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Home > Vegan Recipes

Vegan Spaghetti Sauce Recipe with Lentils

11/18/21 by Nicole | Leave a Comment

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5 from 8 votes. Leave a review!

This vegan spaghetti sauce recipe is easy to make with vegetables, lentils and lots of flavor! It creates a thick and hearty sauce that’s perfect to serve over your favorite pasta.

Close up of a plate of lentil spaghetti sauce over pasta with a second plate of pasta to the back left and small white bowl of extra sauce to the back right.

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Is Spaghetti Sauce Vegan?

Spaghetti sauce is an Italian-American classic that can be made in endless ways. From a basic tomato sauce to a bolognaise-style meat sauce, spaghetti sauce recipes may or may not be vegan.

Growing up, spaghetti sauce in my house meant tomato sauce with ground beef in it. This vegan recipe replaces the ground beef with lentils and mushrooms. You can use textured vegetable protein (TVP) or a vegan ground beef alternative in place of the lentils if you prefer.

Along with other vegetables and herbs, this sauce creates a delicious meal!

Top view of two plates of spaghetti pasta topped with lentil tomato sauce with a bowl of extra sauce to the right of the plates. Image decorated with pieces of garlic toast and wood forks and spoons.

Ingredients to Make Plant Based Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe uses simple ingredients to create a thick, hearty sauce. It’s loaded with veggies, lentils and flavor! To make the sauce, you’ll need:

  • Olive oil: Start the recipe by sauteing garlic and onions with olive oil. This essential step builds a delicious base of flavor for the sauce! Any type of oil should work fine.
  • Garlic and onion: Building flavor with basic ingredients is easy when you start with lots of garlic and onion!
  • Bell pepper and mushrooms: I like a veggie-packed spaghetti sauce and always include some chopped bell pepper (or zucchini) and mushrooms. Mushrooms have a nice texture for replicating ground meat, so I highly recommend them! Mince them finely or cut large pieces for a chunkier sauce.
  • Lentils: The cheapest and most convenient way to add plant-based protein to this meal is with cooked lentils. I typically use canned lentils (drained and rinsed), but any cooked lentil can work. You could also use cooked TVP, veggie ground round or a vegan ground beef alternative to add delicious protein to the sauce.
  • Crushed tomatoes: This is a tomato-based sauce so you’ll need a large can of crushed tomatoes (tomato puree).
  • Nutritional yeast: This ingredient is optional but adds a delicious, savory and cheesy flavor to vegan spaghetti sauce. People often top spaghetti with Parmesan cheese and nutritional yeast is a great vegan alternative.
  • Sugar: Tomatoes are very acidic and require some sugar to balance their acidity. While I use regular granulated sugar, cane sugar or another sugar alterative should work (just keep in mind the flavor). Store-bought tomato sauces are very high in sugar (typically) so don’t skip this ingredient; by adding just a little bit you’ll create an ultra-flavorful sauce that contains less sugar.
  • Dry basil and oregano: These delicious herbs add a fantastic flavor to spaghetti sauce. If you have fresh basil and/or oregano on hand, feel free to use that instead or garnish with these fresh herbs.
  • Salt and pepper: Always add salt and pepper to taste. By that I literally mean taste the sauce and see if you want more of these flavor-boosters.
  • Pasta to serve: Cook your favorite pasta to serve this tasty sauce over. Of course, a spaghetti sauce recipe assumes you’ll use spaghetti noodles, but any shape noodle works just fine.
Top view of an arrangement of ingredients in glass and wood dishes/ jars. From top left, moving right then down: tomato puree, chopped mushrooms, cooked brown lentils, chopped onion, dry basil, dry oregano, minced garlic, chopped orange pepper, salt + pepper, nutritional yeast, olive oil, salt, uncooked spaghetti pasta.

How to Make Vegan Spaghetti Sauce with Lentils

This recipe is incredibly easy to make and doesn’t take too long either. Read the detailed directions below to see how to make this tasty pasta sauce.

Step 1: Prepare Vegetables and Cook

Start by chopping the onion, bell pepper and mushrooms. You can chop them as finely as you like. Dicing them very finely creates a ground-meat-like texture in the sauce. You can also keep the veggies in larger pieces for a chunkier sauce.

You’ll also need to mince or crush the garlic.

Once you’ve prepped the vegetables, warm olive oil in a medium or large sauce pot over medium heat.

When your oil is warm, add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring regularly, for 4-5 minutes until the onion softens and turns translucent.

