This is my best-ever Ultimate Vegan Bolognese Sauce recipe. Once you try it you’ll agree: it hits the spot every time!
When my husband is craving something hearty and delicious, he’s more likely to request a pasta bolognese than to seek out a savory stew.
Now, it’s not always easy to create plant-based versions of his favorite foods.
After careful deliberation and testing, I’m happy to present my best-ever vegan bolognese sauce. By the way, this is also the best ever vegetarian bolognese recipe.
This bolognese vegan sauce is thick, savory, and just the tiniest bit sweet.
The texture is crumbly and silky, just as it should be.
This recipe not only makes a great pasta sauce, it also makes this delicious Vegan Lasagna.
Vegan Bolognese Sauce: The Details
To replace the meat, I used a mixture of mushrooms, ground walnuts, and textured soy protein.
I’ve seen more than one lentil bolognese recipe, but for me that texture just isn’t right.
I used to be a bit sketched out by TSP (or TVP as it is sometimes called). I don’t know why, and now I use it all the time. It’s also great as taco ‘meat’, and it’s even gluten free.
I use this brand which is my very favorite.
To achieve the lusciously thick texture of the sauce I used olive oil and agar powder instead of butter.
For extra umami flavor I added miso paste and used soy sauce instead of salt.
As a vegetarian, I was tempted to keep the traditional parmesan cheese and milk in this sauce. If you consume dairy products, by all means swap these into the sauce for an awesome vegetarian bolognese sauce.
Instead, I tried using nutritional yeast and oat milk.
I’m super pleased with the results: a delicious vegan bolognese anyone would be happy to eat!
Like a traditional bolognese, there’s surprisingly little tomato in this recipe. Instead, lots of celery, carrot, and onion are slowly cooked down into a robust sauce.
Of course, there’s also plenty of red wine in there, too. Be sure to read my post on vegetarian food and wine pairings if you want to make sure your wine isn’t made with animal products.
Now, this isn’t a twenty-minute recipe you can whip up on a whim. This is more of a weekend recipe.
I recommend making it on a lazy Sunday. Ideally, you should spend the day reading and inhaling the delicious aroma of the simmering sauce.
This recipe makes a decent-sized batch, so you can always freeze the leftovers and serve it up for an impromptu date-night.
How to Make Vegan Bolognese Sauce
Here is the process for this recipe.
Look at that photo of ingredients, now you know why this is a weekend recipe.
Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven. Once the oil is hot, add the carrots, onions, and celery. Saute for 10 minutes, until softened.
Meanwhile, place the walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse into coarse pieces.
Add the mushrooms.
Continue to pulse until the consistency of the mixture resembles the photo below.
Once the vegetables on the stove are soft, add the dry TVP and mix well. Cook for 3 minutes to allow the TVP to toast and absorb the oil.
Add another two tablespoons of oil to the pan along with the walnut and mushroom mixture. Turn the heat up to medium-high and brown for 5 minutes.
Add the oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and garlic to the pan. Cook for a few minutes until the spices are fragrant.
Next, add the red wine. Reduce for 5 minutes.
Stir in the miso, soy, sweet and smoked paprikas, and agar powder.
Add the canned tomatoes along with 1/2 a can of water, the balsamic vinegar, and bay leaves. Once the mixture boils, transfer it to the preheated oven. Cook, uncovered, for 60 minutes. Stir well and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes.
Add the nutritional yeast followed by the oat milk. Taste and season generously with black pepper and salt to taste.
Serve with freshly cooked plant-based pasta.
I have to admit, I had to do a bit of googling when naming this recipe. We use the word ‘bolognese’ all the time in our house, but I rarely see it spelled out.
It occurred to me that it might be spelled ‘bolognaise’, which I found out is a very common misspelling. In case you were also wondering, the proper Italian spelling is, in fact, ‘bolognese.’
Either way, it’s absolutely delicious!
Don’t forget to save this recipe as a dinner idea on Pinterest!
Here’s the Vegan Bolognese Recipe!
Ultimate Vegan Bolognese Sauce
Want to make the ultimate Vegan Bolognese Sauce? Look no further! Walnuts, mushrooms, and soy protein give this sauce the perfect texture.
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 medium carrot, finely diced
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 3 celery stalks, finely diced
- 2 ounces raw walnuts
- 3 cups raw mushrooms, halved (about 10-12 cremini)
- 3/4 cup TVP mince (dry)
- Herbs: 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme , 1/4 teaspoon dried sage, 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1 1/2 cups dry red wine
- 1 tablespoon white miso
- 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon agar powder
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup oat milk (or other non-dairy)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven. Once the oil is hot, add the carrots, onions, and celery. Saute for 10 minutes, until softened.
- Meanwhile, place the walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse into coarse pieces. Add the mushrooms and continue to pulse until the consistency of the mixture resembles the photo above.
- Once the vegetables on the stove are soft, add the dry TVP and mix well. Cook for 3 minutes to allow the TVP to toast and absorb the oil.
- Add another two tablespoons of oil to the pan along with the walnut/mushroom mix. Turn the heat up to medium-high and brown for 5 minutes.
