Vegetarian spaghetti sauce is a delicious minimalist approach to meatless spaghetti sauce. Using minimal fresh ingredients brings out the robust taste in this vegan spaghetti sauce.
VEGETARIAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE RECIPE
If you google the term “vegetarian spaghetti sauce” you will get a variety of recipes. You will get some vegetarian spaghetti sauce recipes that are stock full of veggies, lentils and more. Those meatless spaghetti sauce recipes are truly delicious.
Today, we are taking a turn at simplicity with our vegetarian spaghetti sauce. Our meatless sauce has just a handful of common, simple ingredients that in the end will make your mouth water for a second serving. You might want to serve up some roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts or a zucchini bake casserole with your vegetarian spaghetti.
Spaghetti is a very common dish when it comes to meal time. Whether you are making your vegetarian spaghetti using sauce from a jar or perhaps you are making your own vegan spaghetti sauce from scratch.
My family loves spaghetti. It seems like it is almost a right of passage meal. I mean, we all probably have comforting memories of eating spaghetti growing up. I remember my mom would make huge pots of homemade spaghetti sauce and freeze the sauce for future meals. It was such a fun process and the kitchen smelled amazing. In addition to a comfort meal, it also brings about the itch to travel! I'd love to travel to Sicily some day! Can you imagine all the amazing food there?
Consider this vegetarian spaghetti sauce with a minimalist approach.
INGREDIENTS IN VEGETARIAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE
Spaghetti - Use whatever pasta you like. I used a gluten free spaghetti for this recipe..
Fresh tomatoes - Roma tomatoes are the perfect type for sauce recipes.
Avocado Oil - We'll use this to sautee our onion, use whatever light flavored oil you like. Olive oil would work well.
Onion - Diced fresh onion adds a lovely warm flavor.
Worcestershire (gf + vegan) - Worcestershire sauce is an interesting flavor booster. It gives a salty, umami, almost meaty flavor to the sauce.
Water - helps the sauce come together and creates the perfect consistency.
Seasonings - we're using oregano and red pepper flakes. You can add or change this to suit your own tastes.
Brown Sugar - This is optional, but a bit of sweetness is always welcome in my pasta sauce!
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you ASAP!
We are taking this minimalist approach to our vegetarian spaghetti sauce because we want to focus on letting the simple ingredients do the talking. Not only does this meatless spaghetti sauce pack the flavor but so does the pasta we use.
HOW TO MAKE VEGETARIAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE
- Prepare your pasta per the directions on the box.
- Dice onion. In a medium skillet over medium heat, warm the avocado oil and then saute the onion until soft. While onion is sauteing, dice the fresh tomatoes. Once the onions are soft put the tomatoes in the skillet along with the Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar (optional), water, red pepper flakes and dried oregano. Bring sauce to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Once sauce is done simmering, pour the sauce into a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
- Top cooked spaghetti noodles with sauce.
- Garnish with fresh basil, parmesan (vegan or dairy).
- ENJOY!
TIPS AND VARIATIONS FOR VEGETARIAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE
- Add more fresh or dried herbs to the meatless spaghetti sauce to further enhance the flavor.
- Add finely chopped vegetables to the sauce such as carrots and celery. You can make the sauce thicker by doing this.
- Add in some vegetarian protein such as a meat substitute or lentils to make the sauce more hearty.
WHAT IS MARINARA SAUCE?
Marinara sauce is a tomato sauce that is made by combining tomatoes, onions and herbs. It has a wide range of variations to the basic recipe. Marinara sauce is frequently used in American and Italian Cuisines.
IS MARINARA SAUCE VEGAN?
Yes, in its basic form, marinara sauce is vegan. It is a combination of tomatoes, onions and herbs.
CAN YOU FREEZE VEGETARIAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE?
Yes, this meatless spaghetti sauce freezes well. I often make a double batch when all my garden tomatoes ripen at the same time!
CAN I USE CANNED TOMATOES FOR THIS SAUCE?
Yes, while I like to use fresh tomatoes with this recipe you can use a canned variety of tomatoes to make this vegetarian spaghetti sauce. Some varieties of canned tomatoes might make the sauce taste bitter. If that happens you can add a ¼ of a teaspoon of baking powder to the sauce. That should take away the bitter flavor.
WHAT ABOUT TOMATO SKINS?
Some vegan spaghetti recipes that use fresh tomatoes, remove the skins. That is not necessary with this recipe, as we are using a high powered blender to blend our meatless spaghetti sauce. If you do not have access to a high powered blender you can boil the tomatoes first to remove their skins.
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Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 oz Explore Cuisine's Chickpea Spaghetti
- 2 T Oil
- ½ cup onion diced
- 2.5 c diced tomato fresh tomatoes
- 1 T Worcestershire
- 1 T Brown Sugar optional
- ½ c water optional if sauce is too thick
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 t oregano dried
Instructions
- Prepare your pasta per the directions on the box.Dice onion.
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, warm the avocado oil and then saute the onion until soft. While onion is sauteing, dice the fresh tomatoes.
- Once the onions are soft put the tomatoes in the skillet along with the Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar (optional), water, red pepper flakes and dried oregano.
- Bring sauce to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Once sauce is done simmering, pour the sauce into a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
- Top cooked spaghetti noodles with sauce.Garnish with fresh basil, parmesan (vegan or dairy).ENJOY!
Notes
- Add more fresh or dried herbs to the meatless spaghetti sauce to further enhance the flavor.
- Add finely chopped vegetables to the sauce such as carrots and celery. You can make the sauce thicker by doing this.
- Add in some vegetarian protein such as a meat substitute or lentils to make the sauce more hearty.
Sounds like a delicious option for a gluten-free pasta night! Looks so yummy!
You got it! I hope that you enjoyed!
We love, love, loved this recipe - so flavorful. It was the perfect way to top the chickpea spaghetti. I will definitely make this one again, thank you!
So glad you loved the Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce, Kristine! So great to hear!
I think even a meat lover could not resist this sauce. Homemade sauce is the best. I would enjoy this for dinner any night of the week.
100% agree with that Gloria!
I love a good spaghetti, especially if it's made from chickpeas! Great idea.
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the chickpea pasta and vegetarian spaghetti sauce as much as we do!
This looks super tasty! I’ve never had chickpea pasta before!
Thank you so much! I think you'll love this vegetarian spaghetti sauce with chickpea pasta! We love that added bonus of protein the chickpea pasta brings to the dinner table!
This recipe looks delicious. How much onion should I use? It's not listed in the ingredients
Hi Shawna, I apologize for that! I corrected the oversight 🙂 its 1/2 cup of diced onion 🙂