This healthy veggie pasta sauce is loaded with hidden veggies and dairy-free cream cheese for a creamy, flavorful, and nutritious vegetable sauce the entire family will love! It’s vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, meat-free, and utterly delicious!
Super Simple Roasted Hidden Veggie Tomato Sauce
It’s no secret that I love to hide vegetables in everything from brownies to pizza crust and sauces. My cauliflower-based alfredo sauce is already a firm favorite in this apartment, but now it’s the turn of this veggie pasta sauce. It doesn’t rely on just one hidden vegetable, but three (with even more optional)! Which means plenty of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
This healthy pasta sauce is loosely inspired by the TikTok viral baked feta pasta and my love for hiding veggies in everything. The sauce has you chop plenty of fresh and nutritional veggies and pop them into a baking tray with broth, seasonings, and your favorite dairy-free cream cheese. Bake until tender, blend until smooth, and enjoy!
It’s creamy, tomatoey, and packs in nutrients and antioxidants thanks to the addition of bell pepper, zucchini, and onion alongside tomatoes. Best of all, this veggie sauce is child-approved (yay!), too, and is great for encouraging the entire family to consume more veggies.
This one-pot pasta sauce is super simple to prepare, pantry friendly, made with low-budget ingredients, and a fairly hands-off process in under 30 minutes. You can even swap out the veggies based on the season and freeze leftovers for months to lock in freshness.
Serve it up with pasta, zoodles, proteins, and even more veggies for a hearty and wholesome meal whenever you want one! You might also enjoy these other super simple vegan pasta sauce recipes, like my green spinach pasta sauce, avocado pesto, or creamy mushroom sauce.
The Veggie Sauce Ingredients
Just 8 low-budget ingredients, plus salt and pepper, are all you require to prepare this easy vegetarian pasta sauce recipe.
- Tomatoes: Use fresh ripe tomatoes when in season, though cherry tomatoes work year-round. If you’re struggling to find good tomatoes, canned chopped tomatoes will work, too.
- Vegetables: I used a combination of red bell pepper, zucchini (summer squash would also work), and onion for this hidden veggie pasta sauce.
- Garlic: Adjust the amount of fresh garlic to taste. Garlic powder or roasted garlic will work in a pinch but require different amounts.
- Vegan cream cheese: Use your favorite vegan cream cheese.
- Vegetable broth: Use reduced-sodium broth if preferred.
- Seasonings: All you need to season this vegan pasta sauce is Italian seasoning (or individual herbs like oregano, basil, rosemary), and salt and black pepper.
- Olive oil: To grease the baking dish.
Serve this healthy pasta sauce with the pasta of your choice (regular, whole wheat, or gluten-free) and optionally garnish with fresh basil.
Optional Additions:
There are several ways to adapt this hidden vegetable pasta sauce, whether you want to add extra veggies, load up on protein, or add extra flavor depth.
- More vegetables: There are even more veggies you can hide in this veggie sauce, including
- Celery
- Leek
- Carrots and/or parsnips
- Butternut squash
- Eggplant
- Spinach: I like to stir spinach into the blended sauce before serving it for even more veggie goodness and antioxidants. You can add even more veggies after the sauce is blended, too, like
- Sweet corn
- Peas
- Broccoli florets
- Beans: Add chickpeas or white beans for protein and a thicker vegan pasta sauce.
- Nutritional yeast: To enhance the cheesiness and add umami depth to the sauce.
- Balsamic vinegar: Add a splash of balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice) before serving to add depth.
- Wine: A splash of vegan red wine or white wine added to the veggie sauce (before roasting, so the alcohol can cook off) will add richness to the sauce.
- Sugar: If your tomatoes are particularly acidic, a pinch of sugar can help balance the flavors. Use a sugar alternative if preferred. The change is subtle but noticeable.
- Spice: Use red pepper flakes or chili/cayenne powder to add spice to the sauce.
For the full ingredients list, measurements, complete recipe method, and nutritional information, read the recipe card below.
How to Make Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce?
This tomato and vegetable pasta sauce requires just 6 simple steps to prepare, most of which are hands-off, for a quick and easy meal any day of the week!
- First, preheat the oven to 390 °F/200 °C and grease a baking dish with a bit of oil. Meanwhile, dice all the vegetables.
- Add the vegetables and seasonings to the baking dish and stir, then top it with the vegan cream cheese in the center and pour over the veggie broth.
- Bake the mixed vegetables for 20-22 minutes, or until the cream cheese turns golden, and the veggies are tender.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to its package instructions, draining the liquid once it’s ready.
- Once the cream cheese-veggie mixture is ready, use an immersion blender to blend it into a creamy veggie pasta sauce. Alternatively, carefully transfer it to a blender to process it until smooth.
- Combine the pasta and sauce and stir, then serve in bowls topped with some fresh basil. Enjoy!
How to Store?
