Vegetarian Bolognese Recipe

Vegetarian bolognese recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian “meat” sauce recipe.

Let’s talk pasta.

As a vegetarian (and just a carb lover in general), pasta is one of my favorite meals.

This vegetarian bolognese recipe is a great meatless substitute for “meat sauce.”

Although I’m usually happy with just pasta sauce and a some veggies, sometimes I really want to go all out and when I do this how I do it!

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.

Next come celery, carrots, garlic, and onion.

Once it’s all nice and minced up it will look like this:

Time to let the veggies sweat!

Cook them for around 25-30 minutes (I used my dutch oven), 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 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.

Here are a few reviews from readers loving this recipe:

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.”

Top with fresh chopped parsley if you want for more added flavor.

If you’re vegetarian and not vegan (like me), parmesan cheese is a great topping for this recipe.

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!

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 meatless 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

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Vegetarian Bolognese Recipe

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Prep Time 20 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Yields 6-8 servings

Vegetarian bolognese 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

Directions

1. Add baby bella and shitake mushrooms to a food processor and either pulse or shred, until minced
2. Transfer mushrooms to a large skillet or dutch oven
3. Add celery chunks, carrot chunks, garlic cloves, and onion pieces to the food processor and pulse/shred
4. Add mixture to the mushrooms
5. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper to the vegetables
6. 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
7. Puree diced fire roasted tomatoes in the food processor until smooth
8. Add pureed tomatoes to the vegetables
9. Add basil, oregano, nutritional yeast, and sugar
10. Taste and add any seasonings if necessary (if it tastes too acidic, add a little more sugar as necessary)
11. Serve over spaghetti and topped with parmesan cheese, if desired

by Joy Shull

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