Side by side images of a large pot. Left shows a hand stirring raw onions and garlic in the pot and right shows softened onions and garlic in the pot.

If the onion or garlic starts to brown, lower your heat. This step is essential for building flavor so don’t skip it.

Once the onion are garlic are ready, add bell pepper and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, for another 3-4 minutes. The pepper and mushrooms should cook down. If they release a lot of water, you’ll either need to cook this off (turn heat to high and cook until the liquid is evaporated) or drain away the liquid (I don’t recommend this option).

When there is very little or no liquid left in your pot, move onto the next step.

Side by side images of a large pot. Left shows chopped mushrooms and orange pepper being stirred into onions. Right shows the mushrooms and other vegetables cooked down with the bottom of the pot visible where there isn't any liquid.

Step 2: Prepare Spaghetti Sauce and Simmer

While the vegetables cook, drain and rinse a can of lentils.

When your vegetables are ready, add the remaining sauce ingredients. This includes lentils, crushed tomatoes, nutritional yeast, sugar, dry basil and oregano, salt and pepper.

Top view of a large pot filled with cooked vegetables on the bottom, topped with cooked lentils and a large green spoon resting in it. A hand is pouring a jar of tomato sauce into the pot.

Stir the sauce until everything is well mixed, then simmer over medium-low heat for at least 10 minutes.

Large spoon stirring ingredients in a pot (nutritional yeast, tomato sauce, lentils and other spices visible)

It’s helpful to help prevent splattering if you partially place a lid on the pot (on an angle so steam can release). If the sauce splatters a lot, turn down your heat.

This should be a very thick sauce. If you want it thinner, add some pasta cooking water. Alternatively, if you find the sauce is too thin, add 1-2 tablespoon of tomato paste to thicken it.

Top view of a hand holding a large green spoon and stirring prepared lentil tomato sauce.

Step 3: Make Pasta and Serve

This recipe is just for the sauce, but you’ll need some pasta to serve it!

Cook your favorite spaghetti pasta (or any pasta shape) according to package directions. 375-400 grams of dry pasta a good measure for how much sauce the recipe makes.

Serve your sauce over freshly cooked and drained pasta. You can also toss the pasta with the sauce before serving.

Two plates of spaghetti pasta topped with lentil tomato sauce and garnished with chopped parsley. Plates sit on light brown towel with a glass dish of vegan parmesan to the right. Back plate garnished with parmesan and two slices of garlic toast.

How to Create a Balanced Vegan Meal

I consider a balanced meal one that contains a good source of plant-based protein, carbohydrates, fats and lots of vegetables or fruits.

This sauce offers all the above. There’s plant-based protein and carbohydrates in the lentils. There are some healthy fats from the olive oil and plenty of vegetables in the tomato sauce.

Of course, this is intended to be served over pasta which adds carbohydrates to the meal. Feel free to top with some vegan Parmesan cheese for extra flavor (and protein/healthy fats, depending on the Parmesan you use).

If you want extra vegetables or a lighter meal, serve alongside some salad. Vegan Italian salad would be a great choice!

You could also create an Italian-American feast by serving along some vegan Caesar salad and/or garlic bread!

Close up of a forkful of spaghetti with tomato-lentil sauce on a plate filled with pasta and garnished with parsley and garlic toast. Dish of parmesan cheese and bowl of extra sauce to the back left with the corner of a second plate of pasta blurred in the back right.

Vegan Spaghetti Sauce Variations

I use lentils to keep this recipe basic. They’re easy to find in most grocery stores and are cheap, which is always nice!

However, if you have textured vegetable protein (TVP), veggie ground round or a vegan ground beef alterative, these can replace of the some or all the lentils (even mushrooms if you aren’t a fan).

You’ll need to rehydrate TVP before using in this recipe (simply mix 1 C TVP with 1 C hot water or hot vegetable broth). Add cooked TVP in place of lentils for the recipe.

Cook veggie ground round or a vegan ground beef alternative (according to package directions) with the onions and garlic to start the recipe.

There are other ways to mix up this spaghetti sauce as well. You could use other vegetables; zucchini makes for a tasty alternative to bell peppers or mushrooms!

You can also play around with texture by serving this sauce over pasta shapes that are not spaghetti.

Then, serve topped with a chopped green herb (basil, oregano or parsley are tasty ideas).

Top view of a plate of spaghetti topped with chunky lentil and vegetable sauce with a forkful of pasta resting on the right side and two slices of garlic toast along the top. Bowl of extra sauce in top left corner of image.

