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    Home > Vegan Pasta Sauces

    Vegetable Pasta Sauce (7 Hidden Veggies)

    By My Pure Plants on 12/09/2022 - May contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure.

    Jump to Recipe Print Pin

    This healthy vegetable sauce is loaded with SEVEN different veggies (including a legume for extra protein) and blended into a creamy hidden veggie pasta sauce. It is so delicious and smooth. I guarantee you that even your picky eaters will lick the bowl. This is by far our daughters’ favorite sauce for spaghetti.

    A red Dutch oven full of vegetable pasta sauce topped with fresh basil leaves photographed from above on a blue board.

    You can probably tell by now, that we L-O-V-E hidden veggie 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 red lentil pancakes and red lentil waffles. As well as vegan sweet potato brownies and sweet potato chocolate pudding. Not to mention our veggie-loaded and nut-free vegan mac and cheese sauce. So what is your favorite hidden veggie recipe? 

    Table of Contents hide
    1. What to expect from this recipe
    2. Ingredients
    3. I
    4. Top tips to make it perfectly
    5. Pasta topping ideas
    6. What else to do with this sauce?
    7. FAQs
    8. Allergen info
    9. More pasta sauce recipes
    10. Vegetable Pasta Sauce (7 Hidden Veggies)

    What to expect from this recipe

    Do you know what will you get if you make this hidden veggie pasta sauce recipe?

    • A thick, creamy, rich sauce that is perfect for spaghetti, penne, or any other pasta.
    • You will know it is more than just a simple tomato sauce, but I dare anyone to identify these veggies just by taste. Tomato is the main flavor for sure.

    Who is this vegetable pasta sauce for?

    • For picky eaters (kids and adults alike), who have difficulty trying new ingredients, but love tomatoes.
    • For those who struggle with the sometimes weird texture of vegetables, but wants to eat a wider variety.
    • For those looking for meatless options to enjoy pasta, but they feel that the plain tomato sauce is not filling enough.

    Ingredients

    So how many veggies are hidden in this spaghetti sauce? SEVEN. 6 different veggies and 1 legume. All of them are whole foods ingredients so I consider this recipe extremely healthy and nutritious. So what are these hidden gems?

    • Onion
    • Garlic
    • Carrots
    • Celery stalk
    • Chickpeas 
    • Zucchini
    • Tomato sauce -> You can probably find several types of tomato sauces in the stores. However, we recommend choosing sieved tomato puree which is thicker and unseasoned.
    • Basil – we used ground dried basil, but if you can get your hands on some fresh basil leaves, the flavor of the sauce will be even better.
    • Oregano – same goes for oregano
    • Salt and black pepper

    🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

    What other veggies can you hide?

    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 like a tomato sauce.

    What else can you add?

    You can certainly add other legumes (lentils or beans) to make this vegetable pasta sauce loaded with even more protein. However, to keep it as a tomato spaghetti sauce, we recommend sticking with chickpeas or maybe white/cannellini beans as they have the least beany taste. Black beans and red kidney beans may have a stronger beany, earthy taste.

    Which pasta to choose?

    You can choose any type of pasta like fettuccine, spaghetti, or penne. Even homemade sweet potato gnocchi if you want something unique with this hidden veggie tomato sauce.

    Please note that pasta, as well as, gnocchi is not gluten-free, so choose the right brand for your diet. Or go creative and use zucchini noodles for example.

    A red Dutch oven full of vegetable pasta sauce topped with fresh basil leaves photographed from above on a blue board.

    I

    My husband cooked this vegetable sauce in an enameled Dutch oven*. Don’t worry if you don’t have one, this recipe is 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 pasta sauce.

    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.
    • Precook dry chickpeas, or drain canned ones.

    Making veggie pasta sauce

    1. Heat your stockpot or an enameled Dutch oven to medium heat and add olive oil.
    2. Add chopped onion and cook it for 1-2 minutes
    3. Add chopped garlic and cook for a few seconds.
    4. Add sliced carrots. Stir and cook for 5-6 minutes.
    Step photos to show how to make vegetable pasta sauce starting with cooking onion, garlic and carrot slices in olive oil
    1. Add zucchini cubes with salt (it will help to release the moisture in the zucchini).
    2. Add black pepper, basil, and oregano and stir until combined.
    3. Add celery stalk and stir again.
    4. Add sieved tomato puree and cook veggies until they are fork tender. 
    5. Finally, add precooked or canned chickpeas and cook for 1-2 minutes until they warm up.
    6. Add nutritional yeast (optional). Stir. Now, the veggies are ready for blending.
    Step photos to show how to make vegetable pasta sauce including adding veggies, tomato sauce and spices
    1. Add all veggies to a blender.
    2. Blend them until you get a creamy veggie pasta sauce.
    Steps to make vegetable pasta sauce - last to steps showing the blending

