You guys? This Easy Four Cheese Pesto Zoodles recipe is going to Make. Your. Week. I’m not even kidding. So creamy and cheesy that even your picky family members will be on board with this vegetarian friendly keto recipe!
Hearty enough to enjoy on its own as a main dish, this easy four cheese pesto zoodles recipe also makes a fantastic side dish to break up your weeknight monotony of protein + cheesy cauliflower puree. (Just kidding, I still lurv you Cheesy Cauliflower Puree!)
Seriously though, you can add some cooked chicken or sausage to these cheesy keto zoodles and it will be even more fantastic!
That being said, I’m working on more meatless keto recipes for the blog because I have a tendency to overeat protein on keto and it stalls my weight loss. Based on my conversations with some of you this is a common problem, so I’m focusing on adding more vegetarian keto recipes to my (and your) repertoire.
This will no doubt be an exciting development to those of you trying to follow a vegetarian keto diet, but for the rest of you don’t panic – I’m not going full veggie on you anytime soon. Just going to sprinkle some more vegetarian friendly keto recipes into my regular feed here.
Another thing to love about this easy four cheese pesto zoodles recipe is that it can be made in just minutes. And I’m not trying to get you on a technicality here–like how people will say minutes but it’s 59 minutes, so really an hour. It literally takes minutes (less than 20 of them) to have this recipe on the table from start to finish!
So when you get home from work and you’re starving–but also Netflix, jammies, and your couch are calling? Tell them you’ll be right there and make these keto zoodles STAT.
Easy Four Cheese Pesto Zoodles – Keto
Perfect as a main meal or a side dish, this easy four cheese pesto zoodles recipe will win over even the pickiest of eaters with it’s creamy texture and so. much. cheese! Keto, low carb, gluten free, nut free, egg free, Atkins friendly.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Vegetarian Keto
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Mascarpone cheese
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup grated romano cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup basil pesto (store-bought or homemade)
- 8 cups raw zucchini noodles (aka. spiral cut zucchini)
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Microwave the zucchini noodles uncovered, on high, for 3 minutes. Transfer to a colander lined with paper towels and gently squeeze out any moisture from the zoodles. Set aside.
- In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese, parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave on high for 30 more seconds.
- Remove and whisk together until smooth.
- Fold in the pesto and mozzarella cheese until fully incorporated.
- Add the cooked zoodles and stir until well coated.
- Transfer to a 2 quart casserole dish and bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling at the edges. Remove and serve immediately.
Notes
Net carbs = 5g per serving.
*Don’t try to add the mozzarella to the other cheeses when microwaving or you’ll have a hard time getting the mascarpone to create a smooth sauce. Also adding it just before baking gets lots of epic cheese pull when you’re eating it which is very gratifying.
**If you don’t own a microwave, you can steam the zucchini noodles and then drain any excess liquid before adding to the sauce. The sauce will cook on the stovetop in about 5 minutes over medium heat.
(And no, I really don’t want to read your 1127 page manifesto on the evils of the microwave so I beg of you, please don’t email me or rail in the comments. TIA.)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups
- Calories: 475
- Fat: 43g
- Carbohydrates: 8g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 13g
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The marscapone cheese is delicious, but hard to find and expensive. What do you recommend to doctor/adapt regular cream cheese or or other cheese as a substitute?
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Just use cream cheese. Maybe a little less since it’s so strong and firm. You could add a drizzle of cream to thin it if needed.
I was looking for a zoodles recipe and decided to try this. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!! I did exactly what ur recipe says … (except I had to cut everything in half portions) and it came out so unbelievably delicious!!! Thank u so much. I’m a big fan of urs and now look forward to making other suggestions u post.
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My husband and I love this! I made this last night for the two of us to have as a side with steak and it was great! Since there is just the two of us we had leftovers – tonight I folded in some chicken with the noodles and warmed up in the oven, tastes like Chicken Alfredo – lovely! Thank you for all you do on your blog. I am new here and to the world of keto / low carb and your recipes and videos are a treasure, I have already shared your site with many of my coworkers and my son.
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Thanks so much Linda – glad you guys enjoyed the recipe!!!
I really want to try this recipe!! Thanks for posting this. It looks fantastic.
Also, this snarky side note made me laugh out loud at work: “(And no, I really don’t want to read your 1127 page manifesto on the evils of the microwave so I beg of you, please don’t email me or rail in the comments. TIA.)” I see that ALL the time on recipes that involve using a microwave and it’s so dumb. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to! There are so many alternative ways of melting butter or steaming veggies lol.
Mascarpone where have you been all my life!!! This was awesome!! Being new to the low carb/Keto lifestyle I am so glad I found your site!! I am also following week 1 of the weekly meal plan. Thank you
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This recipe sounds awesome. How would you adjust the recipe if you were bringing this to someone’s house? Would you bake it in advance and cool and refrigerate it and then reheat it when you get to where you’re going? Or just assemble everything in the dish and do the baking right before you’re going to eat it?
I added two cans of tuna and it was great. It reminded me of cheesy tuna casserole from childhood. :)
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This was amazing! My 8 yr old loved it! He said it was fantastic and was a little upset I only made 2 servings. ?
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All my children actually ate this workout complaint! It was delicious. I can’t wait to buy your book!
Is the serving size 1/2 a cup or 1.5 cups?
Never mind I figured it out. It was formatted weird on my phone.
I made this as a side dish last night, along side a roasted chicken, and even my skeptical daughter liked it. I go WEEKLY to this website to print out recipes for meal planning. Thank you for all your hard work!
Thanks so much Bethany! So glad your entire family is enjoying the recipes!!!
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