This vegetarian bolognese recipe is made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian “meat” sauce recipe that even meat lovers will enjoy!
Bolognese sauce is a classic family favorite dish.
Today I’m sharing a delicious alternative to the traditional bolognese sauce – vegetarian bolognese sauce!
As a vegetarian (and just a carb lover in general), pasta is one of my favorite meals.
It’s a great way to get lots of veggies, pasta, and protein for a well rounded meal.
This vegetarian bolognese recipe is a great meatless substitute for “meat sauce.”
It’s super satisfying, packed full of good for you ingredients, and tastes amazing!
ingredients to make vegetarian bolognese sauce
- baby bella mushrooms
- golden oak shitake mushrooms
- celery
- carrots
- garlic
- onion
- diced fire roasted tomatoes
- dried basil
- dried oregano
- sugar
- nutritional yeast
How to make vegetarian bolognese
First up, we will be using a food processor to make the veggie prep super easy.
If yours is small like mine, you can process in batches.
Otherwise just throw all the veggies in at once!
I started by processing 8 oz of baby bella mushrooms with 5 oz of golden oak shitake mushrooms.
Process them up until they are in minced like texture.
Next come celery, carrots, garlic, and onion.
Mince it all up until it is in tiny pieces like the mushrooms.
Once it’s all nice and minced up it will look like this picture below.
Time to let the veggies sweat and cook the liquid out.
Cook the veggies for around 25-30 minutes (I used my dutch oven to cook mine), until most of the liquid has evaporated and the veggies have reduced in volume.
Next, puree fire roasted tomatoes in the food processor, add some spices, and a touch of sugar and it all comes together!
The fire roasted tomatoes add a great depth of flavor, and the spices help round it all out.
I have had a few people tell me that they cannot find fire roasted tomatoes.
I buy mine in the same aisle as the other canned tomatoes.
If you are unable to find them, just substitute regular canned diced tomatoes, and adjust the spice amounts as necessary.
The texture of the vegetable bolognese is so meaty.
I was genuinely surprised that it felt to me that I was eating meat sauce!
All of the veggies also made this super filling and I ate way less pasta than I normally would.
Vegetarian Bolognese Sauce Reviews
Don’t just take my word for it! Here are a few reader reviews of this bolognese sauce.
Scroll down to the bottom of the post (after the recipe) to read more comments!
Noelia: “I have made this today and LOVED it, thank you so much, it’s such a great idea!
I make normal bolognese all the time and even my kids didn’t notice anything different about it.”
Kristy: “I just made this for my kids . They loved it and so did I. So much flavor!
Super easy to make, also. We don’t eat meat and this was a fresh new recipe.”
Richard: “Made this last night and ooohhh what a wonderful Bolognese.
I’ll probably never make it with meat again.
So flavorful and actually a light meal when you cut back on the pasta.
I’m going to try lasagne rolls stuffed with this amazing sauce. IT’S A KEEPER FOR SURE!”
Top with fresh chopped parsley if you want for more added flavor.
I like to do this for that little extra garnish and flavor.
If you’re vegetarian and not vegan (like me), parmesan cheese is a great topping for this recipe.
Freshly grated is best!
You could also top with vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast to keep it dairy free.
While I usually don’t try to make meat substitutes in my recipes, this was definitely a great substitute for someone that might be transitioning to vegetarianism (or just as a meatless meal in general).
It’s honestly so delicious and so filling.
You won’t miss the meat at all!
For more yummy inspiration, be sure to read our 25 best vegetarian recipes post.
This recipe makes a huge batch of sauce so it is great to feed a lot of people!
Are you making this recipe?
I want to see!
Be sure to tag me on instagram @buildyourbite and hashtag #buildyourbite with your recipe creations.
More vegetarian pasta recipes
- Meatless Million Dollar Baked Ziti
- Easy Meatless Spaghetti Sauce
- Vegan Creamy Tomato Shells
- Mushroom Cauliflower Alfredo Pasta Bake
- Veggie Lover’s Baked Rigatoni
- Parmesan Ricotta Pasta Bake
- Vegetarian Baked Spaghetti
- Loaded Veggie Meatless Spaghetti
- Easy Crockpot Baked Ziti
- One Pot Lasagna Soup
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a star rating below!
Vegetarian Bolognese Recipe
Vegetable Bolognese Recipe
Vegetable bolognese sauce recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe.
Ingredients
- 8 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms, rinsed and patted dry
- 5 oz golden oak shitake mushrooms, rinsed and patted dry
- 3 celery stalks, ends cut off and cut into 3 pieces each
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 3 sections each
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 4 (14.5 oz each) cans of diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- Spaghetti, for serving
Instructions
- Add baby bella and shitake mushrooms to a food processor and either pulse or shred, until minced
- Transfer mushrooms to a large skillet or dutch oven
- Add celery chunks, carrot chunks, garlic cloves, and onion pieces to the food processor and pulse/shred
- Add mixture to the mushrooms
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper to the vegetables
- Turn the burner on medium high heat and sautee vegetables for 25-30 minutes, stirring often, until vegetables cook down and most of the liquid evaporates
- Puree diced fire roasted tomatoes in the food processor until smooth
- Add pureed tomatoes to the vegetables
- Add basil, oregano, nutritional yeast, and sugar
- Taste and add any seasonings if necessary (if it tastes too acidic, add a little more sugar as necessary)
- Serve over spaghetti and topped with parmesan cheese, if desired
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 85Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 43mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 5gSugar: 5gProtein: 5g
Franziska says
Could you use this for a Lasagna as well?
