Creamy vegan tomato pasta made without dairy and it’s nut-free, so no cashews. It’s quick and easy to make, you can have it ready in under 30 minutes, so it makes a great vegan dinner recipe to make on busy weeknights. It’s very customizable and can also be made gluten-free.
vegan Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley for garnish(optional)
Instructions
Boil pasta until it's al dente using the directions on the package. Drain and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, don't let it burn.
Add the tomato paste and the crushed tomatoes to the skillet, and stir until all ingredients have combined. Add the vegan heavy cream and stir the sauce once again.
Add the nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, ½ teaspoon of salt and the pepper. Stir.
Turn the heat down to low and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes, don't let it boil.
Turn the heat off, remove the skillet from the heat, and carefully taste the sauce. Adjust the salt, if needed.
Add cooked pasta to the skillet and gently toss until all noodles are coated with the sauce.
Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or with vegan Parmesan, if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
Please read through all info and tips above before making this recipe.
This recipe makes 2 meal-sized servings or 4 smaller lunch-sized servings.
I recommend using a short, shaped pasta when making this recipe, either penne or rotini. If you don't have either of these on hand, use the type you have. This recipe works with either gluten-free or regular pasta.
To make this recipe without added oil, use water or broth to sauté the garlic.
Use high-quality canned crushed tomatoes that have no added salt. If you only have crushed tomatoes with salt, omit the salt from the recipe and taste when the sauce is done and add more if needed before adding the pasta to the skillet.
A range for the salt is given in the recipe, start by adding a half teaspoon and add more as needed to suit your taste.
If you don't have Italian seasoning, rather than recreating it from scratch with a handful of separate seasonings, just use ½ teaspoon of dried basil and ½ teaspoon of dried oregano in its place.
Use an unsweetened vegan heavy cream or vegan whipping cream that is meant to be a substitute for regular heavy cream or whipping cream. Silk, Country Crock, Becel, Califia Farms, and Violife are just a few brands that make vegan heavy cream. If you can't find any of these, you can use canned coconut milk, but your pasta will have a little bit of a coconut flavour. You can also use an unsweetened barista blend milk but note that your sauce will not be as thick and creamy.
If you don't want to use or don't have vegan cream, I have tested this recipe with blended silken/soft tofu and the recipe turned out very well. BUT, the only downside to using tofu is if you have leftovers, the sauce will not remain saucy when stored and will not be able to be revived when reheating like it can when the cream is used. So keep that in mind. I don't recommend using any other type of tofu other than silken/soft.
This recipe is best when served immediately after preparing but if you have leftovers, cool completely, place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. The sauce will thicken and stick to the pasta when it's refrigerated so to reheat, add the pasta to a skillet on low heat and add a small amount of broth, water, or heavy cream to the skillet and stir until the pasta has fully reheated and everything has loosened up and become creamy again. You can also reheat it in the microwave.
To save time, the sauce can be pre-made and stored in an airtight jar or container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When ready to use, prepare pasta, add the sauce to a skillet over medium heat to warm up and add prepared pasta to the sauce and toss to coat.
Nutrition info is based on 1 of 4 servings of the recipe prepared as written, using gluten-free penne and no garnishes. Nutrition info is only to be used as a rough guide. Click to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.