Vegan Tofu Bolognese Recipe - Six Hungry Feet (2024)

Our Vegan Tofu Bolognese offers a plant-based twist on the traditional Italian Bolognese. This hearty sauce features marinated and pan-seared tofu simmered in a rich marinara sauce bursting with delightful flavors and colorful vegetables.

Why you will love our Tofu Bolognese

One of the reasons you'll love this Tofu Bolognese recipe is its simplicity. With easy-to-follow steps and a short list of ingredients, this recipe is a great pasta meal for a busy weekday.

You won't need to buy uncommon or expensive ingredients to cook this meal. All you need are simple ingredients such as vegetables like carrots, celery, onion and garlic, tomato passata, a block of firm tofu, and spices to season the tofu.

We love our Walnut and Cauliflower Bolognese, but this one, tastes just as delicious, as is quicker to make.

If you are still unsure about this plant-based protein, give this recipe a chance. This meal will show you how versatile tofu is. Crumbled tofu resembles ground meat normally used in Bolognese sauces. With a flavorful marinade, you can make tofu taste just as you want!

We have two young kids at home, who can be quite picky, and this Bolognese sauce passed all the tests. You can blend the sauce before adding the tofu if your kids prefer smooth sauces. We did this for our eldest, and he really enjoyed the meal. So yes, we call this recipe a family favorite, perfect for a weekday night.

And, my little secret to adding more protein to the dish, is by sprinkling some vegan parmesan cheese on top, made by grounding cashews and nutritional yeast.

Our Tofu Bolognese Sauce is:

• Vegan
• Italian-style recipe
• Pasta sauce
• Family-friendly, our whole family loves it!
• Rich
• Easy to cook
• Quick to make
• Perfect for meat eaters too

How to make the best Vegan Tofu Bolognese

Ingredients

Block of Tofu. For our Tofu bolognese, we use extra-firm tofu. You can as well, use firm tofu. To be able to crumble the tofu it needs to be extra firm or firm, so silken tofu won't work for this recipe.

Tofu marinade. To flavor our tofu, we add soy sauce, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. If you need to substitute yeast, we have some vegan alternatives for nutritional yeast that can help you.

Fresh vegetables. For the marinara sauce, we use white onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. You can use red or yellow onion as well, and if you prefer, you can use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic. These ingredients are commonly used to make the classic Italian sauce, you can add other veggies, but these are enough to make a rich tomato sauce that tastes delicious.

Passata or Canned tomatoes. You can use chopped or peeled canned tomatoes. Get a good quality of canned tomatoes, as they tend to be richer and sweeter. If the tomatoes are too acidic, you can add some sugar or another sweetener.

Tomato paste. We like adding some tomato puree to add umami flavor and richness.

Oregano. We add dried oregano to the sauce, but you can add dried or fresh basil, sage, or thyme.

How to flavor and cook the tofu

1. Remove any excess water from the tofu block. You can do that by wrapping it with a paper towel. Crumble the tofu using your hands and add all the seasoning ingredients: Soy sauce, nutritional yeast or yeast flakes, garlic, onion powder, smoked paprika, black pepper, and salt. You can combine all the ingredients using a spatula until all the tofu crumbs are well coated.
2. Add some olive oil to a non-stick pan and sautée the tofu until starts to golden. We like setting the stove top to medium-high temperature, to ensure that the tofu cooks nicely, and gets a little crunch. You can alternatively, cook the tofu using the air-fryer or the oven.
   • Air-fryer: Set the temperature to 200C and place the tofu crumbles on the air fryer tray. Cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
   • Oven: Set the oven temperature to 180C (350F). Place the tofu on a baking tray or baking sheet covered, drizzle some olive oil, and bake for about 35 minutes. Use parchment paper to prevent the tofu from sticking to the tray.

Prepare the Vegan Rich Tomato Sauce

1. Add some olive oil to a medium or large pot. We like using our cast iron pot for sauces and stews. Add finely chopped carrot, celery, onion, and garlic. Sautée for a couple of minutes. To make sure you are cutting all the ingredients to the same size, you can use a mandoline.
2. When the onion starts to soften, add the tomato paste and pan-seared tofu crumbles. Combine well.
3. Pour the tomato passata or add the chopped tomatoes. Stir to make sure that all the ingredients are well combined.
4. Cover with a lid, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

See Also

Best Vegan Steak Recipe (Seitan)These Turnip Recipes That Prove Just How Delicious the Veggie Can Be

Variations to this Vegan Bolognese recipe.

• Use store-bought marinara sauce. Make this recipe even easier! You can use store-bought Italian marinara sauce, and skip the process of making a homemade marinara sauce.
• Make this recipe gluten-free. Yo make the sauce gluten-free, simply swap the soy sauce for tamari, red wine, or liquid aminos, and make sure you are using gluten-free yeast flakes.
• Add more veggies to the sauce. We keep the sauce simple and traditional, but you can add other veggies such as red pepper or zucchini.
• Use a food processor to chop the veggies. Another way to make this recipe faster is by using a food processor to chop the carrot, celery, and onion. We personally, like using the mandoline but our kids prefer it when we chop the veggies with the processor, as the chunks are smaller.
• To serve this sauce, we use tagliatelle. Change the pasta shape for your favorite one!

Serving Suggestions

Tofu Bolognese is a hearty meal that doesn't need much to make for a complete and satisfying meal, but we have some favorite additions when it comes to serving this dish!

Garlic bread. The last time we served Tofu Bolognese, we completely forgot about the bread and about halfway through lunch, my husband headed to the kitchen to toast some garlic bread made with vegan butter from our freezer. It just makes this meal complete. You need something to mop up those last drops of sauce.

Vegan Parmesan. Did you know you can make your own vegan parmesan in less than 2 minutes? We love this recipe from Minimalist Baker. All you need to do is blend some cashews, yeast flakes, and garlic powder together, to create this beautiful blend that tastes just like parm!

Kalamata Olives. Serve some black Kalamata olives on the side, we love it and we believe you should try it too!

Fresh herbs. Don't forget to add some fresh herbs before serving the dish. Our favorite are fresh basil or fresh parsley.

If you enjoy spicy food, consider adding some chili oil or red pepper flakes.

Additionally, you can add a refreshingsaladto balance out the flavors and textures. A simple salad with colorful vegetables will make an excellent companion to Tofu Bolognese.

As for pasta, you have a variety of options to choose from.Penne,tagliatelle, andspaghettiare all great choices but feel free to get creative with your favorite types of noodles.

Store and Reheat

If you have some leftover sauce, you can keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. If you want to keep it for a longer period, you can also store it in the freezer. Make sure to use freezer-safe containers and freeze the sauce for up to 3 months. To thaw, simply transfer the sauce to the fridge and let it sit for a few hours or overnight before reheating on the stovetop.

Reheat the sauce using the microwave or a pan.

FAQ and Tips

If you tried our recipe, please leave a comment or tag us on Instagram @Sixhungryfeet. We are always happy to see your creations!

More delicious Vegan Pasta dishes

• Vegan Carbonara
• Spicy Harissa Pasta
• Creamy Spinach Pasta
• Creamy Tahini Pasta
• Pasta Alla Norma
• Creamy Tomato Pasta