Garden Veggie Pasta

An easy marinara sauce loaded up with chunky summer veggies and served over pasta. This Garden Veggie Pasta is a delicious meal the whole family will love!

Kids love anything with noodles, so pasta dishes are a great way to sneak in some extra veggies!

This is a basic marinara recipe combined with sautéed chopped summer vegetables. If you’ve never attempted to make your own marinara sauce, you must try it –  it’s so easy! I use canned crushed tomatoes for ease, and they are great year round, but you could certainly use fresh.

This Garden Veggie Pasta is the one of just a few ways I can get my son to eat zucchini (enchiladas, muffins and dessert bars are the other ways!). Give it a try today!

Ingredients you need

Ingredient notes and substitutions

Tomatoes ~ I used canned tomatoes for convenience. Fresh tomatoes can be cooked down instead of using canned.

Veggies ~ I’ve loaded this pasta dish with so many vegetables, like eggplant, zucchini, carrots, bell peppers, tomatoes, and more!

Feel free to use your favorite vegetables. Other summer veggies that would work great in this recipe: sweet corn, green beans, yellow summer squash, or green peas.

Pasta ~ Pasta not your thing? This vegetable sauce would be great served over rice, baked potatoes, zoodles, or polenta.

Protein ~ Feel free to add in some white beans, chickpeas, or pan-fried tofu to bulk it up even more.

Oil-free ~ If you’re following an oil-free diet, feel free to use ¼ cup vegetable broth or water to sauté instead of olive oil.

Gluten free ~ Use gluten free noodles.

How to make the recipe

While the pasta is cooking, sauté the onion, carrot and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes until starting to soften. Add the bell pepper, zucchini, and eggplant and sauté another 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth, salt, pepper, dried basil, balsamic vinegar and stir to combine.

Simmer the sauce on low for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve the sauce over the cooked noodles. Easy and delicious!

Storage and freezing

Leftovers can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for 4 to 5 days.

You can also freeze this Garden Veggie Pasta in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months. Please note, however, the vegetables and noodles may lose some of their texture upon reheating. For best results, freeze the pasta and sauce separately.

Pro tips and tricks

~ Use a medium shaped pasta, like penne, rotini, rigatoni, or gemelli.

~ Cook the pasta in well salted water until al-dente.

~ Don’t skip the balsamic vinegar! It adds a sweetness and depth of flavor that rounds out the sauce beautifully.

~ Bulk it up by adding a can of white beans or chickpeas (drained and rinsed) or cubed baked tofu.

~ Use gluten-free noodles or spiralize some zucchini for a gluten-free version.

~ For an oil-free version, sauté with ¼ cup low sodium vegetable broth or water instead of oil.

More veggie pasta recipes

• Cauliflower Bolognese
• Vegan Pasta Primavera
• Easy Hummus Pasta
• Spinach Artichoke Pasta
• Easy Mediterranean Pasta
• Roasted Fall Vegetable Pasta
• Pasta with White Beans and Kale