Red Lentil Pasta Sauce
This vegan red lentil pasta sauce is easy to make in under 30 minutes with healthy, everyday ingredients. Bonus: it’s high in protein and fiber!
Recipe Features
- quick and easy – you’ll need just 30 minutes and a handful of simple ingredients
- dietary needs – vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, soy-free and nut-free
- nutritious – 14 grams of plant-based protein and 10 grams of fiber per serving
What You’ll Need
- red lentils – the recipe is best with red lentils but you could use green if you like, they’ll take a bit longer to cook so just follow package instructions
- tomato sauce – any store-bought, homemade tomato sauce or pre-mixed pasta sauce works, I love a good arrabiatta sauce like Rao’s
- bell peppers – any color works!
- onion and garlic – for flavour, don’t skip ’em!
- spinach – fresh spinach for some nutritional oomph
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Cook the lentils by bringing 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan then adding the lentils, reducing to a light simmer, covering and cooking for 15 minutes until tender.
Step 2. While the lentils are cooking, chop up the veggies then add them to a skillet with the tomato sauce. If you’re adding red pepper flakes for spicy sauce, add those now as well.
Quick Note: If you’re serving the sauce over pasta, start cooking the pasta according to package instructions now.
Step 3. Stir in the cooked red lentils and the spinach. If you’re adding nutritional yeast, stir that in now as well.
Mix everything up, heat through, then serve over pasta topped with fresh basil and vegan parmesan!
Tips and Notes
- Additional Veggies: Amp up the veggies by adding diced carrot, zucchini or mushroom along with the onion and garlic.
- Herbs: Add fresh or dried herbs such as oregano or basil for extra depth of flavour.
Serving Ideas
- enjoy on its own as a healthy stew
- mix in plant-based sausage such as Field Roast
- serve over zucchini noodles for a low-carb option
- serve over chickpea or lentil pasta for a high-protein meal
- serve over your favourite regular pasta – penne, bows, spaghetti, bows and macaroni all work great!
- for gluten-free pasta, use bean, quinoa or brown rice pasta
- top with plenty of nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan for cheesy flavour
Storage
- Fridge: Let cool then store in a sealed container for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Let cool then store in a sealed container for up to 2 months.
- Reheating: If frozen, thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan stovetop until warmed to your preference.
Related Recipes
- Vegan Bolognese
- Vegan Carbonara
- Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
- Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
- Zesty Italian Pasta Salad
- Lemon Garlic Orzo with Roasted Vegetables
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Vegetable Lentil Pasta Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Sauce
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This hearty vegetable lentil pasta sauce is delicious served over a big bowl of spaghetti or zucchini noodles. Bonus: it’s ready in 30 minutes and high in protein and fiber for a sneaky, healthy weeknight meal!
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked red lentils
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups tomato pasta sauce of choice
- 2 bell peppers, any colour, diced
- 1 white onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 handfuls of fresh spinach
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional, adds cheesy flavour)
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, for spicy sauce)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To make the lentils, bring the water to a boil in a pot then add the lentils, cover and reduce to a light simmer. Cook until the water is absorbed and the lentils are tender, approximately 15 minutes. These can be made in advance if needed.
- If you’re serving over pasta, cook that now according to package instructions. The sauce also works well over zucchini noodles.
- Add the peppers, garlic, onion and tomato sauce to a large skillet and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring often over medium heat. If you’re using red pepper flakes for spicy sauce, add those now. Stir in the spinach and cooked lentils. If you’re adding nutritional yeast, add that now as well. Cook for a couple more minutes, stirring every so often, then turn off the heat. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.
- Serve over your favourite pasta or zucchini noodles, toped with more nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan, fresh cracked black pepper and chopped fresh basil, if desired.
Notes
Storage: Let cool then store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days or freezer for up to 2 months. If frozen, thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan stovetop until warmed to your preference.
Additional Veggies: Add up to 1.5 cups diced carrot, zucchini or mushrooms along with the onion and garlic.
Herbs: Add fresh or dried herbs such as oregano or basil for extra depth of flavour.
Nutrition: Sodium, fat and carbs will vary based on the type of tomato pasta sauce used. Nutrition facts are for plain tomato sauce.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 241
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 44 mg
- Fat: 1.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 45.5 g
- Fiber: 9.5 g
- Protein: 14.8 g
Keywords: lentil pasta sauce, protein pasta sauce
Update Note: Originally published on July 9, 2018. Updated with new photos and text on August 12, 2020.
This sauce was so good! I couldn’t eat dairy while breastfeeding my daughter and I wanted a kind of cheesy, healthy sauce. This was amazing and I would definitely make again!
★★★★★
That’s awesome! So glad you liked it.
Made this tonight and it was delicious! It came together quickly and it was a hearty and comforting meal! This recipe will definitely be a regular in our meal rotation!
★★★★★
Perfect!! So happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for letting me know!
I made this with ingredients I had on hand. I did not have a pasta sauce. I used a low salt can of tomato sauce , which I added a little dry basil and orang. Came out great. I had it on spaghetti squash but would prefer zucchini noodles. Yum!
★★★★
Please stop putting ingredients in light colors. They do not print well and will fade in time.
It’s because they are links. I will have to see what I can do about it. Thanks!
Loved it. Used what was on hand so I opted for frozen spinach. Still a “keeper”. Thanks!
★★★★★
Made this for dinner last night and was not disappointed! My man is a meat-eater and graciously indulges my plant-based cooking at home and we BOTH loved this meal. We had it with WW spaghetti and it was delicious and filling. I used garden-fresh oregano and parsley while cooking and topped with fresh basil. The chili flakes gave the perfect amount of spice and I really liked the addition of the nutritional yeast. I added mushrooms and used both red and green bell peppers.
★★★★★
Goodness it’s been quite awhile since I’ve made anything with zucchini noodles! But since I’m currently overwhelmed with all my garden zucchini, I definitely need to make them again ASAP! Perfect timing 🙂
Oooh so lucky!! Send some my way!