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This Garden Veggie Pasta is colorful, satisfying, and loaded with vegetables from the garden or farmers market. A simple homemade marinara sauce gets packed with zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, carrot, and onion, then simmered until thick and rich and absolutely irresistible. Serve it over your favorite pasta and dinner is done in about 40 minutes.
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This recipe has been in regular rotation in my kitchen for years. It’s endlessly flexible, works beautifully with whatever vegetables you have on hand, and makes fantastic leftovers.
The vegetables marry with the sauce just enough to blend in while still giving you satisfying chunks in every bite. If you’ve never made your own marinara from scratch, this is the recipe to start with. It’s so simple you won’t believe it — and once you taste homemade, it’s very hard to go back to the jarred stuff.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Ready in 40 minutes — weeknight friendly
- Loaded with vegetables — a great way to use summer garden produce
- Simple homemade marinara — so much better than jarred
- Completely vegan and dairy-free
- Easily made gluten-free — just swap the pasta
- Easily made oil-free — sauté in broth instead
- Freezer-friendly — make a double batch and freeze the sauce
- Kid-approved — a great way to sneak in extra veggies
Ingredients you need
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Pasta ~ Any pasta shape works here, but medium shapes like penne, rotini, rigatoni, or gemelli hold the chunky sauce best. Cook in well-salted water until al dente — slightly firm so it doesn’t turn mushy when tossed with the hot sauce.
- Crushed tomatoes ~ Canned crushed tomatoes are convenient and deliver great flavor year-round. If you’re making this at the peak of summer when tomatoes are at their best, fresh tomatoes cooked down work beautifully too — you’ll need about 2 pounds.
- Vegetables ~ The combination of zucchini, eggplant, carrot, and bell pepper is my favorite for this recipe, but it’s truly flexible. Use what you have and what’s in season. See the Variations section below for more ideas.
- Balsamic vinegar ~ Don’t skip this! It adds a subtle sweetness and depth of flavor that makes the sauce taste like it’s been simmering all day. A little goes a long way.
- Dried basil ~ Fresh basil can absolutely be used here — add a generous handful of torn leaves at the very end of cooking rather than during the simmer. If using dried, 2 teaspoons is the right amount.
- Olive oil ~ Just one tablespoon is enough to sauté the vegetables. For an oil-free version, use ¼ cup low-sodium vegetable broth or water instead.
- Vegan parmesan ~ Not in the recipe itself, but highly recommended as a garnish! My Homemade Vegan Parmesan takes 5 minutes and takes this pasta to another level.
How to make the recipe
Step 1: Cook the pasta.
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water before draining — you may want it to thin the sauce if needed.
Step 2: Sauté the aromatics.
While the pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced onion, carrot, and garlic and sauté for 5-7 minutes until softened and fragrant.
Step 3: Add the remaining vegetables.
Add the diced bell pepper, zucchini, and eggplant. Sauté another 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften.
Step 4: Add the sauce ingredients.
Pour in the crushed tomatoes and vegetable broth. Add the dried basil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Stir well to combine.
Step 5: Simmer.
Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and the vegetables are completely tender.
Step 6: Serve.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve the sauce over the cooked pasta. Garnish with fresh torn basil and vegan parmesan if desired.
Serving suggestions
This sauce is incredibly versatile — don’t limit it to just pasta:
- Over pasta — penne, rotini, rigatoni, or gemelli are best for catching the chunky sauce
- Over zucchini noodles — for a lighter, lower-carb option
- Over rice or farro — a hearty grain bowl with great flavor
- Over polenta — creamy soft polenta topped with this chunky sauce is absolutely incredible
- Over a baked potato — a loaded baked potato with veggie marinara is a complete meal
- As a pizza sauce — use it as the base for a loaded veggie pizza
Variations
Switch up the vegetables:
Summer is the best time for this recipe but it works year-round with whatever vegetables are in season:
- Summer: Sweet corn, yellow summer squash, green beans, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil
- Fall: Mushrooms, spinach, kale, butternut squash
- Year-round: Mushrooms, spinach, artichoke hearts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes
Make it more heartier:
- Stir in a drained and rinsed 15-ounce can of white beans, chickpeas, or lentils for extra heartiness
- Add cubed marinated baked tofu for a satisfying protein boost
Make it spicy:
Add a pinch of red pepper flakes along with the other seasonings
Pro tips and tricks
Salt your pasta water generously. It should taste like the sea. This is the single most important thing you can do for great-tasting pasta.
Don’t skip the balsamic vinegar. It adds a depth and roundness to the sauce that makes it taste slow-cooked even though it only simmers for 20 minutes.
Reserve pasta water before draining. The starchy water is liquid gold — add a splash to the sauce if it gets too thick or if the pasta seems dry after tossing.
Cook the vegetables in stages. Adding the harder vegetables first (onion, carrot) before the more delicate ones (zucchini, eggplant) ensures everything cooks evenly without getting mushy.
Simmer uncovered. This allows the sauce to reduce and thicken naturally, concentrating all those flavors. Covering it traps steam and dilutes the sauce.
Make a double batch of sauce. It freezes beautifully for up to 3 months — freeze without the pasta for best results.
Storage and freezing
Fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container for 4-5 days. The flavors deepen overnight and it reheats beautifully.
Freezer: The sauce freezes well for up to 3 months. For best results, freeze the sauce separately from the pasta — cooked pasta can turn mushy when frozen and thawed. Store in a freezer-safe container, thaw overnight in the fridge, and reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat with a splash of vegetable broth if needed.
More veggie pasta recipes
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you tried it, please use the star rating system in the recipe card and leave a comment with your feedback. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For even more easy family recipes, be sure to check out my cookbook, The Meatless Monday Family Cookbook!
Garden Veggie Pasta
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 ounces penne or pasta noodle of choice (gluten free, if desired)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small zucchini diced
- 1 ½ cups diced eggplant about ½ of an average sized eggplant
- 1 large carrot peeled and diced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and diced (or color of choice)
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Garnishes, optional
- torn fresh basil
- sprinkle vegan parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions in well-salted water.
- Meanwhile, 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 cooked noodles.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition values are calculated using online calculators and are estimates only. Please verify using your own data.
Bobbie H
This recipe is very easy and has a lot of flavor. Perfect as a Lenten entree!
I added 1tsp dried oregano and several shakes of crushed red pepper for kick, then served it over gf Penne and the density of the pasta worked great with the chunky vegetables. Grated Parmesan on top was a lovely finish.
I’ll definitely make this again
Jenn Sebestyen
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for your comment and feedback!
Rachel
Thanks for the great recipe! Ihave made this sauce a couple times now. What amount of lentils or beans would recommend adding to the sauce?
Jenn Sebestyen
I’d just throw in a 15 oz can (rinsed and drained) which is about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups. Enjoy!