Pasta Caprese (low carb version)

If you are looking for a quick and easy low carb lunch or dinner this summer, look no further. These zucchini noodle pasta caprese can be made in minutes and are full of flavor. Using fresh garlic, basil and mozzarella, this vegetarian zucchini noodle dish will be sure to satisfy your pasta cravings with 14.8 grams protein and 9 grams net carbs.

You might also like this keto pesto pasta.

I don’t know about you but we eat fresh tomatoes and fresh basil from our garden all summer long. And when you add buffalo mozzarella it’s next level. So today I used these flavors and made this low carb pasta caprese recipe using fresh zucchini noodle (also from our garden).

You’d be surprised at how much flavor there is in this dish and the best thing is that it takes almost no time at all! I’m talking 15 minutes max for this fresh and tasty, gluten free and low carb noodle dish. And surprisingly it has a great dose of protein. One serving has 14.6 grams of protein and 9 grams of net carbs.

Recipe ingredients I used and substitutions.

The simple ingredients I used were zucchini noodles, fresh garlic cloves, fresh tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, salt, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil leaves. I also use hot pepper flakes because that is something that we love on our pasta dishes.

• Zucchini Noodles – I used a spiralizer to make my noodles but you even use a vegetable peeler. If you don’t like zucchini other veggies to try are turnips (don’t knock it till you try it), spaghetti squash, butternut squash, etc. And if you don’t eat carbs you can use regular spaghetti or any of the many gluten free or protein pastas on the market.
• Fresh Mozzarella – The fresh mozzarella is not buffalo mozzarella (though that would have been nice). It is fresh cow’s milk mozzarella, not the shredded or square blocks that you see plenty of in grocery stores. This really makes a caprese dish to me and you can find it even at Aldi so I would not substitute this ingredient.
• Fresh Tomatoes – If you can use fresh tomatoes either from your garden or farmers market. I originally used Roma tomatoes because they are meaty and have less juice and seeds than other types of tomatoes. This time I used grape tomatoes. But really cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, or any kind of tomatoes will work as long as they are ripe and fresh.
• Fresh Basil – Again I got this from our garden but you can find fresh basil in any grocery store. This is also a key ingredient and I would NOT substitute it with other herbs or with dried basil. If you hate the taste you can try fresh parsley or oregano but it won’t be the same.

How to make caprese pasta with zucchini noodles.

This is how you make caprese pasta that is low carb and high protein and only takes 15 minutes.

Step 1: Dice the tomatoes and set aside. Then make your spiralized zucchini noodles and shred or chop the fresh mozzarella cheese. Sometimes you can find mini mozzarella cheese balls but they are usually bigger than I like and still end up chopping into small pieces.

Step 2: Get out a large skillet and heat to medium heat. Add the olive oil and heat up. Then add the crushed garlic and tomatoes. Saute for a minute or two until the garlic is fragrant.

Step 3: Add in the zucchini noodles and mix well. Season with salt and mix again. Cook for 5 minutes or zucchini is done to your liking. I like mine al dente so that only takes a few minutes. 

Step 4: Add in the fresh mozzarella and mix until the cheese becomes melty. Take off stove. If there is a lot of liquid in the pan you can drain it off. I used a different kind of zucchini today which had more liquid than usual as you can see in the pan below so I drained it off a bit.

Step 5: Now just mix in the chopped fresh basil and serve. If you want a bit of heat add the hot red pepper flakes. Fresh lemon zest also goes well with this dish if you have a spare lemon around.

If you wanted to add a protein you can add grilled chicken breast, shrimp or even Italian sausage would be good. You can use leftover chicken as well and just add it at the end before the mozzarella.

Store leftovers in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

What I used to make veggie noodles.

I use this spiralizer and it’s my favorite one for making vegetable noodles.  It makes these thick curly noodles which hold up better when cooked.

One thing I find with veggie noodles is that they don’t have much taste so you have to make sure to pair them with flavorful sauces or ingredients. In this case the fresh garlic and basil added lots of flavor.

If you don’t have a spiralizer, don’t despair. You can often find zucchini noodles at many grocery stores, especially in summer. Though it might take a few more minutes, you can also just used a regular vegetable peeler and make long noodles with that. Here is a recipe for keto stroganoff meatballs which uses thick zucchini noodles.  

Other healthy, delicious zoodle recipes to try.

I have more than 26 zoodle recipes for you on this site but here are my favorite recipes using fresh zucchini.

• keto creamy pesto zoodles
• low carb wide zoodles with sausage and peppers
• keto air fryer zoodles with parmesan
• keto chicken alfredo with zoodles
• low carb pasta salad with zoodles

This keto caprese pasta recipe can be a really quick and easy low carb lunch on the weekend or even dinner. If you are a fan of veggie noodles I have oodles of recipes on this blog. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

The nutritional information for 1 serving is: 330 cals / 24.9g fat / 13.5g carbs / 4.5g fiber / 14.8g protein = 9g net carbs.