This Vegan Bolognese recipe is creamy, hearty, super flavorful, and simply tastes delicious. It’s pretty simple to prepare using mostly pantry staples, and it’s also very customizable. Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner that still feels satisfying.
I’ve been wanting to share a Vegan Bolognese recipe for the longest time, I really don’t know what took so long. But finally, here it is.
This version is inspired by a more traditional bolognese. It’s actually not just a simple tomato sauce with a little bit of “meat”. Traditional Bolognese sauce is thick, hearty, rich, and very heavy on “meat”. And it also have some cream in it.
My Vegan Bolognese uses TVP, that does a great job here soaking up all the flavors and giving the sauce some real substance. Speaking of flavor, Marmite and red wine are the secret for an extremely flavorful sauce here. You’ll be surprised how much depth those give to this sauce.
Other than those this recipe is very flexible. You can keep it simple or adjust it depending on what you have at home.
And it keeps well, too. The leftovers taste just as good the next day, which makes it great for meal prep.
Vegan Bolognese is…
- fully plant-based
- hearty and filling
- high in protein
- rich and flavorful
- budget-friendly
- easy to make
- meal-prep friendly
- customizable
- perfect for weeknights
How to make Vegan Bolognese
Start by soaking the TVP in hot water or vegetable broth for about 10 minutes, then drain and squeeze out any excess moisture. This gives it a nice texture and helps it absorb all the flavors later.
In a large pan, sauté chopped onion, carrot, and celery in oil until softened. Add garlic and the rehydrated TVP, then cook everything for a few more minutes until the mixture starts to brown slightly.
Deglaze the pan with red wine, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce, and let the liquid cook off. Then add the passata, marmite, remaining garlic, liquid smoke, and cream. Let the sauce simmer briefly until it thickens and everything comes together.
Season well with salt, pepper, and a pinch of MSG, if using. Meanwhile, cook your pasta, then combine it with the sauce. Add a splash of pasta water if needed to loosen everything up, and serve hot.
What’s TVP?
TVP (textured vegetable protein) is a dried soy product made from defatted soy flour. It’s high in protein, affordable, and has a texture that’s very similar to ground meat. It doesn’t have much flavor on its own, which makes it perfect for recipes like this, because it soaks up all the seasoning and sauce really well.
You can usually find TVP in larger supermarkets, health food stores or bulk stores, and of course online.
What to use instead of TVP
If you don’t like TVP or simply don’t have it available to you, you can use store-bought vegan minced meat in this recipe instead. If you prefer the whole food route, you can also go with cooked lentils, chopped walnuts, crumbled tempeh or smoked tofu, or chopped mushrooms here. Simply add them to the recipe where you’d add the TVP, then follow the rest of the recipe.
Customize it the way you like it!
As mentioned above, you can use tofu, tempeh, store-bought vegan meat, or lentils here, if you don’t want to use TVP
You can add those as extras beside the TVP as well, if you want more complex textures and flavors here
You can also play around with your spices here. Add smoked paprika, fresh or dried herbs, chili flakes or bay leaves to your sauce
Feel free to add extra greens to your pasta to make it a little healthier: spinach, kale, or chopped broccoli work surprisingly well here (though not very traditional)
You can also change the ratio of ingredients, and make it all more saucy or a little bit drier, depending on how you like your Vegan Bolognese
More pasta recipes to try:
- Hungarian Style Tofu Pasta
- Vegan Ricotta Pasta w/ Roasted Tomatoes
- Cabbage & Fermented Black Bean Pasta
- Sauerkraut Pasta w/ Smoked Tofu
- Spring Pasta Salad w/ Asparagus
- Pasta with Kidney Bean Sauce
- Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta w/ Roasted Zucchini
- Quick Hummus Pasta with Asparagus
- Vegan Broccoli Pesto Pasta
Vegan Bolognese (No Lentils
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 2-3 1x
Ingredients
- 7 oz/200 g spaghetti or pasta, use GF if needed
- 3.5 oz/100 g TVP (textured vegetable protein)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 small carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3–4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1.5 cups passata or tomato sauce
- 1 tsp marmite
- few drops of liquid smoke
- 3–4 tbsp vegan heavy cream
- pinch of MSG
- salt, pepper
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Add TVP to a bowl, and pour hot vegetable broth or water over it. Let it soak for 10 minutes. Drain, and squeeze out any excess moisture.
- Meanwhile heat up oil in a large skillet. Add chopped carrots, celery, and onion, and cook for 7-10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften.
- Add most of the garlic (save one clove for later) and squeezed out TVP, and cook for 7-10 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until TVP gets a little color.
- Pour red wine, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce over the TVP and vegetable mix, and turn the heat on high. Cook for about 2 more minutes, until all liquid is evaporated. Stir occasionally, so nothing burns down.
- Once liquid is all evaporated, add passata, marmite, reserved garlic, liquid smoke, and heavy cream, and stir well, so everything is well combined. Turn the heat down to a medium-low, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until sauce thickens a bit more.
- Add a pinch of MSG, and season sauce generously with salt and pepper as well. Taste, and adjust if needed.
- Meanwhile cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain, reserving a bit of the cooking liquid.
- Add pasta to your sauce, and mix to combine. Add a little bit of the pasta cooking water to adjust the consistency, if needed. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
Leave a Reply