This Creamy Ricotta Zucchini Noodles recipe is made with delicious zucchini noodles (zoodles!) tossed in a creamy ricotta cheese sauce. An easy and delicious vegetarian dinner recipe that takes minutes to prepare!
AN EASY VEGETARIAN DINNER RECIPE WITH ZOODLES
Hello Hello, my lovely Monday-ers! ‘Sup?! Happy start to the week – I hope we all have a great one!
I have to get something off my chest. It’s a guilty pleasure thing.
This weekend, I waited until everyone went to bed and I binge watched The People’s Couch! For 4 hours… What is wrong with me?!
Here’s everyone else talking about Scandal or Blue Bloods, and I’m all like, “But, YOU GUYS, the people on the People’s Couch are hilarious!!”… I got the “weirdo” look from everyone around me, but do I care?! NOPE. Sometimes their recaps are 100 times better than sitting through an hour of some network tv program. Who’s with me??
Also? I can’t sit through an hour of TV… it’s like I’ve got ants in my pants.
Thank you, God, for DVRs and On Demand. And fast-forward.
Okay, time for food! Welcome to today’s episode of make believe noodles twirled in a very real ricotta sauce. Balance is life. wah wah waaaaah.
I don’t mean to be super obvious here, but we all know that real fettuccine would probably make a better starring role, right?! HOWEVER, let’s get real here. BARE legs-arms-tummies(?)-season is just about upon us, and all I’m trying to do is help out this underarm jiggle business find its way back to where it came from.
MY FAVORITE WAY TO COOK ZOODLES
Make no mistake, though, zoodles is where it’s at. I do a lot of zucchini noodles meals and there’s been plenty of times where this little family of mine thought they were real spaghetti. It’s all in the sauce, you know? AND in how they are prepared! I am not one to chill with raw zucchini. I like healthy, but not THAT healthy, ya know? Therefore, I always give my zoodles a swim in some hot olive oil for several minutes, or just until tender.
I’d also like to share with you that I have served this treat as a cold salad, I’ve served it as a side dish, and I have served it as a light main dish. However you decide to have it is all up to you – it’s good no matter how it’s served.
NOTE that ricotta is a protein-rich cheese that’s actually good for you, so go make some zucchini noodles with garlicky ricotta sauce, serve it with blistered cherry tomatoes because it’s incredible, and then go for seconds. That’s sounds about right for a Monday.
And now I eat.
ENJOY!
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TOOLS AND INGREDIENTS USED IN THIS RECIPE
Creamy Ricotta Zucchini Noodles
Ingredients
FOR THE ZUCCHINI NOODLES
- 6 zucchini , washed, dried and spiralized*
- 1 tablespoon olive oil , divided
- 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh herbs (I either reach for rosemary or thyme, but use whatever you have on hand or use your favorite)
- salt and fresh ground pepper , to taste
FOR THE RICOTTA SAUCE
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2- cup skim milk
- salt and fresh ground pepper , to taste (season it well)
FOR THE TOMATOES
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes , halved
- salt , to taste
- freshly grated parmesan cheese , optional
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat in a nonstick skillet.
- Add spiralized zucchini; season with herbs, salt and pepper and continue to cook for 7 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently.
- Remove zoodles from skillet and set aside.
- Return skillet to stove and heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant, stirring frequently.
- Stir in ricotta cheese and milk; season with salt and pepper and continue to stir until cheese is completely melted and everything is well combined.
- Bring to a steady simmer and cook for 3 minutes, or until thickened.
- Remove from heat and stir in the previously prepared zucchini; taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly. Set aside.
- In a small skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat.
- Add the cherry tomatoes, sprinkle with salt, and let sit for 2 minutes, or until they start to blister.
- Stir and continue to cook for 2 more minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Serve tomatoes over the prepared zucchini and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
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My all time favorite zoodle recipe, have passed it along many times. I’m lazy so i garlic salt my zoodles and put them in a colander to drain overnight in the frig. Thanks for a great recipe!
SO happy to hear that! 😊Thank you very much!
