or 4 servings. 🙂
Thanks LIZ! I started your 1 week soy free meal plan today(that I bought months ago) and was looking for more recipes for NEXT week and trying to plan, lol! I just made the pesto for my dinner and I will say its probably the best I’ve ever had! I know its not the exact same as this but its pretty close! Thanks again!
Thank you Krysten, I’m so glad you like it!! It’s definitely close enough! I’ve been trying to increase the amount of soy free recipes I have, so hopefully you can find a bunch for next week! 😀
How long does the avocado pesto lasts in the fridge? I had some leftover.
Hi Gisela! I would try to eat this within 4 days. 🙂
I found some that are ready to serve and require no soaking. Even with pesto, I kind of like my noodles warm so can you heat these noodles?
This is a great question! You can definitely heat the noodles – they actually soften up a little more when you heat them. 🙂
if u soak the kelp noodles in juice from half a lemon mixed with 2t baking soda, they soften to cooked pasta texture. Nice and soft 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this, Tonia! I’ll have to give it a try. 😀
Thank you for sharing! Just asked about the crunchy ness in a different comment .. I’m going to try that!
Quick tip when working with kelp noodles — soak them in hot water, salt, and the juice of 1 lemon for about 10-15 min and they lose that not so fun crunch and start to taste and feel like actual noodles.
Thank you so much for the tip, Sophie! I’m definitely going to have to try that next time! 🙂
Are these noodles
Suppose to be crunchy?!
Hi Niki, good question! They are crunchy, but if you soak them with a pinch of baking soda, they soften right up! You can also use a few tbsp of lemon juice 🙂