Louisa says
I am in Cape Town, but have never heard of fire roasted tomatoes. What should I use as a substitute?
Joy Shull says
You can also use regular canned diced tomatoes in the same amount!
Alyssa says
Could I do this without the nutritional yeast? I’m not a vegan and not sure how I feel about it. Should I substitute Parmesan or additional seasoning instead? It seems it’s really just for flavor right? This seems pretty flavorful as is! Thanks!
Joy Shull says
I have not tried it without nutritional yeast. You could use powdered parmesan I think, although the flavor will not be the same. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Brandy says
Made this for dinner. It didn’t smell great, initially. However, it was so much better than expected. This is going into regular rotation.
Stephanie says
Can you use a NutriBullet in place of a food processor? I think it would work for the mushrooms, but unsure about other ingredients. This looks amazing and I would love to try it!
Joy Shull says
Hi Stephanie,
I am not sure this would work, as the nutribullet may try to blend it to liquid which isn’t what we want here. I hope you are able to try the recipe!
Tania says
Can you freeze the sauce?
Joy Shull says
I have not tried it personally, but I think it would freeze well.
Tania says
Thanks! I made it last night, so tasty and easy to do. Will freeze it and let you know how it goes!
Christine says
How was it after freezing?
Alison says
Really tasty, best vegetarian bolognaise sauce i have tasted! Thank you! I did free style a bit and added some extra veg, like peppers and courgette as i would have with a beef bolognaise and it was great.
Sherree says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’m a veggie lover, husband is meat and potatoes and daughter ha food restrictions. She came to me recently asking if I had any recipes to disguise mushrooms because she of read their nutritional value but hates the taste. “Why, yes I do” after pinning your recipe and have been dying to try it.
I loved it, she loved it and, miracle, hubby said it was good. “It grows on you” said he.
This is really good. Didn’t change a thing but, did not add the onions and garlic to daughter’s because they are not allowed. I was hesitant about the nutritional yeast because it smells awful, she uses it so it’s around. I didn’t notice anything distasteful and enjoyed it very much
Joy Shull says
I’m so glad your family enjoyed the recipe, thank you so much for the wonderful review!
Karen says
I made this recipe to bring to a friend, with plenty left over for me. I used less garlic and did not need all the puréed canned tomatoes. Otherwise it is a wonderfullly tasty, easy to make supper, perfect for a hot summer night.
Ashley says
If I’m not able to find shiitake mushrooms would you just increase the amount of portabella or would a different type work or does the variety matter that much?
Joy Shull says
Yes, using portobellos should work just fine! Really any mushroom should be fine.
Lucy says
I totally love this recipe! It’s so delicious and my 2 years old picky eater devoured it. Yay happy mom over here Thank you
Joy Shull says
Awesome!!
Lara says
Hello, how did the leftovers do? The sauce did not get watery? I am wanting to make this for a friend and she will eat it at a later date. She wouldn’t freeze it, just keep it in the fridge.
Thank you,
Joy Shull says
Hi Lara,
We ate ours leftover the next day from the fridge and they were fine! I would treat it like normal pasta sauce. Keeps the same way in the fridge 🙂
TJ says
I’m not a vegetarian but loved the look of this dish in your photo. I cooked this recipe tonight because I wanted to dose my family up with more vegetables during this cold season in Australia. Everyone loved this dish including me. I’ve pinned it and will definitely make it again. Thank you!! x
Joy Shull says
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe TJ!
Richard says
Made this last night and ooohhh what a wonderful Bolognese. I’ll probably never make it with meat again. So flavorful and actually a light meal when you cut back on the pasta. I’m going to try lasagne rolls stuffed with this amazing sauce. IT’S A KEEPER FOR SURE!
Joy Shull says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Rosalie says
Could this be frozen? It’s two of us at home now but it sounds so good I’d like to freeze letovers for a future meal.
Joy Shull says
I have not tried freezing it, but I think it would work just fine!
Kristy says
I just made this for my kids . They loved it and so did I. So much flavor! Super easy to make, also. We don’t eat meat and this was a fresh new recipe.
Joy Shull says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Kristy! My family is vegetarian too as are all of the recipes on this blog 🙂
Noelia says
I have made this today and LOVED it, thank you so much, it’s such a great idea! I make normal bolognesr all the time and even my kids didn’t notice anything different about it .
Joy Shull says
So glad your family enjoyed the recipe Noelia! And the kids too – that’s awesome!!