Vegan Mushroom Pasta in “Paprikash Sauce”

This vegan mushroom pasta recipe has been inspired by Hungarian Mushroom Paprikash, which is a sour cream-based smoked sweet paprika-infused sauce. You can expect a smoky, tangy, creamy, and delicious pasta dish with lots of button and shiitake mushrooms. And for a bit of color sweet red bell peppers. You’ll love it.

We do like our pasta, may they be quick & easy or rich & filling. Have you seen this delicious creamy Vegetable Pasta Sauce with 7 hidden veggies? How about this Vegan Spinach Pesto Pasta or this Caramelized Carrot Pasta Sauce this Vegan Cajun Pasta? If you like pasta recipes, here is a couple of tasty ones for you to browse through in our Vegan Sauce Recipes gallery.

What to expect from this recipe?

This recipe has been inspired by Hungarian Chicken Paprikash, which is one of the most popular and beloved recipes of Hungarian cuisine. Its vegetarian alternative is the Hungarian Mushroom Paprikash. What they have in common is that you need heaps of sour cream and the quintessential Hungarian sweet smoked paprika.

This creamy mushroom pasta recipe is a variation of this paprikash sauce. It is tangy and creamy due to the sour cream and smoky due to the paprika powder. But we skipped some ingredients and added new ones to end up with a delicious vegan sauce for the mushrooms.

• Smoky
• Creamy
• Tangy
• Rich

If you are interested in Authentic Hungarian Recipes, you can browse through our gallery or check out the two most popular dishes: Hungarian Lecso and Hungarian Vegetarian Goulash.

Ingredients you need

It is a quick, easy, and creamy vegan mushroom pasta dish with a handful of ingredients, which you can make in approx. 20 minutes. And it is absolutely delicious.

• mushrooms (we used a mix of button and shiitake mushrooms)
• bell peppers
• garlic
• sweet smoked paprika powder
• soy sauce (if you need gluten-free, choose from these 5 soy sauce substitutes)
• vegan sour cream
• all purpose flour (we used rice flour to make it gluten-free)
• vegan butter (or olive oil)

Best mushrooms to use

In this recipe, we sauteed the mushrooms over high heat with very little butter. It is very similar to how we do it in this Sauteed Mushrooms in Soy Sauce Glaze recipe. Any mushrooms can be a good candidate, but our favorite ones are

• white/brown button mushrooms,
• shiitake mushrooms,
• oyster mushrooms, (we have a whole Guide to Oyster mushrooms if you are interested to know more)
• other wild mushrooms.

A quick & useful tip: If you don’t find mushrooms in your local store under the name button mushrooms, try to look for cremini/crimini mushrooms, or small portobello mushrooms or baby bella mushrooms or Italian brown mushrooms or champignon mushrooms. They are practically the same.

How to make Vegan Mushroom Pasta?

Prepare ingredients

• Mushrooms -> We chose white button mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms now. Gentle clean them with a damp paper towel or kitchen cloth. We never really peel mushrooms, but sometimes cut out the stem if they feel too dry or too hard. Button mushrooms release water, so they will shrink. Don’t slice them too thin definitely, definitely not thinner than ¼ inch (0.5 cm).
• Bell pepper -> Wash and chop bell pepper to sticks.
• Other ingredients -> Peel and mince garlic cloves. Chop fresh parsley for topping.

Let’s make crispy mushrooms in paprikash sauce

1. Cook pasta as per package instructions.
2. Take a large frying pan or skillet and heat it over high heat.
3. Add vegan butter and wait for it to be melted.
4. Once melted, add sliced mushrooms and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Stir well.
5. Add chopped bell pepper sticks. Stir and saute for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add soy sauce (we used tamari for gluten-free) and stir until it is evaporated.
7. Lower the heat to medium and add minced garlic. Stir well.
8. Take a separate bowl and mix sour cream, flour, water, and sweet smoked paprika powder.
9. Add the mix to the pan and stir continuously. Once the sauce is piping hot again and thickens it is ready to be served.
10. Add chopped parsley as a topping.

Top tips on how to saute mushrooms

• Don’t add salt while cooking as the mushrooms will release even more water. We use soy sauce (which is already salty) to get that covered. We recommend adding salt if you would like to when serving.
• The frying pan has to be HOT. If you saute it over medium heat, the mushrooms will be cooked in their own moisture and thus you end up with soggy mushrooms. Side note: I like soggy mushrooms too, but that is another story to tell…
• If you do a large batch, use a cast-iron skillet as it helps to get them crispy.

What to else to add to this creamy pasta sauce?

We definitely have some ideas 🙂

• Vegan Shredded Chicken on top of your pasta.
• Sautee veggies together with the mushrooms like asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, or green beans.
• Try to add some leafy greens like spinach or kale.
• Add some pan-seared cherry tomatoes.

What else would you use this sauce for? Let us know in the comments.

FAQs and Substitutions

How to store it?

You can easily store it in the fridge for 2-3 days without any problem.

What to use instead of sour cream?

You can use any store-bought dairy-free sour cream. We use a soy-based product from Dr. Oetker. We do have a Nut-free Soy-free Vegan Sour Cream recipe if you want to try that. Let us know if you do.

Is soy sauce gluten-free?

You would think that, but unfortunately, they are not. We use tamari* instead, which has the same flavor, but gluten-free. We have a whole post titled “Is soy sauce gluten-free?” which contains the best 5 gluten-free substitutes. If you want it to be paleo was well you should use coconut aminos* instead.

This Vegan Mushroom Pasta in Paprikash Sauce recipe is meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free. It is also suitable for a vegan, vegetarian diet if you use dairy-free or vegan sour cream. This recipe can be nut-free, soy-free, and gluten-free depending on the sour cream you choose. It can also be WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) if you use water instead of oil when sauteing the veggies.

More vegan pasta sauce recipes

You can browse through our Vegan Sauce Recipes gallery or check out The Best 20 Sauces for Gnocchi which can be used on any pasta dish you like. Even more pasta dishes like

• Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese
• Creamy Spinach Pasta Sauce
• Asparagus Lemon Pepper Pasta
• Vegan Spinach Pesto Pasta
• Caramelized Carrot Pasta Sauce
• Vegan Cajun Pasta