    Top tips to make it perfectly

    • Save time on the order of cooking – We added carrots first as they need the most time to be cooked, then zucchini and celery, and finally canned chickpeas as they are already cooked.
    • Chop vegetables evenly and small – The smaller you cut the veggies, the shorter will be the cooking time.
    • Stockpot vs Dutch Oven – The enameled 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 aluminum thus it is thinner. Therefore, you need to watch the heat more carefully and stir more frequently.
    • Vitamix vs Regular Blender – You can certainly use a hand blender (aka immersion blender), a food processor, or a regular blender. They all make the vegetable sauce creamy. However, if you need this sauce to be extra smooth without a single little piece to find, we recommend using a high-power blender like Vitamix*. It will make a huge difference.
    A bowl with vegetable sauce on top of spaghetti sprinkled with vegan parmesan and topped with fresh basil leaves. In the background red Dutch Oven with remaining pasta sauce

    Pasta topping ideas

    You can still add more toppings to your pasta sauce as you would a simple marinara sauce. We have lots of ideas. See for yourself.

    • Sauteed mushrooms
    • Pan-fried oyster mushrooms
    • Roasted asparagus and mushrooms
    • Sauteed broccoli or even better broccolini
    • Green peas or green beans
    • Sweet corn
    • Legumes (beans, lentils) like white/cannellini beans, red kidney beans, chickpeas (roasted or cooked)
    • Nuts and seeds (almond slices, pepitas, pistachios)
    • More vegan parmesan, or nutritional yeast
    • Vegan bacon bits
    • A swirl of spinach pesto or red pesto on top.

    What else to do with this sauce?

    You can use this pasta sauce as you would use any store-bought tomato sauce:

    • Top your pasta instead of bolognese sauce
    • Serve sweet potato gnocchis with it
    • Add it to meatballs (like falafels, eggplant meatballs (pictured below), mushroom meatballs, or chickpea meatballs)
    • Layer it within the lasagna (pictured below)
    • Spread it on pizza instead of a marinara sauce or our no-cook pizza sauce
    • Add it to chili instead of a tomato sauce (pictured below)
    • Use it in ratatouille or shakshuka (pictured below)
    • Use it to make stuffing for mushrooms, bell peppers, butternut squash, or zucchini.

    What else would you use a veggie spaghetti sauce for? Let us know in the comments.

    • Vegan Eggplant Meatballs (Gluten-free, Oil-free)
    • 1- Pot Vegan Chickpea Shakshuka
    • Best Vegan Chili with Beans and Millet
    • Easy Vegan Lasagna with Lentil Bolognese

    FAQs

    How to store it?

    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, a ziplock bag, or an airtight container) in a freezer and thaw whenever you need them.

    Close-up of a bowl with vegetable sauce on top of spaghetti sprinkled with vegan parmesan and topped with fresh basil leaves

    Allergen info

    This Vegetable Pasta Sauce recipe is meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free. 

    • Vegan – All ingredients are supposed to be vegan.
    • Nut-free – All ingredients are supposed to be nut-free, but check packaging info for cross-contamination all the time especially if you choose your pasta and tomato sauce.
    • WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) – It is only compliant if you cook veggies directly in the tomato sauce without sauteeing them first in oil.
    • Gluten-free – You need to choose gluten-free pasta. Other than that all other ingredients are supposed to be gluten-free, but always check the packaging for cross-contamination info.
    • Soy-free – All ingredients are supposed to be soy-free.

    More pasta sauce recipes

    We have a collection of more than 30 easy and delicious vegan pasta recipes, or check out the below ones:

    • Easy Vegan Pesto Pasta
    • Red Pesto Tofu Pasta (Vegan)
    • Creamy Harissa Tahini Pasta Sauce
    • Spicy Tahini Miso Soba Noodles
    • Creamy Spinach Pasta Sauce
    • Caramelized Carrot Pasta Sauce

    THANK YOU so much for visiting our website. Please comment below if you have tried this recipe. We LOVE hearing from you! If you loved the recipe, please don’t forget to give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ RATING. We appreciate all of our readers.  

