Zucchini noodles with avocado cream sauce makes a perfect side dish or light meal for summer. Add some grilled shrimp or chicken for a heartier meal.

It’s been just over a month since Ulysses got home from the police academy and is now around all week again.

Well, “around” is relative with 12-hour shifts, but from a cooking perspective, he’s eating meals at home more or less.

And among all the adjustments that take place when you go from 1 to 2 people living in a house, the food thing has definitely been one of the harder ones for me to get used to again.

OJ containers are finished in 3 days flat..

Bunches of bananas vanish in 2 days. (I live with a primate, not a human)

Every meal is followed by a “second meal” of either cereal, oatmeal or a pb&j sandwich.

Bacon and eggs need to be replenished twice a week now.

I won’t even get into how annoying it is that all this food can be consumed with absolutely no repercussions on the scale for a certain someone….

So, here I’ve been trying to “bulk” up meals for this bottomless pit known as my husband and guess what that means?

More grains, more dessert, more of pretty much everything. But it hasn’t just been him eating it…as I looked in the mirror the other day with my bathing suit on I was like “hmm, this looked a lot better on in February…”

So I had a get real conversation with myself, told Ulys that I’m done playing the European “shove everything you can eat in your face” wife role, and going back to cooking how I normally would.

To which he replied (in typical male fashion) “um, that’s fine. I don’t care.”

Which brings us to zucchini noodles.

Last week, I would’ve boiled up some water and thrown in some whole wheat pasta thinking it would be a more satisfying meal for that man I live with.

This week, I’m happy with my spiralizer, zucchini and a creamy avocado sauce that’s the perfect way to celebrate what summer has to offer.

Ingredients For the Avocado Cream Sauce

The avocado cream sauce is kind of a mix between a pesto and guacamole with these simple ingredients:

• avocado
• fresh basil
• cucumber
• garlic
• almond or coconut milk
• salt and pepper

How To Make Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce

Zucchini noodles are all the rage lately and they couldn’t be an easier base for so many easy healthy recipes!

Making Zoodles the Easy Way

There are a few ways to make veggie noodles:

Julienne peeler

The cheaper (although a bit more tedious way) to make zucchini noodles is with a julienne peeler. I have had that one for years and it’s done me well. It gets the job done by producing straight strands of zucchini noodles (or whatever other vegetable you use it on) but it has its limitations.

The julienne peeler really only works well on soft fleshed vegetables and it will take you some time as it’s a pretty manual process. Side note – it’s the best tool for making eggplant noodles.

Spiralizer

Recently, I upgraded to a spiralizer. It’s a bit more expensive but a much more heavy-duty gadget. It gives you 4 different shapes of noodles (including the classic curly-q you see in this squash noodle recipe) and works on almost any squash, vegetable and fruit you can imagine like in this winter root vegetable salad, this yogurt tahini Mediterranean carrot salad or these garlickly butternut squash noodles.

Mandoline

This small countertop appliance makes quick work of thinly slicing vegetables and works well with zucchini to create a long flat and wide noodle shape. If you like thinly slicing potatoes for a casserole or making a beet gratin, investing in a mandoline is a good idea.

Y vegetable peeler

As a last resort, a regular Y-shaped peeler can also work for certain vegetable noodles, zucchini included. This is the most tedious way to create veggie noodles but practical if you don’t want to invest in a special tool or appliance.

Once you have your zucchini noodles made, whichever way you decide to do it, the avocado cream sauce comes together in just minutes!

Also try Thai chicken zucchini noodles or Chinese chicken zoodles (<– zucchini noodles “other” name).

Making the Creamy Avocado Sauce

Place the zucchini spirals in a large bowl. 

Combine the remaining ingredients for the avocado sauce in a food processor. Pulse until smooth. 

Coat the zucchini noodles in the sauce until fully covered. 

Garnish with fresh cherry tomatoes and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

It’s refreshing and creamy and you can really use this sauce as a base for so many things.

Tips for Making and Serving

• Storing: Keep the leftover avocado sauce in an airtight container or in a mason jar for up to 2 days. I do not recommend freezing it.
• For the most flavor, use a ripe avocado. It should be slightly soft but firm to the touch. The other layer should be a little darker. The greener they are the less ripe.
• This sauce is amazing on chicken and fish!
• Make this recipe quicker by using frozen zucchini spirals if you are short on time.
• If you don’t have coconut milk you can use a little lime juice with a tablespoon or two of Greek yogurt or sour cream.

If you love this recipe, make sure to also check out creamy tomato zucchini noodles for another easy zucchini noodle recipe idea. And don’t miss creamy pesto spaghetti squash noodles either!