A traditional meat sauce is warm and hearty, chunky and savory. My quick and easy vegan meat sauce uses two key ingredients to match (and, in my opinion, beat!) the conventional meat sauce.
Red lentils nail the texture, and shiitake mushrooms bring home the flavor.
Feel free to get creative with this semi-homemade, versatile recipe. Use whatever noodles you like and whichever jar of marina sauce you have in the pantry.
It’s the preparation and add-ons that make this recipe a winner.
Start by gathering up your ingredients. Dice 1 yellow onion, and chop the shiitake into bite sized pieces. You may even want to go smaller than pictured above. It’s totally up to your personal preferences!
Quick note on mushrooms: You could use crimini mushrooms (or portobello, the mature form of crimini) instead of shiitake mushrooms. Portobello varietals are popular meat substitutes because of their meat-like texture. However, they tend to soak up a lot of moisture, and we don’t want the tomato-based vegan meat sauce to be too dry.
Shiitake mushrooms, on the other hand, are more flavorful, with an irresistible smokey taste and a softer meaty texture. And in this vegan meat sauce recipe, the lentils are the secret ingredient for texture, providing plenty of bulk and heartiness.
Now it’s time to get the lentils cooking. Make sure you’re using red lentils. Red lentils will break down and get a bit mushy while cooking, so they’re great for sauces, stews, and soups. Brown and green lentils, however, retain their shape. They are better for things like salads or sturdy veggie burgers.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, you can start cooking your onions, garlic, and mushrooms.
When ready, the red lentils will be light and fluffy and just starting to break down, as pictured above. Set them aside to cool for a few minutes.
The cooled lentils are already pretty soft, but we want to use a high speed blender or food processor to mash them even more and incorporate them into your favorite marina sauce.
This blending step is crucial to getting an almost ground-beef like texture to our vegan meat sauce. Take a look at the closeups below:
The last step is just to add the sauce to the pan, mix it all together, and serve over your favorite noodles!
Consider topping with fresh basil, oregano, and cashew Parmesan cheese.
Easy Vegan Meat Sauce
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- ½ cup uncooked red lentils*
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 16 oz shiitake mushrooms*, diced
- 24 oz jar of your favorite marinara sauce (Recommended: Rao’s)
- Noodles of your choice (bowtie, zucchini, etc.)
- Suggested toppings: basil, oregano and cashew Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Rinse lentils and remove any discolored pieces. Add to a pot with 1.5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Top off with extra water if needed to keep lentils submerged. When ready, they will be fluffy and starting to break down a bit. Let cool.
- In a large pan, combine oil, onions, and salt and cook low heat until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
- Add mushrooms and increase heat to medium-low until mushrooms are softened and shrinking, about 10 mins.
- Blend the sauce and cooked lentils in high speed blender or food processor into well incorporated (this may take a few minutes).Â
- Pour sauce mixture into the mushroom pan and stir to combine.
- Serve over noodles of your choice, and consider topping with fresh basil, oregano and cashew Parmesan cheese.
Notes
Be sure to use red lentils. Red lentils will break down and get a bit mushy while cooking, so they’re great for sauces, stews, and soups. Brown and green lentils, however, retain their shape. They are better for things like salads or sturdy veggie burgers.
You could use crimini mushrooms (or portobello, the mature form of crimini) instead of shiitake mushrooms. Portobello varietals are popular meat substitutes because of their meat-like texture. However, they tend to soak up a lot of moisture, and we don’t want the tomato-based sauce to be too dry. Shiitake mushrooms, on the other hand, have an irresistible smokey flavor, plus a softer meaty texture.  Plus in this recipe, the lentils are the secret ingredient for texture, providing plenty of bulk and heartiness.
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