Easy Vegan Bolognese (Gluten Free)

Vegan Bolognese – an easy bolognese sauce made with riced cauliflower, tomatoes, and seasonings. It’s healthy and hearty and even my kids gobble this down two bowls at a time. Perfect for a weeknight meal!

This vegan pasta recipe is quick and easy – perfect for any day of the week. It feels fancier than pasta and marinara sauce, even though it’s just as easy. It would make a great recipe for entertaining, as well. 

The texture makes the sauce hearty, but it’s low-calorie and low fat. Pair it with gluten free pasta and it’s also low-carb. 

Put this meatless meal on your menu tonight and watch your family gobble it up!

Cauliflower Rice

Cauliflower rice stands in for meat crumbles in this vegan bolognese. 

I pulse cauliflower florets just a few times in a food processor until it resembles crumbles. I like to have the crumbles not completely uniform in size to more closely resemble how traditional bolognese would look. You definitely do not want to over-process the cauliflower!

If you don’t have a food processor, or just want to save a few minutes, you can use store-bought cauliflower rice. You can usually find it in the produce section and/or the freezer section.

Cauliflower Bolognese

One of my favorite sauces for pasta is my Lentil Mushroom Healthy Bolognese. It’s hearty, “meaty”, full of flavor, and so delicious. The mushrooms and lentils are there in their full glory, though, so if you don’t love those ingredients, that recipe might not be for you.

This Cauliflower Bolognese is different. Mixed into tomato sauce, you can’t even tell that it’s cauliflower in there.

In fact, 2 out of 3 of my kids claim not to like cauliflower, yet ate two big bowls of this pasta and sauce. Afterwards, I let them in on the secret and my daughter said, “Oh, wow! I guess I do like cauliflower!” 

It’s definitely an easy way to sneak in some veggies if you need to do that for some of your family members.

30 Minute Meal

I love that this meal can be on the table in 30 minutes. With the busy schedules of our 3 children, it seems we are rushing off to some kind of practice or game just about every night. 

The sauce comes together in the amount of time it takes to cook the pasta. 

Since the sauce contains veggies, no side dish is needed here. However, if you do have a little more time to sit down and savor dinner, a side salad and some crusty garlic bread would be divine alongside the pasta. 

More 30 Minute Family Meals

• Sloppy Pineapple Chickpea BBQ Sandwiches
• Super Simple Vegan Burrito Bowls
• Spiced Chickpea Stew

Try it with Zucchini Noodles

This vegan bolognese is super comforting over a big bowl of pasta, but I also love it over zucchini noodles, or zoodles, as they are sometimes called. 

I love my spiralizer and it’s super easy to use, but pre-made zucchini noodles are easy to find in grocery stores these days, too, and are a great option if you don’t have a spiralizer.

Cauliflower Vegan Bolognese

I hope you love this Vegan Bolognese as much as we do. If you try it, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback and star rating.

You can also find me on social media. Be sure to tag @veggie_inspired and #veggieinspired so I’m sure to see it.

Enjoy!

5 from 2 votes

Print

Vegan Bolognese

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

Vegan Bolognese - an easy bolognese sauce made with riced cauliflower, tomatoes, and seasonings. It's healthy and hearty and even my kids gobble this down two bowls at a time. Perfect for a weeknight meal!

Course: Entree, Pasta, Sauce

Cuisine: dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut free, vegan

Keyword: healthy pasta sauce, vegan pasta sauce, vegetarian bolognese

Servings: 6

Calories: 467 kcal

Author: Jenn Sebestyen

Ingredients

• 1 pound bow tie pasta (or pasta of choice) (gluten free, if desired)

For the Vegan Bolognese

• 1 medium head cauliflower (chopped into florets)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (1/4 - 1/2 cup of veggie broth)
• 1 sweet onion (diced)
• 2 medium carrots (diced)
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
• 15 ounces canned tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons coconut aminos (or tamari or soy sauce)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
• 1 cups reserved pasta water

For the Vegan "Parmesan Cheese" (optional)

• 3 tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• pinch salt

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water. 

2. Pulse the cauliflower florets in a food processor just 3-4 times until you have small crumbly pieces. If you have a smaller food processor, you may need to work in batches. 

3. Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion and carrots for 5 to 6 minutes until the onions soft and translucent. Add the garlic and sauté 1 minute. 

4. Add the cauliflower crumbles, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, coconut aminos, balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning, salt, and smoked paprika, if using. Bring to a gentle bubble, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

5. Add the reserved pasta water to thin. If you like a thicker sauce, you can skip this step. Or if you forgot to reserve some of the pasta water, you can use vegetable broth. 

For the Vegan "Parmesan Cheese"

1. While the sauce is simmering, grind the pumpkin seeds, nutritional yeast, and salt in a small spice grinder or coffee grinder. If you don't have a small grinder, you can use a food processor, but it may not get quite as finely ground.

To Serve

1. Combine the sauce and noodles and sprinkle the vegan "parmesan" on individual portions.

Recipe Notes

If you prefer, you can use store-bought cauliflower rice from the produce or freezer section.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Bolognese

Amount Per Serving

Calories 467 Calories from Fat 81

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 9g 14%

Saturated Fat 1g 5%

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 4g

Sodium 373mg 16%

Potassium 1270mg 36%

Total Carbohydrates 86g 29%

Dietary Fiber 10g 40%

Sugars 14g

Protein 17g 34%

Vitamin A 94%

Vitamin C 116%

Calcium 11%

Iron 34%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.