Vegan Bolognese Sauce! This vegetarian mushroom bolognese sauce is filled with hearty vegetables and rich flavor for a delicious vegan meal. Serve it over gluten-free pasta or zucchini noodles for a low carb option!
This post was originally published on August 28, 2017
It's time for some serious January comfort food and I have just the thing for you.
Vegan Bolognese sauce, my friends!
Bolognese sauce is a meat-based sauce originating from Italy. Traditional bolognese is a beef-based sauce made with onions, celery, carrots, and spices that is slowly simmered in tomatoes, whole milk, and red wine to create a thick and rich pasta sauce.
This vegan Bolognese sauce is made with a mixture of mushrooms and walnuts for a plant-based version that you will absolutely love. It is healthy, cholesterol free, and, if served over zucchini noodles, keto-friendly.
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
You will need a handful of ingredients for this recipe. Fortunately you will find them all easily at your local grocery store and this recipe offers a lot of variation.
Here is everything you need.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
Ingredient Notes
- Oil - I recommend olive, avocado, or coconut oil.
- Fresh Herbs - You will need fresh parsley and basil. If necessary, you can substitute them for 1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning.
- Dry Red Wine -Use a dry red wine, like cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir. If you would like to omit the wine, feel free to use water or vegetable broth instead.
- Mushrooms - Mushrooms are the base of this vegan meat sauce. They are one of the best whole food meat substitutes you can find with a rich, juicy, deep, and meaty flavor and texture. You will need a combination of button and shiitake mushrooms. Feel free to also add portobellos or wild mushrooms. In total you will want 2 pounds of mixed mushroooms.
- Non-Dairy Milk - Use an unsweetened neutral flavored milk such as soy or cashew milk.
- Pasta - Feel free to use gluten-free pasta for a gluten-free pasta dish. You can also swap out the pasta noodles for zucchini noodles for a low carb, keto-friendly option.
- Vegan Parmesan - I HIGHLY recommend Violife parmesan. It is creamy, melty, and tastes exactly how I remember parmesan to taste. Look for it at Whole Foods or your natural health food store. If you don’t have access to Violife, you can make your own parmesan or omitted altogether.
Recommended Equipment
For this recipe you will need a large skillet, a food processor, and a chef’s knife. If you are serving your bolognese sauce over zucchini noodles, you will also need a spiralizer. (<<affiliate links)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One – Make the Fettuccine
Begin by cooking the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water. Make sure your pot is large enough to allow the pasta to cook without sticking together. Cook it for about 12 minutes, stirring frequently.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain it through a colander and toss it with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. This prevents the pasta from clumping together as it cools.
Step Two - Purée and Sauté the Veggies
Pulse the onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and walnuts a few times until they are broken down into small pieces. In a large sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add your diced veggies and sauté them for 3-4 minutes until the onions are translucent and the walnuts are toasted.
Pro Tip: If you don't have a food processor, you can just dice them small with a knife but a food processor makes this much easier!
Wipe down the food processor and add the mushrooms. Pulse a few times until mushrooms are broken down and resembled minced meat. Add them to the veggies and sauté for another 3-4 minutes until the mushrooms have cooked down in size.
Step Three - Add the Remaining Ingredients
Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5-7 minutes until the wine has cooked all the way down. Make sure to let the wine cook down fully; otherwise your sauce will taste quite boozy.
Pro Tip: Use a dry red wine, like cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir. If you would like to omit the wine, feel free to use water or vegetable broth.
Stir in the non-dairy milk and continue to cook it down for another 5-6 minutes until the milk has evaporated.
Once the milk has cooked down, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh herbs, salt, and pepper. Cook, uncovered, until the sauce is rich and thick. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasonings before serving.
Serving and Storing
Serving - Serve your Bolognese sauce over pasta or zucchini noodles. Top with vegan parmesan and fresh parsley. Serve alongside crusty bread, tomato soup, or a vegan caesar salad.
Storing – Store the leftover pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, gently reheat the pasta over the stove with 1-2 tablespoons of water.
Tips and Tricks
- If you don't have a food processor, you can make this recipe by simply dicing the vegetables very small before sautéing them. The sauce may be a bit chunkier but will still taste great!
- Use your preferred pasta. For a gluten-free meal, simply use gluten-free pasta. For a low carb, keto-friendly recipe, substitute zucchini noodles for pasta noodles.
