This healthy vegetable sauce is loaded with SEVEN different veggies (including a legume for extra protein) and blended into a creamy hidden veggie tomato pasta sauce. It is so delicious and creamy that I guarantee you even your kids will lick the bowl. Ours definitely does that. It is vegan, gluten-free as always.
You can probably tell by now, that we L-O-V-E hidden veggies recipes. If you also have a picky eater at home then you know what I am talking about. It is any mother’s mission to increase veggie intake for their kids even if they fuss about every meal. That is why we have a Vegan Protein Pancake and Vegan Protein Waffle recipe where I hid red lentils. There are also a Vegan Sweet Potato Brownie and Vegan Chocolate Pudding recipe where I hid sweet potato. Not to mention our veggie-loaded and nut-free Vegan Mac and Cheese recipe. So what is your favorite hidden veggie recipe?
⇒ If you need an Easy 7-day VEGAN MEAL PLAN, click to download our free e-book with a shopping list.
This creamy vegetable sauce recipe contains SEVEN different veggies and legumes. All of them are vegan, plant-based, whole foods ingredients so I consider them healthy. Why? Because there is…
NO DAIRY, NO EGGS, NO GLUTEN, and NO PROCESSED FOOD
What does it taste like? It tastes like a creamy, rich and filling tomato sauce. I dare anyone to identify these veggies just by taste.
- Onion
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Celery stalk
- Chickpeas
- Zucchini / Courgette
- Tomato sauce
What other veggies can I add to this vegan pasta sauce?
I would happily add any of the following veggies: other root vegetables (parsnip, rutabaga, celeriac) instead of carrots or celery. There is also some room to add 2-3 medium-sized root veggies in addition to the above list without altering the taste. However, the more veggies you add, the lesser will the sauce taste as a tomato sauce.
What else can I add to this vegan pasta sauce?
You can certainly add other legumes (lentils or beans) to make the sauce loaded with even more protein. However, to keep it as a tomato spaghetti sauce, we recommend sticking with chickpeas or white/cannellini beans as they have the least beany taste.
How to make a creamy vegetable pasta sauce?
My husband cooked this vegetable sauce in a cast-iron Dutch oven*. Don’t worry if you don’t have one, this recipe is absolutely perfect in a stockpot* too. We made it lots of times and will show you below step-by-step how to cook the best creamy veggie sauce every time. Watch a quick slide-show on how to make this Vegetable Sauce or read on.
Prepare the ingredients
Peel and chop onion and garlic. Wash and chop celery. Wash, peel and slice carrots. Wash, peel and cut zucchini into cubes.
Let’s make veggie pasta sauce
Heat your a stockpot or a Dutch oven to medium heat and add olive oil (photo #1). Cook the chopped onion (photo #2) for 1-2 minutes, add the chopped garlic (photo #3) and cook for a few seconds. Now, add the sliced carrots (photo #4). Stir and cook for 5-6 minutes.
Add the zucchini cubes with salt (it will help to release the moisture in the zucchini) (photo #5). Add pepper, dried basil and oregano and stir until combined (photo #6). Add celery stalk and stir again (photo #7). Now, add tomato sauce and cook veggies until soft (photo #8). Finally, add the canned chickpeas without water (photo #9) and cook for 1-2 minutes until they warm up. Add nutritional yeast (optional) (photo #10). Stir. Now, the veggies are ready for blending.
Add all veggies to a blender (photo #11) and blend until you get a creamy veggie pasta sauce (photo #12).
Top tips to make the perfect vegetable sauce
- Chop vegetables evenly – We added carrots first as they need the most time to be cooked, then zucchini and celery, finally canned chickpeas as they are already cooked.
- Cut veggies small and thin – The smaller you cut the veggies, the shorter will be the cooking time.
Stockpot vs Dutch Oven
The Dutch oven* is made of thick cast iron so it distributes and keeps the heat more evenly. And due to its enamel coating, it is more unlikely that anything is sticking to the bottom or burning down. While the stockpot is usually made of stainless steel or aluminium thus it is thinner. Therefore, you need to watch the heat more carefully to prevent burning if you boil all the liquid out of the pot.
Two things to pay attention to if you are making this sauce in a stockpot* is
- do not let the liquid/oil evaporate and
- stir more frequently.
Vitamix vs Regular Blender
You can certainly use a hand blender (aka immersion blender), a food processor, a regular blender. They all make a creamy vegetable sauce. However, if you need this sauce to be extra smoothie without a single little piece to find, we recommend using a high powered blender like Vitamix*.
FAQs and Substitutions
How to use this vegetable pasta sauce?
You can use this pasta sauce as you would use any store-bought tomato sauce:
- Top your pasta instead of bolognese sauce
- Serve these sweet potato gnocchi with it
- Add it to meatballs (like eggplant meatballs, mushroom meatballs or chickpea meatballs)
- Layer it within the lasagna
- Spread it on pizza instead of a marinara sauce or our no-cook vegan pizza sauce
- Add it to chili instead of a tomato sauce
- Use it in ratatouille or shakshuka
- Add it to mushroom, peppers, butternut squash or zucchini stuffing
What else would you use a veggie spaghetti sauce for? Let us know in the comments.
