Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
Try this creamy, vegan roasted red pepper pasta recipe for a quick, easy and delicious meal that’s ready in 30 minutes.
This easy recipe uses cannellini beans and roasted red peppers to make a creamy and flavorful roasted red pepper sauce that’s perfect with pasta. If you’re tired of making the same pasta dish over and over, this is a great recipe to switch things up!
Serve this bold and creamy red pepper sauce with your favourite pasta for a family-friendly weeknight meal that’s simple, nutritious and tasty.
Why You’ll Love It
- It’s easily customizable and can be made gluten-free.
- The base of the sauce is made with cannellini beans which makes it lower in fat and rich in protein and fiber.
- You can use whatever pasta you have on hand, whether it’s fusilli, bows, penne, macaroni or spaghetti.
- The entire dish takes just 30 minutes or less to make so it’s perfect for busy weeknights.
- You can use homemade roasted red peppers or jarred for convenience.
What You’ll Need
A complete list of ingredients with amounts and full instructions is located in the printable recipe card below. This section covers ingredient and substitution considerations.
- Pasta – You can use any pasta variety you enjoy. I find shapes that hold sauce well are the yummiest, try rigatoni, penne, fusilli, linguini and pappardelle.
- Olive oil – This can be substituted with broth or water for an oil-free recipe. Vegan butter, avocado oil or even coconut oil works too.
- Shallots – If you don’t have shallots on hand, white or red onion works.
- Roasted Red Peppers – You can use store-bought roasted red peppers in a jar or easily make your own using bell peppers with this simple how-to for roasted red peppers (you’ll need less than 20 minutes to make your own).
- Cannellini Beans – Adds protein, fiber, and creaminess to the pasta sauce without needing heavy cream or cashews. They also keep the dish lower in fat and calories (for a creamy pasta recipe).
- Nutritional Yeast – Gives this pasta dish a yummy nutty, cheese flavor while keeping the recipe dairy-free and adding additional protein.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk – This can be substituted with cashew milk or another non-dairy milk of choice.
- Fresh Herbs – Freshly chopped basil or parsley make a great flavor addition when tossed into the sauce. If you don’t have fresh herbs on hand, you can substituted them with 1-2 tsp dried herbs. Italian seasoning works if you don’t have parsley and basil on hand.
How to Make It
1. Cook the pasta: Boil your water and cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the pasta you’re using. This will differ depending on the type of pasta.
2. Cook the shallots and garlic: Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add your chopped shallot along with the garlic and saute for 5-7 minutes or until they become fragrant and soft.
Season the shallot garlic mixture with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
3. Assemble and blend the sauce: Add the cooked shallot and garlic mixture to a high-speed blender along with the roasted red peppers, cannellini beans, nutritional yeast, and almond milk.
Pulse to get the big pieces broken down a bit, then blend increasing the speed slowly until a smooth and creamy sauce is formed. Taste to adjust any seasonings.
4. Assemble the red pepper pasta dish: Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add it back to the pot then pour the roasted red pepper sauce over top.
Sprinkle with parsley or basil, then toss until all of the pasta is coated with sauce.
Serve right away with a sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast. A sprinkle of tofu feta or ricotta is yummy too!
FAQs
Sure! Roasted red peppers are easy to make at home. All you’ll need is red bell peppers and 15-20 minutes to make them. Find all the details here: how to make roasted red peppers.
It can be! Just use a gluten-free pasta of choice such as quinoa pasta, brown rice pasta, lentil pasta or chickpea pasta. You could also used spiralized veggie noodles like sweet potato, carrot or zucchini.
For a creamy alternative to white beans you can use soaked raw cashews.
Recipe Variations
Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta: Give this dish a kick of spice by blending chili flakes or cayenne pepper to the sauce or topping the final dish with red pepper flakes.
For Spinach or Kale Roasted Red Pepper Pasta: You can saute freshly chopped greens such as spinach or kale to stir into the final pasta dish for even more nutrient density. Greens can also be finely chopped and mixed in at the end until wilted, if you want to skip the saute step.
