Vegetarian Bolognese

This Vegetarian Bolognese is a quick and easy vegetable-packed pasta with the flavor, texture, and goodness of a traditional Bolognese without the meat. It’s healthy, filling, and delicious.

Ready in 45 minutes, it’s the perfect family dinner for busy weeknights and a tasty way to sneak in more veggies for the kids. This vegetarian pasta is so good that you can serve it to your meat-eating friends, and they’ll love it too!

Why You'll Love This Vegetarian Bolognese

• Packed with plant-based ingredients. This vegetarian Bolognese has no meat, so we’ve replaced this ingredient with one you’re sure to love: quinoa. Its add the right texture along with finely chopped vegetables like carrots, celery, and mushrooms. All these ingredients add some variety in flavor and texture — just like traditional bolognese.
• The complex flavor. Vegetarian Bolognese is far from bland. You’ll love the layered taste of the veggies alongside aromatics like garlic, onion, and Italian seasoning. To create the classic meaty taste we also add soy sauce, Worcestershire, and cheese.
• Quick and easy to make. This vegetable pasta sauce takes some time to prep because there are lots of ingredients to chop up (you can cut this time down a lot if you use a food processor. The sauce takes about 25 minutes to cook, most of which is simmering to allow the quinoa to cook.
• Meat eaters love it too. This vegetarian Bolognese is a show-stopping pasta dish that will impress even your meat-eating friends. It’s a great dish to make when you have vegetarians at the table, and also a healthy alternative to traditional Bolognese.

Ingredient Notes

To make this delicious Vegetarian Bolognese, you will need the following ingredients (full measurements in recipe card below):

• pasta - I recommend a thin, long noodle like spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine. But you can of course serve this vegetarian pasta sauce over any shaped pasta that you have on hand.
• vegetable oil
• aromatics - onions and garlic add tons of flavor to almost all the pasta sauces that we cook. I don’t recommend skipping them.
• veggies - this vegetable packed bolognese is made with carrots, celery, and crushed tomatoes.
• mushrooms - we used white button mushrooms, but any mushroom chopped finely will work. Try it with cremini mushrooms, baby bella, shiitake mushrooms, or a combination.
• seasoning - this sauce has so much flavor thanks to soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce (optional), tomato paste, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
• Parmesan cheese - to make this recipe vegan, feel free to substitute the Parmesan with 2.5 tablespoons nutritional yeast. Note that the texture will be slightly different.
• quinoa
• water

You will also need measuring cups and spoons, and 2 large cooking pots or 1 cooking pot and 1 Dutch oven.

How to Make the Best Vegetarian Bolognese

1. Make pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add pasta (spaghetti noodles) and cook until al dente (fully cooked but still firm), or according to package directions, about 10-12 minutes. Rinse the noodles under cold water to cool off completely and set aside in the pot.
2. Sauté vegetables. Heat oil in a large pot or 6 quart Dutch oven over medium-high until the hot oil is sizzling hot, about 2 minutes. Add onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. Sauté until tender and the liquid starts to evaporate, about 8-10 minutes. Season with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
3. Add liquids. Add crushed tomatoes, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste.

4. Add cheese. Add Parmesan, stir well and bring it to a boil.
5. Add quinoa. Stir in quinoa and water. Reduce heat to medium low and cover the lid. Let it simmer until the quinoa has absorbed most of the liquid, about 15 minutes. Cooked quinoa looks fluffy and tender. Add more salt and pepper if needed, to taste.
6. Toss and serve. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss well to coat. Serve with fresh parsley and more Parmesan cheese on top, if desired.

How to Serve

Serve this Vegetarian Bolognese on its own as a filling and nutritious meal, or serve it with some classic pasta sides such as:

• Caesar Salad
• Garlic Breadsticks
• Sautéed Garlic Green Beans
• Caprese Salad
• Air Fryer Vegetables

More Vegetarian Recipes

• 60 Best Vegetarian Dinners
• Minestrone Soup
• Vegetarian Chili
• Parmesan Risotto
• Falafel
• Cauliflower Tacos

Recipe

Vegetarian Bolognese

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• Author: Sam Hu | Ahead of Thyme
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 4-6 servings
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

This Vegetarian Bolognese is a quick and easy vegetable-packed pasta with the flavor, texture, and goodness of a traditional Bolognese without the meat. 

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Ingredients

• 8 ounces dry pasta, spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 1 cup white button mushrooms, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (or more to taste)
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes (3 ½ cups)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• ⅓ cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• ¼ cup water
• salt and pepper (to taste)

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Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add pasta (spaghetti noodles) and cook until al dente (fully cooked but still firm), or according to package directions, about 10-12 minutes.
2. Rinse the noodles under cold water to cool off completely and set aside in the pot.
3. Heat oil in a large pot or 6 quart Dutch oven over medium-high until the hot oil is sizzling hot, about 2 minutes. Add onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. Sauté until tender and the liquid starts to evaporate, about 8-10 minutes. Season with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
4. Add crushed tomatoes, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and Parmesan. Stir well and bring it to a boil.
5. Stir in quinoa and water. Reduce heat to medium low and cover the lid. Let it simmer until the quinoa has absorbed most of the liquid, about 15 minutes. Cooked quinoa looks fluffy and tender. Add more salt and pepper if needed, to taste.
6. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss well to coat.
7. Serve with fresh parsley and more Parmesan cheese on top, if desired.

Notes

Time saving tip: You can coarsely chop the vegetables, throw them in the food processor, and pulse mix until finely diced.

How to store: Vegetarian bolognese will last for about 3 days when stored inside an airtight container in the fridge. You can store the sauce and pasta together or separately.

How to reheat: Vegetarian bolognese can be reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop. For stovetop reheating, cook in a covered pan over medium heat until warm, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Category: Pasta
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Italian

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