    Different colorful vegetables drawn as icons on an orange background in a shape of a heart.

    ⇒ GET OUR FREE 7-DAY VEGAN MEAL PLAN E-BOOK NOW! OR CHECK OUT ALL VEGAN MEAL PLAN RECIPES! ⇐

    Red and white dutch oven with a smooth creamy light red sauce topped with basil leaves.

    Vegetable Pasta Sauce (7 Hidden Veggies)

    Emese Maczko
    This healthy vegetable sauce is loaded with SEVEN different veggies (including a legume for extra protein) and blended into a creamy hidden veggie pasta sauce. It is so delicious and smooth. I guarantee you that even your picky eaters will lick the bowl. This is by far our daughters' favorite sauce for spaghetti.
    4.9 from 14 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 20 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Course Main Course, Sauce
    Servings 4 servings
    Calories 182kcal

    Equipment

    • Cast-iron Dutch Oven (3-quart / 2.8 liter)
    • Stockpot
    • our Vitamix A2300
    • Regular blender
    • Immersion hand blender with 20 fl oz container

    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
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    EXCLUSIVE 5-ingredient recipes for busy home cooks that are ready in 15 minutes!Check out our Express Vegan Cookbook!

    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 a stockpot or a Dutch oven to medium heat and add olive oil.
    • Cook chopped onion for 1-2 minutes, add chopped garlic and cook for a few seconds.
    • Add sliced carrots. Stir and cook for 5-6 minutes.
    • Add zucchini cubes with salt (it will help to release the moisture in the zucchini).
    • Add black 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 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.
    Tried this recipe? Can we see it?Please share a picture with us by uploading an image to Pinterest below ours.

    Notes

    What other veggies can you add?

    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 you add?

    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 vegan spaghetti bolognese
    • Serve this sweet potato gnocchi with it
    • Add it to meatballs (like vegan eggplant meatballs, vegan mushroom meatballs or vegan chickpea meatballs)
    • Layer it within this vegan lasagna
    • Spread it on pizza instead of a vegan marinara sauce or our no-cook vegan pizza sauce
    • Add it to vegan chili bean instead of a tomato sauce
    • Use it in ratatouille or vegan chickpea shakshuka
    • Add it to vegan stuffed portobello mushrooms, peppers, butternut squash or zucchini stuffing
    What else would you use a veggie spaghetti sauce for? Let us know in the comments. 

    Video

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Vegetable Pasta Sauce (7 Hidden Veggies)
    Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
    Calories 182 Calories from Fat 54
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 6g9%
    Saturated Fat 1g6%
    Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
    Monounsaturated Fat 3g
    Sodium 35mg2%
    Potassium 622mg18%
    Carbohydrates 27g9%
    Fiber 8g33%
    Sugar 8g9%
    Protein 8g16%
    Vitamin A 5318IU106%
    Vitamin C 23mg28%
    Calcium 69mg7%
    Iron 3mg17%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in Jan 2020. More info, tips, and details were added, and it was republished in Sep 2022.

    945 shares

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    1. Anonymous

      April 17, 2021 at 11:36 am

      4 stars
      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?

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        April 17, 2021 at 2:42 pm

        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.

        Reply
    2. Farah Abumaizar

      February 17, 2020 at 9:05 am

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        February 17, 2020 at 11:31 am

        We also tested it on our picky daughters. Both of them are loving it. It became a weekly regular.

        Reply
    3. Tayo

      February 17, 2020 at 4:14 am

      5 stars
      This looks amazing! Such a great way to get a whole lot of nutrients in without eating a whole lot of vegetables!

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        February 17, 2020 at 11:32 am

        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.

        Reply
    4. Jayne

      February 17, 2020 at 3:03 am

      5 stars
      I love this sauce. The flavor just pops with pasta. So good with a nice glass of wine.

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        February 17, 2020 at 11:32 am

        Absolutely. 🙂

        Reply
    5. Krissy Allori

      February 17, 2020 at 2:56 am

      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.

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        February 17, 2020 at 11:33 am

        Yes, it is perfect for batch cooking and freezing. Keeps very well.

        Reply
    6. Erica Schwarz

      February 17, 2020 at 1:01 am

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        February 17, 2020 at 11:33 am

        Be sure to let us know how you like it.

        Reply

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