Homemade Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce

This Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce is full of flavor and made from scratch in less than 40 minutes. It’s simple, easy, and delicious. It’s the perfect addition to any pasta dish.

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The full recipe with ingredients/instructions is available on the recipe card at the bottom of the post. Important tips/tricks are also included in the blog post.

We’ve been opting for plant-based dinners about once a week in our household and this spaghetti sauce comes in handy. It’s full of texture and flavor thanks to the mushrooms and chickpeas. It’s perfect for anyone trying to opt for eating less meat in their diets as you won’t even miss the meat in this pasta dish. 

There are a few ingredients that give this dish an amazing flavor profile. They are:

• Baby Bella Mushrooms - Gives the recipe that meaty flavor without the meat.
• Chickpeas - Added to the dish not for the taste, but for the texture and protein.
• Balsamic Vinegar - An acid that I think goes great with tomatoes.
• Basil - Although fresh is generally best, this recipe calls for a whole tablespoon of dried. It’s easier as I always have it on hand. You could opt for fresh but add it in at the end of cooking. 
• Oregano - I also used dried, same reasoning as the basil.

How to make Homemade Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce

First, roughly chop your mushrooms, onions, and garlic. You can use a food processor for this step to speed up the process. However, I prefer to chop them by hand because I like the larger chunks. 

Then heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. I use my cast iron dutch oven to make this. Add onions and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Then add mushrooms and garlic and sauté until mushrooms and onions have softened, about 5 more minutes. If you find your mushrooms are starting to dry out and stick to the pan, add about 1 tablespoon of vegetable broth to make it liquidy again. 

Add tomato paste, dried basil, and dried oregano and stir for about 1 minute.

Add crushed tomatoes and vegetable broth and stir. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, open your can of chickpeas and drain. Mash the chickpeas until they are finely mashed. Stir them into the spaghetti mixture and allow it to continue to cook until the chickpeas are heated through. 

Add balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. 

This spaghetti sauce goes well with traditional thin spaghetti noodles. It’s the perfect meatless spaghetti recipe that both meat-eaters and non-meat eaters will enjoy.

Looking for more Meatless dishes? Try these out:

• Instant Pot Garlic Noodles
• Sweet Potato and Black Bean Nachos

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Homemade Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce

Easy and delicious Homemade Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce made with mushrooms and chickpeas for added protein. This meatless sauce is the perfect substitute for meaty spaghetti sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword homemade spaghetti sauce, meatless spaghetti sauce, vegetarian spaghetti sauce

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 110kcal

Author Tanya

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 6 cloves garlic chopped
• 8 oz baby portobello mushrooms chopped
• 2 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 Tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can chickpeas drained and mashed
• 2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1.5 cups vegetable broth
• chopped fresh basil for garnish

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Then add mushrooms and garlic and sauté until mushrooms and onions have softened, about 5 more minutes. If you find your mushrooms are starting to dry out and stick to the pan, add about 1 tablespoon of vegetable broth to make it liquidy again.
• Add tomato paste, dried basil, and dried oregano and stir for about 1 minute
• Add crushed tomatoes and vegetable broth and stir. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, open your can of chickpeas and drain. Mash the chickpeas until they are finely mashed. Stir them into the spaghetti mixture and allow it to continue to cook until the chickpeas are heated through.
• Add balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to taste
• Serve over pasta.

Notes

• If the sauce starts to bubble and pop while simmering, add a little more vegetable broth to stop the popping. 
• This sauce can be frozen or refrigerated for a few days. 

Nutrition

Calories: 110kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 425mg | Potassium: 375mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 331IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg

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Recipe Adapted from Tasty.