- Cook the pasta to al dente to avoid mushy pasta.If you use thicker or thinner noodles, I recommend following the box’s instructions to cook the pasta al dente. Cook times can range from 5 to 6 minutes to 12 or more depending on the variety.
- When choosing a wine, you want to go for something dry like a Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon. Avoid any kind of sweet wine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! The sauce is gluten-free. For a gluten-free meal simply substitute in your favorite gluten free pasta. Just following the cooking times for al dente noodles on the package. They are often very similar.
Most packaged brands of pasta are vegan but it’s always a good idea to check the ingredients for eggs. Fresh pasta more often contains eggs.
For sure. Just replace it with ¼ water or vegetable broth.
When served with the zucchini noodles, yes, this mushroom bolognese is gluten-free!
More Vegan Pasta Recipes
- Skinny Creamy Garlic Sauce Pasta
- Vegan Pesto Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Lemon Pepper Mediterranean Pasta
- Vegan Carbonara Pasta
- Penne Pasta with Vegan Vodka Sauce
- Pumpkin Alfredo with Roasted Hazelnuts
Make sure to check out all my vegan pasta recipes for more inspiration.
Vegan Bolognese Sauce w/ Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Fettuccine Pasta
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1 yellow onion roughly chopped
- 2 celery stalks roughly chopped
- 2 carrots peeled and roughy chopped
- 4 cloves garlic roughy chopped
- 1 cup raw walnuts
- 1 pound button mushrooms
- 1 pound shiitake mushrooms
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- ¼ cup fresh parsley minced
- ¼ cup fresh basil minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Begin by cooking the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water. Make sure your pot is large enough to allow the pasta to cook without sticking together. Cook it for about 12 minutes, stirring frequently. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it through a colander and toss it with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. This prevents the pasta from clumping together as it cools.
- In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. In a food processor, pulse onions, celery, carrots, garlic, and walnuts a few times until they are well minced. Transfer to a pot and sauté for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Wipe down the food processor and add the mushrooms. Pulse a few times until mushrooms are broken down and resembled minced meat. Add them to the veggies and sauté for another 3-4 minutes until the mushrooms have cooked down in size.
- Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5-7 minutes until the wine has cooked all the way down. Stir in the non-dairy milk and continue to cook it down for another 5-6 minutes until the milk has evaporated.
- Once the milk has cooked down, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh herbs, salt, and pepper. Cook, uncovered, until the sauce is rich and thick. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasonings before serving.
Notes
- Use your preferred pasta – any will work! I updated this recipe with thin spaghetti noodles but I have also used bow tie, rotini, and fusilli pasta.
- Cook the pasta to al dente to avoid mushy pasta. If you use thicker or thinner noodles, I recommend following the box’s instructions to cook the pasta al dente. Cook times can range from 5 to 6 minutes to 12 or more depending on the variety.
- When choosing a wine, you want to go for something dry like a Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon. Avoid any kind of sweet wine.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Cindy says
This was wonderful! I didn’t have enough mushrooms so I supplemented with lentils, and it was delicious. Thank you!
Ruchama B says
Looks great. I plan to use the sauce recipe but why would you make the pasta first. I never do that. Sauce is very forgiving and can easily cook on a low simmer while pasta cooks.I start my pasta water and keep it below a boil until I'm ready to cook the pasta. Pasta doesn't sit around, but is sauced and served as soon as the pasta is done. No need to have it cool and try to stick together.
Jen says
This looks delicious! Do the calories include the fettuccine?
Sarah says
Hi! Are the nutrition facts with pasta or with zucchini noodles?
JIll Jackson says
Just to say top marks for the presentation of this recipe. I love not having to scroll through multiple mind-numbing ads to get the information.
This means I can actually üse". the recipe.
Many thanks, Jill.
Tracy says
Amazing! I will make this again and again.
Amy says
This was DELICIOUS! I made it last week and, despite having a spiraliser and being obsessed with it too, had some gnocchi to use up so made it with that. It was so good and tasted just like a meaty bolognese so thank you for sharing! Quick question though - how long will the sauce keep after making it? We had a little leftover so thought I'd check. Thank you!
Sarah says
I'm so glad it was a hit. The sauce should keep for about 5 days. You could also freeze it for up to 2 months and just take it out and put it in your refrigerator the night before reusing it.
Chanel | Cultural Xplorer says
This recipe looks AMAZING! I bought a spiralizer hoping to put it to use and I have not; after reading this post I need to dind it and dust it off and get to cooking!
Sarah says
You absolutely do! 🙂