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Home » Recipes » Main Dish

Vegan Lentil Bolognese Sauce

Modified: Dec 29, 2023 · Published: Nov 27, 2017 by Melissa

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This Vegan Lentil Bolognese Sauce is simple, delicious, and kid friendly. Made with everyday ingredients in just one pot so it's a quick no fuss meal on busy nights!

Vegan Lentil Bolognese Sauce

Hello, it's been a little while! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with lots of time with loved ones and of course plenty of delicious vegan food. We had a wonderful day filled with fun and laughter and a great meal. We made our usual seitan roast complete with all the fixins' including this casserole and a new gravy that even my not a gravy fan, mushroom hating daughter really liked. Yay, that's a major win in a my book! I'll be sharing the recipe for that gravy soon.

So, a little while back I shared a picture on Instagram of the Vegan Lentil Bolognese we were having for dinner and a few people were interested in the recipe so today I'm sharing my take on the traditional dish.

Conventional bolognese sauce consists of several types of meat, white wine, and milk along with veggies and tomatoes. Obviously this recipe doesn't have any of that so it won't taste exactly like the traditional dish, but it does taste amazing in it's own right.

The lentils provide a heartiness to the sauce while shredded carrot and onion and finely diced celery round out the flavor and pack in hidden nutrition. Shredding veggies in sauces like this is a great way to "hide" veggies for the kids who are pickier.

Vegan Lentil Bolognese SauceNormally bolognese sauce is served with a flat pasta like tagliatelle or tubed pastas like rigatoni, but we're going kid friendly here and my kids like the spirals of rotini. Feel free to use any pasta you like or that your little one's will eat.

Vegan Lentil Bolognese SauceThis bolognese sauce comes together in less than an hour with everyday ingredients you probably have on hand and uses just one pot. Perfect for busy nights when you need a quick and satisfying meal for the family!

Vegan Lentil Bolognese SauceIf you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! Leave a comment below or snap a pic and tag it @weelittlevegans on Instagram so I’ll be sure to see it!

Recipe

Vegan Lentil Bolognese

Melissa
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 35 minutes mins
Total Time 50 minutes mins
Course Main Course

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb pasta
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ an onion, diced or shredded or 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 carrot, shredded
  • 1 celery rib, diced
  • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 teaspoon dried basil
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 1 cup lentils
  • 2 cups vegetable broth or water
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Heat oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. 
  • Add shredded carrot, diced celery, onion, and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes to start softening. 
  • Add tomato paste and garlic. Stir and cook for 1 minute longer. 
  • Add tomatoes, seasonings, lentils, and broth or water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer and cover. 
  • Continue to simmer for 30-40 minutes stirring occasionally or until lentils have softened and cooked through. Add additional broth or water if sauce starts to become to thick. 
  • Taste and adjust seasonings and salt to your liking. 
  • While sauce simmers, prepare pasta according to package directions. 
  • When sauce is ready toss with pasta and serve with vegan parmesan or a sprinkle with nutritional yeast and bread, if desired. 

Vegan Lentil Bolognese Sauce

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Comments

  1. KLott says

    December 07, 2017 at 11:00 pm

    What kind of lentils do you suggest?

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      December 07, 2017 at 11:15 pm

      I've made this with both brown and red lentils. I prefer brown because they hold their shape better while red get a little mushy, but really you could use either one. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  2. Kate says

    August 21, 2019 at 10:45 am

    5 stars
    Hi! Made this last night. I swapped out the carrot for zucchini (because that's what I had on hand). I loved it, my one-year-old loved it.. and even my husband loved it (he usually hates any type of bean)!!

    Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      August 21, 2019 at 11:06 am

      Hi Kate! That's so awesome! I'm glad everyone enjoyed the recipe. It can be so tough to find dishes everyone loves. Great idea to substitute the zucchini for the carrot. Thank you so much for the feedback and leaving a rating 🙂

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Melissa!

Longtime vegan and mom of four little vegans. I share simple recipes our family loves and my tips for raising healthy, happy vegan kids.

About me

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