How to store this vegetable paste sauce?
This sauce is perfect for batch cooking. You can easily store it in the fridge for 3-4 days without any problem. Store any leftovers per serving (in a jar, in a ziplock bag or other container) in a freezer and thaw whenever you need it.
This Vegetable Sauce recipe is meat-free, dairy-free and egg-free. It is also suitable for vegan, vegetarian, nut-free, soy-free and gluten-free diets. It can also be WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) if you cook the veggies directly in the tomato sauce.
⇒ If you need an Easy 7-day VEGAN MEAL PLAN, click to download our free e-book with a shopping list.
More dinner recipes
You can browse through our Vegan and Gluten-free Dinner Recipes or our Quick Vegan Meals collection or check out
- Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese
- Vegan Eggplant Meatballs Spaghetti
- Vegan Cabbage Lasagna
- Lazy Vegan Pot Pie
- Vegan Jackfruit Stew
Vegetable Pasta Sauce (7 Different Veggies and Legumes)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Onion (medium)
- 2-3 cloves Garlic
- 2 Zucchini 350 g
- 2 Carrots (medium) 100 g
- 1 Celery stalk 35 g
- Sieved tomato puree aka Tomato sauce 700 g
- ½ tsp Oregano dried
- ½ tsp Basil dried
- 1 ½ cup Chickpea (canned without aquafaba)
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare the ingredients
- Peel and chop onion and garlic.
- Wash and chop celery.
- Wash, peel and chop carrots and zucchini.
Let's make veggie pasta sauce
- Heat your a stockpot or a Dutch oven to medium heat and add olive oil.
- Cook the chopped onion for 1-2 minutes, add the chopped garlic and cook for a few seconds.
- Now, add the sliced carrots. Stir and cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the zucchini cubes with salt (it will help to release the moisture in the zucchini).
- Add pepper, dried basil and oregano and stir until combined.
- Add celery stalk and stir again.
- Add tomato sauce and cook veggies until soft.
- Finally, add the canned chickpeas without water and cook for 1-2 minutes until they warm up. Add nutritional yeast (optional) and stir. Now, the veggies are ready for blending.
- Add all veggies to a blender and blend until you get a creamy veggie pasta sauce.
Notes
What other veggies can I add to this pasta sauce?
I would happily add any of the following veggies: other root vegetables (parsnip, rutabaga, celeriac) instead of carrots or celery. There is also some room to add 2-3 medium-sized root veggies in addition to the above list without altering the taste. However, the more veggies you add, the lesser will the sauce taste as a tomato sauce.What else can I add to this pasta sauce?
You can certainly add other legumes (lentils or beans) to make the sauce loaded with even more protein. However, to keep it as a tomato spaghetti sauce, we recommend sticking with chickpeas or white/cannellini beans as they have the least beany taste.How to use this vegetable pasta sauce?
You can use this pasta sauce as you would use any store-bought tomato sauce:- Top your pasta instead of bolognese sauce
- Serve these sweet potato gnocchi with it
- Add it to meatballs (like eggplant meatballs, mushroom meatballs or chickpea meatballs)
- Layer it within the lasagna
- Spread it on pizza instead of a marinara sauce or our no-cook vegan pizza sauce
- Add it to chili instead of a tomato sauce
- Use it in ratatouille or shakshuka
- Add it to mushroom, peppers, butternut squash or zucchini stuffing
Anonymous
It’s delicious and guilt free! I’m trying to incorperate more vegetables into my diet. I’m not sure, maybe my measuring was off but it was missing a touch of acidity or brightness, so I added a squeeze of fresh lemon. I do have one question regarding portion size. 196 calories per serving, but what is the serving size?
My Pure Plants
Thank you for trying our recipe. We are so glad you like it. I used my 3-quart pan which was not totally full. The recipe gives you approx. 4 servings, which means 1 serving should be less than 1 cup of sauce.
Farah Abumaizar
This looks so silky smooth and delicious! Can’t get over how healthy it is and I will definitely be trying this out on my little ones!
My Pure Plants
We also tested it on our picky daughters. Both of them are loving it. It became a weekly regular.
Tayo
This looks amazing! Such a great way to get a whole lot of nutrients in without eating a whole lot of vegetables!
My Pure Plants
The whole idea of hiding veggies came from the fact that my daughter only wanted pasta with red sauce. Well, it is a red sauce indeed.
Jayne
I love this sauce. The flavor just pops with pasta. So good with a nice glass of wine.
My Pure Plants
Absolutely. 🙂
Krissy Allori
This is a great sauce. Bursting with flavor. I also love that I can make a big batch and freeze it to use as needed.
My Pure Plants
Yes, it is perfect for batch cooking and freezing. Keeps very well.
Erica Schwarz
I can’t wait to make this and sneak in all this veggie goodness into my family and they will have no idea! Making this this week, thanks for the recipe.
My Pure Plants
Be sure to let us know how you like it.