- Add the oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and garlic to the pan. Cook for a few minutes until the spice are fragrant, then add the red wine. Reduce for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the miso, soy, sweet and smoked paprikas, and agar powder. Add the canned tomatoes along with 1/2 a can of water, the balsamic vinegar, and bay leaves. Once the mixture boils, transfer it to the preheated oven. Cook, uncovered, for 60 minutes. Stir well and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes.
- Add the nutritional yeast followed by the oat milk. Taste and season generously with black pepper and salt to taste. Serve with freshly cooked plant-based pasta.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 361Total Fat 22gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 17gCholesterol 17mgSodium 436mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 6gSugar 7gProtein 17g
Nutrition information has been auto-calculated for your convenience.
Comments
I’ve made this three weeks in the last 4. it’s the best! i didn’t have miso at first but add it now. i’ve never put the oak milk in bc i didn’t have it and i mix up the amounts of things and have textured soy as well as a similar but smaller granulated pea protein, also i added tomato paste once and have always used a couple of tins of italian cherry tomatoes. i cook it down on the stove for hours like a normal bolognese to take the water out and it’s amazing. thanks so much!
haha those people (like me!) that comment – thanks for the recipe, these are all the things i changed… but i write it because it’s so adaptable and
… and it works with the adaptations.
Hi Ady,
Thanks for loving this recipe and sharing your adaptations!
– Linda
Hi Linda, just wanted to thank you for this recipe. The depth of flavour and texture that you’ve captured are amazing and I’ll be cooking this many times in the future. Cooking the sauce in the oven is a master stroke. My Nonna taught me to always add a tablespoon of the pasta cooking water when stirring the pasta through the sauce and that worked a treat here. Very best wishes from the UK.
Hi Paolo,
I’m glad you love it like I do and thanks for the note about the pasta water.
– Linda
This recipe is amazing! I have made it twice now and it is really impressive. It does take a long time so not an every day kind of recipe but it is so worth it for occasional big cooking sessions. I made it for a cooking competition at home during Covid lockdown and again for friends.
The first time I made it, I left out the agar powder and substituted Marmite (yeast extract) for the nutritional yeast. The second time I managed to find agar powder but left out nutritional yeast entirely. I would say that both times it worked very well and I didn’t really notice a big difference. Both times I also used Quorn mince instead of TVP. I think the most important flavouring ingredients to include are lots of red wine, the miso and the paprika.
Hi Maddy,
I’m glad you also love this amazing recipe. Try using it in my new Vegan Lasagna recipe and let us know how you like it that way: https://thewanderlustkitchen.com/vegan-lasagna/
– Linda
Hi Maddy,
Thanks for the positive comments and for sharing your adaptations!
– Linda
Hello! Just wondering why you added the agar? My understanding was that once agar is reheated it melts again and has no impact on the thickening or setting of a dish?
Really keen to make the dish (and i have agar in the cupboard) but just asking so I know 🙂
Thanks!
Hi Kim,
Yes, the agar powder is used to thicken the sauce.
– Linda
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I don’t currently have a pot that can go into the oven. Do you think I could make it on the stove instead and simmer it for an equal amount of time?
Hi Soukaina,
I don’t recommend making this only on the stove top as it is difficult to regulate the temperature.
– Linda
Hi Linda, your vegan bolognese recipe looks very nice and I want to try it one of these days. There’s one thing I don’t understand though… in the introduction you say that “To achieve the lusciously thick texture of the sauce I used coconut oil and agar powder instead of butter.” This sounds like a good idea. However, I read the recipe three times but I can’t find the coconut oil in the recipe itself. Hope to hear from you soon! Arthur
Thank you Arthur, my mistake, the text should have said olive oil instead of coconut oil. I have fixed that.
– Linda
Thank you Linda!
I just made this and it was ridiculously good. I used red instead of white miso, which added more depth of flavor. I skipped the TVP and used more baby bella mushrooms. I’m not sure if that threw off my liquid to solid ratio, but I only had to keep it in the oven for a total of 45 minutes before the majority of the liquid evaporated.Super solid recipe. Glad I found it. Well done.
Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for the kind words about the recipe and for sharing your adaptations!
– Linda
I finally made this recipe last night. Absolutely delicious! My husband went for seconds. My daughter said it’s her favorite meal so far ❤️. I didn’t have sage but didn’t impact the flavor. However, I added about 3 tsps of vegan beef broth base & seasoning which certainly added to the “meat” flavor. So so good! Can’t wait to use it in your vegan lasagna recipe 😁
Janina,
Thanks for the note and the adaptation with the vegan beef broth.
– Linda
Hi! I made this sauce and it was great! Wondering if you think you could make this in the crockpot? Thanks!
I’m not sure how well this would work in a crockpot, but if you give it a try, let us know.
– Linda
This was excellent! Both my husband and I both loved it. The only change I made was to use a 28 oz. can of tomatoes and it worked wonderfully. Thank you!!!!!
He should probably marry you over this! Good work.
Thank you so much for this recipe! My family are from the North of Italy and having just turned vegan my Nonna’s bolognese is one of things I knew I would miss the most. I want to make this recipe for my family but agar agar powder isn’t so common in UK shops, the sheet form is though. Would that be okay to use instead?
Thanks!
Maria
Yes, but grind it, chop it or microplane it first to get it near powder form.