Store: Allow the tomato and vegetable pasta sauce to cool and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Freeze: Allow it to cool, then transfer it into freezer-safe, airtight containers or Ziplock bags (with an inch of headspace) and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight to use it.
Reheat: Either gently reheat the healthy pasta sauce in a saucepan or in the microwave until heated through.
Serving Recommendations
Unsurprisingly, you can use this vegetable sauce for pasta, and most places that jarred pasta sauce does, including:
- With pasta or gnocchi, make it even more of a meal with additional veggies like asparagus or broccoli and some crispy tofu or another meat alternative.
- Enjoy with zoodles or other vegetable noodles for a lower-carb meal
- Use in lasagna in place of regular tomato sauce
- Use this veggie pasta sauce with vegan meatballs and mashed potato or spaghetti
- For a shakshuka base
- Mix it into vegan chili
- Spread it over pizza
- Mix it in with cooked grains (like quinoa or couscous) to add flavor
- Spoon over cooked tofu or a vegan chicken alternative
How else would you enjoy this hidden veggie tomato sauce?
FAQs
Can I make this on the stovetop?
Yes, just like you would when making soups, start by sautéing the onion and garlic for several minutes, then add the veggies and sauté over medium-low heat until slightly tender (and optionally browned for extra flavor). Then, add the veggie broth and seasoning, cover, and simmer until tender. Finally, mix in the vegan cream cheese, taste, and adjust any of the seasonings.
If you use this stovetop method, I recommend using a thick-based stock pot or a Dutch oven for even heat distribution.
Can I omit the cream cheese?
Yes, but this will leave you with a more robust and thin tomato vegetable pasta sauce. To combat this, add extra creaminess by either adding chickpeas/white beans to the sauce OR adding a small amount of full-fat coconut milk or cashew cream to the sauce.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Adjust the texture: Adjust how much you blend the sauce based on how chunky or smooth you’d like it to be. Alternatively, save some of the cooked veggies to one side to mix into the blended vegetable sauce.
- Immersion vs. regular blender: An immersion blender won’t give you results that are as creamy and smooth, but is great for convenience. So, choose whichever method you’d prefer. If using a blender, hold the lid with a tea towel and lift it occasionally to allow the steam to escape (in between blending).
- Save the pasta water: A small amount of this starchy water will help your pasta sauce coat the noodles well.
More Vegan Pasta Recipes
- Vegan pasta bake with mushrooms
- Creamy lemon pasta
- One-pot veggie pasta
- Garlic butter pasta
- Baked gnocchi with tomato sauce
- Roasted red pepper pasta
- Garlic noodles (pasta Aglio e olio)
- Pumpkin pasta bake
Or browse through my list of 27 vegan pasta recipes you’ll love!
If you try this easy healthy hidden veggie pasta sauce recipe, I’d love a comment and ★★★★★ recipe rating below. Also, please don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan #elavegan—I love seeing them.
Healthy Veggie Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 300 g (2 cups) tomatoes chopped
- 150 g (1 cup) bell pepper chopped
- 200 g (1.5 cups) zucchini chopped
- 1 small/medium onion chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1/2 tsp Italian spice blend
- Salt & black pepper to taste
- 150 g (5.3 oz) vegan cream cheese
- 120 g (1/2 cup) vegetable broth
- 200 g (7 oz) uncooked pasta gluten-free, if needed
- Chopped basil for garnish
Instructions
- You can watch the short video in the post for visual instructions.Preheat the oven to 390 °F (200 °C) and grease a medium baking dish with a little oil.
- Add the tomatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, onion, garlic, Italian spice blend, salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine.
- Next, add the vegan cream cheese and pour in the veggie broth.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until the cream cheese is starting to turn golden.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, then drain most of the pasta water, but keep a small amount (see notes).
- Remove the baking dish from the oven and blend the veggies using an immersion blender or regular blender.
- Add the cooked pasta to the veggie sauce and stir to combine.
- Serve in bowls, garnish with chopped basil and enjoy!
Notes
- Adjust the texture: Adjust how much you blend the sauce based on how chunky or smooth you’d like it to be. Alternatively, save some of the cooked veggies to one side to mix into the blended vegetable sauce.
- Pasta water: A small amount of this starchy water will help your pasta sauce coat the noodles well.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!
hi looks amazing. wpuld you try it as a risotto instead of pasta? wouls you garnish it with anything?
Do you have some replacement if I can’t find vegan cream cheese?
Hi, you could make your own vegan cream cheese from cashews. OR, make a thick cashew cream by blending 2/3 cup (100 g) of cashews (soak them beforehand until softened) with 1/3 cup (80 ml) of water, 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, and 1/3 tsp salt until completely smooth. Then add this to the baking dish and reduce the veggie broth slightly. I haven’t tried this, but it should work. I hope this helps. 🙂
Delicious recipe! Easy and quick dinner! Thanks for sharing ^_^
You are so welcome, Arturo. I am glad you like it. 🙂