No matter your dinner dilemma, pasta is the answer. Sticking to a budget? Pasta. No time to cook? Pasta. Picky eaters? Pasta. Give me a plate of noodles with nothing but olive oil and some Maldon salt and I’m good. But these recipes offer a little more than that.
Whatever mood you’re in, there’s a dish here for it, from bright and lemony to rich and creamy sauces you’ll want to lick off the plate.
These are the kinds of vegan pasta recipes that save weeknights. Most clock in around 30 minutes from start to finish, none require store-bought vegan meats or cheeses, and every single one comes with a sauce you’ll want to keep in your back pocket the next time you have no idea what’s for dinner tonight. Jarred marinara, who?
Pasta is the best sort of fast food because while the noodles bubble away, everything else comes together in a flash. So the second you walk through the door? Get that water boiling. I even start with hot tap water because we are not here to waste precious pasta time.
A Few Pasta Truths
- Salt aggressively. Not necessarily so it “tastes like the sea” as chefs are fond of saying, but to the tune of roughly 1 heaping tablespoon for 4 quarts of water. It sounds dramatic, but most of it stays in the pasta water, and your pasta will be properly seasoned.
- Give it a stir. Right after the pasta goes in, stir for the first minute or so. That’s when noodles are stickiest and most likely to clump or weld to the bottom of the pot. A quick stir keeps everything loose and moving.
- Don’t you dare rinse your pasta. The starch clinging to those noodles is essential, helping sauces stick instead of sliding off into a puddle at the bottom of the bowl.
- Save some pasta water. Speaking of starch, that cloudy liquid is the secret to glossy, voluptuous sauces that coat every noodle. I usually set aside a cup or two just in case. You probably won’t need all of it, but cheffy future-you will feel very powerful having it nearby.
- Trust the timer, but believe your teeth. The instructions on the box are a friendly suggestion, not a binding contract. Start tasting about two minutes before the timer goes off. Al dente means “to the tooth,” so you want a little resistance and a faint pale center when you bite in. And it keeps cooking once it hits the hot sauce, so pull it a minute early. Hot take, though: al dente gets treated like the only correct way, but not everyone loves that bite, and some nights I just want my pasta soft. So go al dente, or don’t. Cook it how you like it.
- Use what you have. If you run out of the exact vegetable or pasta shape a recipe calls for, do not bike to the store in your fluffy slippers. Pasta is a canvas. Swap the shape, swap the green, use up whatever is in the crisper. The recipe will survive.
What You Need for Perfect Pasta
Nothing fancy. A big pot, six to eight quarts if you have it, so the water keeps its boil and the noodles have room to move. A colander with holes small enough that orzo can’t make a run for it. A pasta spoon, the one with teeth, for hauling long noodles into the sauce, or a slotted spoon for the little shapes and for fishing out anything you boiled alongside. Tongs, an extension of your hand and your soul. A heatproof mug set by the stove so you actually remember to save some pasta water before you drain. And a wide, deep pan to finish everything in, because the magic happens in the pan, not the pot.
Armed with this knowledge, here are 12 vegan pasta recipes that are fast enough to make when you’re hangry, impressive enough for company, and cozy enough to eat straight from the pot.
Spicy, garlicky linguine with chewy shiitakes, briny lentils, bursts of cherry tomato, and crispy little potato “clamshells” tucked into the pasta like the seafood pasta. Inspired by the linguine alle vongole I grew up with in Sheepshead Bay, it’s a little taste of the harbour from the comfort of your own home. The sauce is light and glossy, with white wine, garlic in two forms, and enough olive oil to make everything taste luxurious. Definitely serve with bread because you are going to want every last drop. And a bread basket is just the Brooklyn way.
This is true spring pasta energy. Lemony orzo with asparagus and little dollops of basil-flecked edamame ricotta melting into everything in creamy little pockets. It’s bright and cozy at the same time, which is goals. Orzo is especially good at this kind of thing because every spoonful picks up a little bit of everything: brothy lemon sauce, tender asparagus, creamy ricotta. Speaking of spoonfuls, when pasta is tiny like this, I love to eat it with a spoon, not a fork. Call the pasta police.
