Gluten Free
Easy 35-Minute Plant-Based Pasta Recipe
Prep
10 minutes
Cook
35 minutes
Yield
4
This easy Plant-Based Pasta Recipe can be whipped up for a quick dinner or meal prep. It's loaded with protein and the goodness of veggies.
By now you must be able to tell that I have a thing for pasta and simple recipes. This Plant-Based Pasta Recipe is fabulous, flavorsome, and easy to follow. It takes 10 minutes to prep your ingredients, 35 minutes to make, and probably nothing short of a minute to inhale. This pasta dish is particularly special because it packs so many vegetables, spices, and protein all in one.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Plant-Based Pasta Recipe
- Healthy: This Plant-Based Pasta Recipe is packed with protein and veggies that’ll keep your family healthy and happy.
- Kid-Friendly: One of the best parts about pasta sauce is that you can hide a bunch of healthy veggies in it without your kids noticing. This is the perfect recipe for even the picky eaters!
- Comfort Food: Nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of spaghetti and sauce. This pasta dish is a go-to comfort meal in our household.
🍲 Ingredients
Lentils – One of the biggest sources of protein in this spaghetti sauce is the lentils. Lentils are a nutritional powerhouse, packed with protein, fiber, and essential vitamins and minerals, making them a valuable addition to any diet.
Vegetables – This sauce has a ton of veggies hidden in it that’s perfect for your picky eaters! You’ll find carrots, celery, tomatoes, and mushrooms, but you can always substitute any of these veggies to make this sauce your own.
👩🍳 How to Make a Plant-Based Pasta Recipe
- Into a large saucepan add your EVOO, onions, celery, and carrots. Let them cook for 10 minutes on low heat. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.
- Add your tomatoes, spices, and mushrooms. Cook for another 5 minutes on low.
- Now add your sauce and your lentils. Let this simmer for 20 minutes. Stir and keep an eye on it. You will know your pasta is ready when the fresh tomatoes are easily crushed with your mixing spoon.
- Cook your pasta as instructed and enjoy warm or cold!
- I garnished it with chives but anything green, flavourful, and colourful works! Make sure to add nutritional yeast!
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Seasoning: Add more seasoning to taste, depending on what you like, I am a slight salt addict!
- Meal Prep: Prep the sauce in advance and have it in containers in your freezer for an easy meal during the week that you can just pull out, thaw, and heat up with noodles.
🗒 Variations
If you like this Plant-Based Pasta Recipe, try some of these other plant-based pasta recipes:
🗒 Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also freeze any leftover sauce for an easy, quick meal down the road. Frozen sauce will last up to 4 months.
🤔 Common Questions
You could use this recipe as a base to make a meat sauce. Swap the lentils for any ground meat. You’ll need to adjust the cooking time to ensure your meat is cooked through.
To reheat your sauce, you can add it back to a pot and reheat it on low or throw it in the microwave. If cooking from frozen, just let the sauce thaw completely on the counter or in the fridge, then throw it in a pot on low to heat it up.
Plant-Based Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- enough fettuccine or pasta to feed your family – this sauce is for 4 servings
- 2 tbsp EVOO
- 3 small onions chopped
- 2 celery sticks cubed
- 2 carrots cubed
- 3 to matoes ripe, quartered
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 cup oyster mushrooms roughly chopped
- 1 jar of your favourite tomato sauce I used organic vegetable sauce – no added salt
- 1 can of lentils strained and washed
- garnish with chives
- enjoy with nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Into a large sauce pan add your EVOO, onions, celery and carrots. Let them cook for 10 minutes on low heat. Stir occasionally to avoid burning .
- Add your tomatoes, spices, and mushrooms. Cook for another 5 minutes on low.
- Now add your sauce, and your lentils. Let this simmer for 20 minutes. Stir and keep an eye on it. You will know your pasta is ready when the fresh tomatoes are easily crushed with your mixing spoon.
- Cook your pasta as instructed and enjoy warm or cold!
- I garnished with chives but anything green, flavourful and colourful works! Make sure to add nutritional yeast!
- Note: add more seasoning to taste, depends on what you like, I am a slight salt addict! (our secret)
Just love the recipes, overall brand and fotography! Never made anything from this blog that didn’t turn out yummy 🙂
Thank you for your love, Anika! We appreciate your support!
Made this for my whole vegan family and they absolutely loved it!! So filling!!!
Thank you so much for the love hun!
I made this and it is really good! I used lentils that I made myself, not from a can, just because it was cheaper for me. I’m not vegan but I have been looking for high protein and vegetable dishes. I wasn’t sure about the addition of the cumin in the sauce because I don’t think of that as an Italian pasta sauce flavor, but it is good. Next time I might replace the cumin with Italian seasonings. Thanks for the recipe!
Thats awesome! To each their own, you can add anything you want to pasta, feel free to be creative but never restrict your palette because you don’t think it fits in with something!
I have a thing for pasta too!! …and actually a lot of foods…I eat like a horse and have absolutely no will-power, but pasta is still at the top of the list. 😉
Haha aren’t we all! Its ok, as long as you are happy and eating great foods it does not matter! Happy Day my love!