For Creamy Cashew Roasted Red Pepper Pasta: Swap the white beans for raw cashews that have been soaked for 4+ hours (if you don’t have a high-speed blender, soak overnight).
To increase the protein: try adding these lentil meatballs, vegan sausage, cubed tofu, tempeh, or add a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas to the final product.
Low-Carb Option: Serve over zucchini noodles.
Storing & Freezing
Storing: Leftover creamy red pepper pasta can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days before reheating and serving.
Freezing: If you have any leftover sauce, you can freeze it in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag with as much air removed as possible for 3-4 months. Upon thawing overnight in the fridge, the sauce may need to be blended again with a bit of plant-based milk to renew its texture.
Did you try this recipe?
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I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review and be sure to tag me @runningonrealfood if you post it on social media.
Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Enjoy this creamy, comforting red pepper sauce with any pasta for a quick, healthy meal that’s sure to be a family favourite.
Ingredients
- 16 oz. uncooked pasta, any shape such as rotini, penne, bowls or fusilli
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (30 ml)
- 2 large shallots, chopped (approx. 1/3 cup )
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced (approx. 2 tbsp)
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 16 oz. jar roasted red peppers packed in water, drained
- ½ cup cannellini beans (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed (115 g)
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast (25 g)
- 1 ¼ cups unsweetened non-dairy milk (295 mL)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley or basil (5 g)
Instructions
- Cook Pasta: Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente.
- Saute Garlic & Shallot: While the pasta cooks, add the olive oil to a skillet over medium-low heat. Once hot, add shallots and garlic. Cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
- Blend Sauce: Transfer the shallots and onions to a blender. Add the roasted red peppers, cannellini beans, nutritional yeast and almond milk. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix Pasta and Sauce: Drain the pasta then return to the pot. Pour the roasted red pepper sauce into the pot and toss with pasta until well combined.
- Add Herbs: Add the parsley or basil into the pot and stir to incorporate.
- Serve: Serve with another sprinkle of fresh herbs and extra nutritional yeast or dairy-free parmesan.
Notes
Find instructions for how to make roasted red peppers here. If you’re making homemade roasted red peppers, use 3 small or 2 large red bell peppers.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 546
- Fat: 8 g
- Carbohydrates: 101 g
- Fiber: 15 g
- Protein: 24 g
Keywords: roasted red pepper pasta, vegan roasted red pepper pasta
The sauce just had no flavor and there didn’t seem like enough of it. I even added a bunch of extra seasoning and cheese.
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Sorry to hear that! Did you make any other changes to the recipe?
Really nice! Great alternative to tomato based pasta sauce. Have to stick to an anti acid reflux diet at the moment, so tomatoes aren’t allowed. Also on the no no list: onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and black pepper 🙁 But the sauce still came out great, added some Italian seasoning and Asafoetida to make up for the missing spices and topped the bowls of with roasted pepitas. Definitely gonna make this again!
★★★★★
I’m so glad it turned out with those substitutions! Thanks for the review, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Yet another 5-star recipe with an amazing sauce! I used jarred peppers and added part of a bag of leftover chopped kale that I needed to use up – which helped me stretch this out to 5 servings instead of 4, so I could have it for dinner each weekday (and I used a whole can of beans).
★★★★★
Amazing! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Great idea to add kale! Thanks for the review.
This is the best red pepper sauce EVER! The beans make it so creamy. And the flavors are just perfectly balanced. The kids liked it too, so it’s definitely going into the rotation
★★★★★
That’s great to hear, Blaire! Thank you for the review.
Just made this last night and I really enjoyed it! Do you happen to know the calories per portion? I had 1 cup for lunch because I was unsure.
Thank you!
I’ve added the nutrition facts to the recipe. They are for 1/4 of the entire recipe, so if you made 4 servings. Thanks!