Vegan Italian Tomato Pasta Sauce with Whole-Foods Plant-Based Protein and No-Oil
Cover your Spaghetti and other favourite pastas with my family’s best healthy vegan fat-free marinara sauce. Â Lentils and chickpeas make it thick, and full of iron, fibre and phytonutrients. Â Add some spinach (fresh or frozen) to get a darker color, and more nutrition.
Oregano, basil, garlic and onion, are a beautiful Italian combination that has lasted centuries. Â Modernize your greasy sauces of the past with this oil-free, meatless version of a marinara sauce, and fill your belly with fibre and taste at the same time.
Jump to RecipeSchool is out here, and I just fed this sauce as leftovers for lunch to my daughters and their friend. Â The friend made a point of complementing me about how tasty the sauce is. Â Thanks for the feedback kid! Â Now I share it with the internet…
This is a great whole-foods plant-based wfpb recipe for kids!
Please enjoy!
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Meatless Marinara With Protein - No-Oil, Vegan, Tomato Sauce and Pasta
Instructions and Ingredients
- 375 g whole grain pasta whole wheat spaghetti is our favourite for this sauce
- 540 ml can chickpeas drained
- 540 ml can lentils drained
- 2 garlic cloves medium
- 796 ml can diced tomatoes with juice, or whole fresh tomatoes
- 1 tsp oregano dried
- 2 tsp basil dried
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 sweet onion white, medium, in chunks
- 130 g frozen spinach thawed, nuggets work great
- 156 ml tomato paste can
- Put a large pot of pasta water on to boil. No salt or oil are necessary. No oil cooking, go! Read more here about why we cook with no-oil.
- Drain canned lentils and chickpeas. Consider reserving the juice (called aqua faba) in the fridge as an egg replacement for future baking - like for my VeganEnvy.com amazing chocolate birthday cake recipe.
- In a food processor - add drained chickpeas, drained lentils, garlic cloves, canned diced tomatoes (with juice), oregano, basil, onion powder, salt, onion chunks, and thawed spinach nuggets. Blend on high until beans are no longer recognizable.
- I like to use frozen spinach nuggets, so I can easily portion out a little if I want - I always have some on hand in my freezer, like these ones. I got them a Wal-mart.
- Empty sauce into a medium sized pot on medium heat. This sauce will splatter once it starts to bubble, so be prepared to cover it to protect your stove and yourself.
- Once the sauce is bubbling, reduce heat to low, stir, cover and let simmer for 5 more minutes so that the onion is cooked through.
- In the meantime, add whole grain spaghetti to the boiling pasta water. Set timer to cook according to directions, usually about 10 minutes.
- Once the the 5 min on the sauce is up, while the pasta is cooking, stir the tomato paste into the sauce. The tomato paste makes the sauce thicker, so there is no excess liquid. It also adds a lovely rich red color and taste. Simmer a few more minutes or until pasta is ready.
- Drain pasta and serve piled with generous portions of this delicious sauce!
Notes
Salad suggestion: spinach salad and balsamic dressing. Bon Appetit! Â
Nutrition
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Could you use a blender or hand mixer instead of a food processor?
I’ve used a magic bullet – small blender before. So I’d say yes! Might be a bit thick for a hand mixer.
This recipe has become a staple for me and I’ve been WFPB for five years. In answer to the queries, a hand mixer is absolutely fine. Pulse it in different spots until the chickpeas are all ground up. The final product can certainly be frozen, it doesn’t separate and it’s not hard to thaw. I generally portion it out in little tubs. Hope these tips are helpful. Very easy and nutritious recipe and great to have on hand for a quick meal.
Would I be able to freeze unused portion for later? 8 servings is a lot for us.
I haven’t tried, but I would think yes!