How to Refrigerate and Freeze Spaghetti Sauce

Refrigerate leftover sauce in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Let your sauce cool to room temperature before placing into the fridge.

Reheat sauce either in a microwave or in a pot on the stove, over medium heat, until warmed through.

You can freeze this spaghetti sauce too! Let it cool to room temperature before placing into a freezer safe container. It should be okay frozen for up to 4 months.

Defrost your sauce in the fridge overnight (or on a countertop for a few hours). Then, place the sauce into a pot over medium heat to warm through before serving over freshly cooked pasta.

Close up of a plate of spaghetti pasta topped with thick tomato-lentil sauce and garnished with chopped parsley. Wood fork and spoon behind the plate along with a small white bowl of extra sauce, dish of chopped parsley and the corner of a wood bowl filled with garlic toast.

If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!

Square cropped image of a close up of a plate of lentil spaghetti sauce over pasta, garnished with chopped parsley.

Vegan Spaghetti Sauce (with Lentils)

This easy, flavorful vegan spaghetti sauce recipe uses simple ingredients to create a thick, hearty pasta sauce. It’s loaded with veggies, lentils and flavor! Serve over your favorite pasta.
5 from 8 votes. Leave a review!
Prevent screen going dark
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Servings 4 Servings
Calories 333 kcal
Cuisine American-inspired, Italian-inspired, Vegan

Equipment

  • Cutting board
  • Knife
  • Sauce pot (large or medium)
  • Measuring cups and spoons
  • Large pot (to cook pasta)

Ingredients
  

Vegan Spaghetti Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic , mined
  • 1 cup onion , finely chopped
  • 1 cup bell pepper , finely chopped
  • 3 cups mushrooms , finely chopped
  • 2 cups lentils , drained and rinsed (1 19oz can) *
  • 3 cups crushed tomato (tomato puree/ tomato sauce)
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dry oregano
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dry basil
  • ½ teaspoon salt , or to taste
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper , or to taste

To Serve

  • 375-400 grams spaghetti pasta , uncooked
Prevent screen going dark

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare Vegetables and Cook

  • Begin by chopping the onion, bell pepper and mushrooms; mince the garlic. Chop as finely as you like, depending on your preferred spaghetti sauce texture.
    1 cup onion, 1 cup bell pepper, 3 cups mushrooms, 4 cloves garlic
  • In a sauce pot, warm olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook, stirring regularly for 4-5 minutes.
    2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 cup onion, 4 cloves garlic
  • The onion should soften but not brown (if they brown, lower your heat).
  • Next, add chopped bell pepper and chopped mushrooms. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes. If the mushrooms release a lot of water, cook until there’s little or no water remaining in the pot (or drain excess water away).
    1 cup bell pepper, 3 cups mushrooms

Step 2: Prepare Spaghetti Sauce and Simmer

  • Drain and rinse a can of lentils.
    2 cups lentils
  • Once your vegetables cook down, add the remaining sauce ingredients to the pot, including lentils, crushed tomatoes, nutritional yeast, sugar, dry oregano, dry basil, salt and pepper to taste.
    2 cups lentils, 3 cups crushed tomato, ¼ cup nutritional yeast, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons dry oregano, 1 ½ teaspoons dry basil, ½ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
  • Stir to evenly mix the sauce together.
  • Simmer the sauce over low heat for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Leave your lid partially on the pot to prevent splattering. If it splatters a lot, lower the heat.

Step 3: Make Pasta and Serve

  • Prepare your favorite spaghetti (or any shape) pasta according to package directions.
    375-400 grams spaghetti pasta
  • Serve hot sauce over the cooked and drained spaghetti pasta! You could also toss the sauce and pasta before serving if you like.

Video

Notes

*You can also use veggie ground round or a vegan ground beef alternative. Cook it with the onions and garlic until it’s cooked through.
**If you find the sauce watery, add 1-2 tablespoon tomato paste to thicken it.
Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Serving (¼ of recipe)Calories: 333 kcalCarbohydrates: 52 gProtein: 20 gFat: 8 gSaturated Fat: 1 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1 gMonounsaturated Fat: 5 gSodium: 359 mgPotassium: 1738 mgFiber: 14 gSugar: 16 gVitamin A: 1112 IUVitamin C: 57 mgCalcium: 93 mgIron: 8 mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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About Nicole Stevens

Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out.

She helps people thrive on a vegan diet with balanced recipes and easy-to-understand nutrition science.


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Hi, I'm Nicole! As a vegan Registered Dietitian, I empower vegans to live a balanced life and gain confidence in the kitchen.

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