This hidden veggie pasta sauce is loaded with flavor, a rich texture, and many vegetables. Roasted veggies are blended with broth, soy milk, nutritional yeast, and seasonings to create a rich, creamy sauce full of health benefits as flavor.
Save This Recipe
Enter your email and we'll send this recipe to your inbox!
Being vegan doesn’t mean I don’t love serving comfort food to my family. It’s very easy to do both! Pasta, in particular, is a favorite in our home, and I routinely make dishes like my vegan pasta bake with cheese sauce and roasted red pepper pasta, which are a few of my favorites.
Now, I’ve added this hidden veggie pasta sauce to my rotation. It’s hearty, rich, delicious, and chock full of six vegetables. The great thing is that you can’t see the veggies, so even picky eaters tend to love it! It’s what I serve for dinner when my kids haven’t gotten enough of their veggies!
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love This Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce
Simple Ingredients: Everything from the veggies to the nutritional yeast can be found at your local grocery store.
Easy: The entire recipe is super simple. Dice your vegetables, roast, and blend. That’s it.
Delicious: Roasting the vegetables brings out their natural sweetness and deepens their flavor for a rich sauce.
Healthy: This sauce is made with tons of vegetables filled with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Use any pasta you like. Chickpea pasta will add protein, and whole wheat pasta will add fiber.
Ingredients and Notes
Butternut Squash: Butternut squash adds richness and naturally sweet and nutty flavor to the sauce.
Red Bell Pepper: Bell pepper combines sweetness and a very slight bite.
Cauliflower Florets: Cauliflower helps thicken the sauce and provides more nutritional value.
Carrots: Carrots add sweetness and more flavor.
Yellow Onions and Garlic: Onions and garlic add that classic aromatic combo that’s so good in all savory recipes.
Soy Milk: Soy milk helps the veggies blend into a creamy sauce.
Nutritional Yeast: Nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavor to the sauce.
Seasoning: A blend of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper gives the sauce a bold flavor that’s not too strong.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact amounts.
Substitutions and Variations
Vegetables: You can experiment with your favorite vegetables in this recipe. For example, using parsnips in place of carrots would give the sauce a different flavor, or leeks in place of onions.
Seasonings: Try using some Italian seasoning to add a more traditional flavor to the sauce.
Spicy: Red pepper flakes or cayenne add a kick of heat to the sauce.
Plant Milk: Any plant-based milk can be used in this recipe. Each one adds a slightly different flavor note to the sauce.
How to Make Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the prepped vegetables to a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle them with the seasonings.
- Bake until the vegetables are golden brown and easily pierced with a fork, tossing halfway through cooking.
- Boil the pasta according to the package directions for al dente while the vegetables roast, reserving ½ cup of the water before draining.
- Add the roasted vegetables to a blender.
- Pour in the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the sauce over the pasta, sprinkle with parsley or basil and cashew parmesan. Enjoy!
FAQ
Roasting the vegetables gives them a deeper flavor by caramelizing their natural sugars.
A high-speed blender makes the process easier, but it isn’t necessary. If you use a regular blender, simply scrape down the sides and blend a few times to create a smooth sauce.
Use vegetables with a similar density and cut them into approximately equal sizes to ensure even cooking.
Expert Tips
- To avoid watery eyes, chill your onion for about 30 minutes before cutting it.
- Be sure to use a baking sheet with a lip when roasting your vegetables.
- Lining your baking sheet with parchment paper makes cleanup so much easier.
- If you don’t have a high-speed blender, blend in stages, scraping down the sides of the blender between each blend.
- Be sure to use the pasta water in the sauce. The starch in the water will thicken the sauce a bit.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this dish with sides like vegan garlic bread or a salad for a tasty, complete meal. For dessert, try a vegan apple galette or vegan vanilla pudding.
Storage
Refrigerator: Refrigerate this sauce in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Freeze: In an airtight freezer-safe container, freeze the sauce alone for up to 3 months. I do not recommend freezing the sauce with the cooked pasta, as the pasta can become mealy after it’s defrosted.
Reheat: To reheat the dish, microwave individual portions at 1-minute intervals until heated.
More Hidden Veggie Recipes!
Recipe
Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce
Save This Recipe
Enter your email and we’ll send this recipe to your inbox!
Ingredients
- 2 cups butternut squash cubed
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 2 carrots peeled and nut into large chunks
- 1 yellow onion cut into quarters
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk or other unsweetened plant milk
- 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth
- ½ cup reserved pasta water
- 12 ounces pasta shells
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the butternut squash, red pepper, cauliflower, carrots, onion, and garlic to the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion, powder, salt, and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil, and toss it all together with your hands to combine.
- Roast in the oven for 40 minutes until all the vegetables are golden brown and can easily be pierced with a fork. Toss the vegetables halfway through cooking time.
- While the vegetables are roasting prepare your pasta of choice. Cook according to package directions for al dente. Reserve half a cup of the pasta water before draining.
- Add the roasted vegetables to a large high-speed blender. Add the vegetable broth, soy milk, nutritional yeast, and reserved pasta water. Blend until smooth.
- Pour the sauce over the prepared pasta. Sprinkle with cashew parm, and enjoy!
Notes
-
- To avoid watery eyes, chill your onion for about 30 minutes before cutting it.
-
- Be sure to use a baking sheet with a lip when roasting your vegetables.
-
- Lining your baking sheet with parchment paper makes cleanup so much easier.
-
- If you don’t have a high-speed blender, blend in stages, scraping down the sides of the blender between each blend.
-
- Be sure to use the pasta water in the sauce. The starch in the water will thicken the sauce a bit.
- Refrigerate for up to 5 days in an airtight container. Freeze the sauce only for up to 3 months.
Leave a Reply