Pesto Spaghetti Squash (Low-Fat)

This low-fat pesto spaghetti squash is easy to make with basic ingredients and makes the perfect low-calorie vessel for all your favourite add-ins. It’s delicious with extras like steamed broccoli and diced peppers but if you don’t feel like adding anything, it’s just perfect on its own too.

Low Fat Pesto Sauce

The low-fat pesto sauce for this recipe is created with soft tofu, basil, spinach, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon and salt. Easy!

Traditional pesto is made with pine nuts and olive oil so while it’s wonderful, it’s quite high in fat. I would love to add spoonful after spoonful of that kind of pesto to everything but I’d be going way overboard on calories.

This low fat pesto sauce gives me that pesto fix without going crazy on calories.

Nutritional Yeast For Flavour

I use nutritional yeast in this pesto sauce to add a nutty, cheesy flavour along with added protein and fortified B12, two nutrients those eating a plant-based diet should take into consideration. Use the 1/3 cup of nutritional yeast in the recipe and then feel free to sprinkle more on top!

Perfect Food Prep

I make this pesto dressing often as part of my weekly food prep. It goes with pretty much everything, tastes great and is super low in calories considering the flavour it delivers. I like keep a stash in the fridge for adding to meals all week.

A Note on the Texture

Because this pesto dressing doesn’t contain any nuts or oils, it’s much lighter and not as chunky as traditional pesto. It’s more of a dressing or sauce than a true pesto but it certainly delivers on pesto flavour!

Soft Tofu??

I used soft tofu in place of oil in this recipe. It adds a nice, creamy texture and some protein to the recipe.

How to Use This Low Fat Pesto

My favourite way to eat it this sauce is mixed with spaghetti squash, steamed broccoli and diced peppers. Some diced red onion in there is good too!

Here are a few other ways to use it:

• over steamed broccoli
• scooped onto a bowl of zoodles
• mixed with roasted vegetables
• on top of tofu scramble
• spread on a piece of toast
• add to my Healthy Vegan Breakfast Burritos
• spread it on sandwiches and wraps
• used as salad dressing
• use as a dip for raw veggies or crackers
• mix with rice or quino
• on top of sautéed kale
• added it mashed chickpeas or to hummus 

The basil pesto flavour really comes through so if you love pesto, it’s a great way to sneak that amazing pesto flavour into recipes without adding many calories.

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