Description
An easy lentil and mushroom bolognese sauce that is ready in 30 minutes or less, requires just 1 pot and is packed with flavor!
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
- 5 cloves of garlic, finely mincedÂ
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, adjust to taste
- 1 medium carrot, finely diced
- 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
- 1/2 medium bell pepper, finely diced
- 8 oz white mushrooms, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup vegan dry white wine (we used a Sauvignon Blanc)
- 1 (28 oz.) can crushed San Marzano tomatoes, unsaltedÂ
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup vegetable broth or water (see notes)
- 1 (15 oz.) can cooked brown lentils, drained and rinsed
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/3 cup fresh basil and/or parsley, finely chopped
- Optional: 1 tablespoon brown sugar (see notes)
Serve with (optional):
- 1lb. pasta of choice (we used spaghetti)
- Vegan parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast
Instructions
- In a medium pot or pan over medium heat, add in 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth . Once warmed, add in the onions, garlic and red pepper flakes, and sauté for about 3 minutes, stirring often, or until fragrant and translucent. Be sure to add more vegetable broth or water, 2 tablespoons at a time, as needed to prevent burning.Â
- Add the carrots, celery and bell pepper, and cook for 3 minutes more, or until cooked through and softened. Again, be sure to add more vegetable broth or water, 2 tablespoons at a time, as needed to prevent burning.Â
- Add the mushrooms and continue to cook until softened and no liquid remains, about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the vegan white wine and mix through. Continue to cook until all of the liquid cooks off, about 5 minutes.Â
- Add in the tomatoes, along with the bay leaves and remaining broth or water, and mix until uniform. Simmer for 10 minutes, mixing often. Mix in the lentils and cook for 5 more minutes so that all of the flavors marry together. Â
- Remove the pot from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with fresh herbs as desired.
- Serve as desired– we prefer this on top of spaghetti with vegan parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Notes
- To speed up prep time, we recommend using a food processor to chop up the vegetables. Refer to recipe instructions to see which vegetables get paired together — do not process them all at once and mix them up.
- I have seen bolognese recipes that use both white and red wine. We preferred white wine in this recipe over red, but feel free to change it up as desired!Â
- Some people prefer to add a touch of sugar to bolognese to cut the acidity. You can add it after you add the tomatoes if you would like, but we opted out of it.
- I like to use this brand of vegan beef broth in this recipe to give it extra flavor.
- Not all wines are vegan due to the refining process they go through. To ensure your wine is vegan, check out Barnivore.Â
- Check out this website for alcohol-free wine substitutions.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 31 minutes
- Category: Entree, Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: Entree, Pasta, bolognese, lentils, mushrooms, vegan, Italian
I made this for a friend and she was like, “Damn girl. You’re sure it’s vegan?”
I think that says it all–delicious!!
★★★★★
YESSS that is awesome!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
It’s wonderful but I couldn’t when to put in the green bell peppers
So very fab! Chopped up all the veggies together in the food processor nice and small, added it to some oil instead of broth and used red instead of white wine. Absolutely delicious, I will come back to this often!
★★★★★
This is an excellent recipe! I used olive oil to cook all of the veggies and I chose red wine over white. I also added some fresh oregano at the end of the tomato cook time because I remembered that I had it in the fridge. Delicious! Thank you so much!
Are these US ounces? A British reader needs to know the metric equivalents eg of cups, 15oz tins and ounces generally.
Hey Lauren! Yes, these are US ounces 🙂
Just got one question. Once it’s cooked, can it be frozen to avoid waste if there are some leftovers? Thank you
Yes, this can be frozen to save as leftovers.
I made it with a few variations and it is SO delicious! Thank you!
★★★★★