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Vegetarian Bolognese Recipe

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!

Vegetarian bolognese recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe. #vegetablebolognese #vegan #vegetarian #bologneserecipe

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.

Vegetable bolognese recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe. #vegetablebolognese #vegan #vegetarian #bologneserecipe

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!

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.

meatless bolognese recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe. #vegetablebolognese #vegan #vegetarian #bologneserecipe

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.

Vegetarian bolognese sauce recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe. #vegetablebolognese #vegan #vegetarian #bologneserecipe

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.

Vegetarian bolognese recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe. #vegetablebolognese #vegan #vegetarian #bologneserecipe

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 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!”

Vegetable bolognese recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe. #vegetablebolognese #vegan #vegetarian #bologneserecipe

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

I like to do this for that little extra garnish and flavor.

Vegetarian bolognese sauce recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe. #vegetablebolognese #vegan #vegetarian #bologneserecipe

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.

Vegetable bolognese recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe. #vegetablebolognese #vegan #vegetarian #bologneserecipe

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!

Vegetable bolognese recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe. #vegetablebolognese #vegan #vegetarian #bologneserecipe

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 you might like

the BEST vegetarian bolognese sauce packed full of veggies. My family loved this!

Vegetarian Bolognese Recipe:

Yield: 8 servings

Vegetable Bolognese Recipe

Vegetable Bolognese Recipe
Vegetable bolognese recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

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

  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 1/2 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

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 85 Total Fat: 1g Saturated Fat: 0g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 43mg Carbohydrates: 17g Fiber: 5g Sugar: 5g Protein: 5g
© Joy Shull
Cuisine: italian / Category: Dinner

Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a star rating below!

Vegetable bolognese recipe made with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. A delicious meatless vegetarian "meat" sauce recipe. #vegetablebolognese #vegan #vegetarian #bologneserecipe

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. 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 .

    Reply

  2. 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.

    Reply

  3. 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.

    Reply

  4. 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!

    Reply

  5. 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

    Reply

  6. 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,

    Reply

    • 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 🙂

      Reply

  7. 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

    Reply

  8. 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?

    Reply

  9. 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.

    Reply

  10. 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

    Reply

  11. 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.

    Reply

  13. 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!

    Reply

  14. Made this for dinner. It didn’t smell great, initially. However, it was so much better than expected. This is going into regular rotation.

    Reply

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