Creamy tomato sauce will never not be the answer. This easy vegan vodka sauce is velvety, rich, a little tangy, and exactly the kind of thing you crave after a long day when your brain is too tired to make decisions. It’s also garlicky as hell. Penne catches all that sauce in its little tubes like the hero it is. Fresh basil on top and literal chef’s kiss. Cashew cream for the win.
Pesto Cauliflower Pasta With Easy Breaded Tofu
Want to trick people into thinking you are a personal chef to the stars? Come out swinging with the one-two punch of herby, slurpy pesto pasta and crispy, LAZY, breaded tofu happily commingling on a plate. It’s one of those meals that looks beautiful in the bowl without really trying. Green swirls of pasta, golden crispy tofu for protein, florets of cauliflower that cook right in the pasta pot. A complete meal, ready in about 40 minutes.
Creamy, cheesy, and aggressively peppery in the way only cacio e pepe can be, it’s exactly what you’re craving. And the tempeh sausage recipe is built right in. The sauce gets glossy and clingy while crispy, succulent, fennel-y tempeh clings to every strand. The sauce is a blender creation: almonds, cashews, miso, nutritional yeast, lemon, olive oil, water. It comes out slightly grainy from the almonds, giving it that hard cheese vibe. If pepper and cheese is your thing, you have met your match.
Have a boatload of vegetables threatening to go bad in the bottom of your fridge? Not anymore! Toss colorful veggies into a quick garlicky sauce and suddenly dinner looks cheerful and intentional. Though “primavera” means spring in Italian and usually has appropriately seasonal ingredients, this version is flexible enough to work with whatever is hanging out in your crisper drawer begging for purpose. That said, it’s also a great reason to rush to the farmer’s market and grab the best looking asparagus. The recipe has the best method for keeping your veggies as prima as possible.
Lentils and walnuts team up to become ground beef, only better. So very savory, rich and tomato-y, with tons of texture and heartiness, this bolognese clings beautifully to wide, flat noodles especially. In this recipe we are using lasagna noodles. This is one of those amazing pantry dinners when you have no idea what you are going to cook and don’t feel like going to the store. Pantry magic, really. Make a big batch because it somehow tastes even better the next day.
Truffled Almond Alfredo With Really Garlicky Broccoli
I mean, it’s alfredo. You’re sold, right? Ridiculously creamy without a drop of dairy, this almond alfredo sauce is so silky and rich, you’ll wonder why you ever did it any other way. A dab of black truffle oil takes it fully into cozy restaurant territory, and the aggressively garlicky broccoli keeps everything grounded in weeknight reality. Fancy but not fussy.
AKA Tempeh Sausage Pasta with Orzo. A true PPK classic, this recipe has been on a rampage since 2011. Crumbled anise tempeh, sundried tomatoes, pasta, and a handful of spinach to satisfy the most monstrous of appetites and get your veggies in. It’s cozy and filling, contrasting soft orzo with crisp tempeh to keep you going back for seconds, and thirds, if there’s enough left.
Meatballs and spaghetti need no introduction, so have a ball! In fact, have 4 or 5, or maybe a dozen. Because sometimes (all the time?) the craving is simply spaghetti and meatballs and nothing else will do. These tofu balls are tender, savory, and perfect with marinara and a pile of al dente pasta. Crowd-pleasing? You bet. Kid-friendly? Hell yeah. Tofu is truly the OG vegan meatball, let’s keep her legacy going.
Yes, this list needs two alfredos. If butternut has only ever shown up sweet on your table, this is the savory correction. The squash gets roasted first, then pureed with cashew cream into a thick, autumnal sauce that is lush, creamy, and most importantly, savory. White wine, sauteed onions, and garlic round it out. The roasted squash and cashews give it that rich, clingy body a good alfredo needs, coating every noodle the way alfredo was born to do. Pour it over pasta and keep it coming.
Oyster mushrooms have a subtle briny quality, a faint taste of the sea that makes them perfect for scampi. Here they get meaty and golden alongside white beans, with garlic, lemon, olive oil, and pasta water pulling everything into a sauce that tastes wildly luxurious for how quickly it comes together. You’ll want bread nearby for sauce-mopping emergencies.