This didn’t work out for me – the ricotta didn’t melt at all so it was just milk with a heap of cheese in it. 🙁 What did I do wrong…?
Hi!
I can’t say exactly what could have gone wrong, but can only guess that maybe there wasn’t enough milk? Adding a bit more milk will help with the creaminess of the ricotta. Ricotta doesn’t melt, per say, but it does make a creamier sauce in this recipe.
Tried this and it was absolutely delicious! Will definitely add to my menu rotation
I never made this before but as a cook that I use Regatta I would say that the zoodles were too cool to put back in with the Regatta I think the noodles needs to be hot so that the Regatta will melt just as you’re turning them I do that with real pasta and it does melt
How does this do when it’s reheated (leftovers)? Thanks! Looks yummy 🙂
Hi!! It will be watered down – zucchini has so much water in it, and when left to sit around, it gets worse, unfortunately. I hope that helps! 🙂
This looks delicious but I have found in other recipes with zucchini noodles, that if I cook the noodles any longer than 3 minutes they get too watery and soggy.
re how long to cook the zoodles: it depends on the thickness of the “noodles”. i had a hand spiralizer and 6 minutes would have been too long. i replaced my old cuisine art with a new one that had a spiralizer and it’s noodles are nice and thick. 6 minutes does them just right. a bit of bite to it and not watery. i did find that the ricotta and milk had a kind of curdle to it…did i cook too long or too high? it was delicious and i am all willing to make it again.
I can’t wait to make this. I have everything so it may have to be tomorrow. Thanks for sharing.
Loved this idea!
This was really good! I loved the sauce and the addition of the tomatoes. My husband didn’t like it though. He didn’t like the crunchy zucchini noodles and he said the sauce was too thick. I don’t know what he was talking about! If you like zucchini noodles, you’ll like this. Before serving, I took scissors and cut up the noodles cuz the strands were too long which made them hard to separate. They kept getting all tangled up. Cutting them into shorter noodles made them way easier to serve and eat.
Before you spiralize, slice the zucchini halfway through from one end of the zucchini to the other. This will make shorter zoodles.
Hi! I am making this tonight! Did you use Blade C of the Spiralizer?
Thank you!
Alanna
Recipe sounds delicious, can’t wait to make it.
How many cups of zucchini noodles should you get from 6 zucchini? (approximately)
Hi Karen! Depending on the size of the zucchini, but I’d say approximately 4 cups.
The People’s Couch all the way!!! I even have my husband watching and he hates reality tv.
Made this last night and it was really delicious. Only change I made was to cut the tomatoes in half, roasting them cut-side up for 1.5 hours @ 275°. I will definitely be making this again! Thanks for the great recipe.
Hi Kayla! So glad you enjoyed it! 😀 I love the tip about roasting those tomatoes – Thank you!!!
I haven’t gotten into People’s Couch yet but I definitely binge watch all the shows before it. And I would be sitting on my couch enjoying this next time!
This is totally my kind of dish! Creamy and light – count me in!
Why am I the only person in the universe without a spiralizer?
I don’t. Lol. I buy mine already spiralizef at my market. I know I pay a lot more for them this way but it’s easier for me. And I don’t have to clean a spiralizer after. Lol
Smart idea!! Sounds like my local grocery store needs to get with the times and start spiralizing my veggies… 😀
Ohh. Looks so creamy! Perfect weeknight dinner right here! 😀
Woohoo!!! I just got a spiralizer, and I know what I’ll be making soon 😀
Why, oh why, have I not yet gotten a spiralizer?? These creamy-cheesy zucchini noodles look incredible – I want them for dinner now!!
Wow! All that cheese has me wanting this now! Looks Delicious!!!
Drowning something in cheese and garlic is a sure fire way to get me to eat almost anything. This looks so creamy!
I don’t see where you list the carbs for your recipes and I don’t see how many servings for each recipe either. This says one serving but I can see the recipe makes more than one serving.
Hi Lynn! I’m actually in the middle of changing the recipe plugin that I normally use for my website and that is why some of the nutritional info is missing. Otherwise, I always include servings and carbs.
This recipe serves 4 and there are 13 grams of carbs in a serving. Hope that helps!