Pasta with Mushroom Bolognese

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Super hearty, intensely savory, and packed with Italian spices, this mushroom Bolognese pasta is sure to satisfy vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike!

One time someone asked me what I planned to do when I ran out of recipe ideas for this site. I don’t think that will ever happen! For one thing, there’s so much you can do with food to begin with. For another thing, the fact that this site is vegan means I have lots of recipes to cover.

You might think keeping my recipes vegan would be limiting. Nope! For every recipe I veganize, there are about a million and one ways to go about it.

Case in point: meat sauce. I’ve covered this one lots of times, just because there are so many ingredients that are awesome in place of meat. I’ve done lentils, tempeh, cauliflower + walnuts, and today, I’m sharing a mushroom Bolognese recipe.

And each one is a very different dish!

I think mushroom Bolognese is my favorite. Finely diced and sautéed mushrooms are the perfect texture and give just the right amount of savory flavor to this sauce. It’s one of those vegan recipes that anyone can love! Whereas tempeh might scare away someone who is used to meat-based meat sauce, mushrooms are pretty appealing to vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Pasta. I used fettuccine, but feel free to substitute with your favorite pasta shape.
• Olive oil.
• Mushrooms. The recipe calls for a mix of shiitake, cremini, and button mushrooms, but just about any mix of fresh mushrooms will work. Use any or all of the three suggested varieties, or try another such as portobellos or oyster mushrooms.
• Onion.
• Carrots.
• Celery
• Garlic.
• Dry red wine. Traditional Bolognese sauce is made with white wine, but we’re using red here to give the sauce a richer flavor. You can skip this ingredient if you prefer to cook without alcohol. If you do use it, be sure to check with Barnivore to ensure the wine you buy is vegan.
• Coconut milk. We’re using full-fat coconut milk from a can. This will make our sauce super rich and creamy, but you can certainly substitute with light coconut milk or another unsweetened non-dairy milk in order to reduce the fat and calorie content of the dish.
• Canned tomato sauce.
• Soy sauce. Tamari or liquid aminos can be substituted if needed.
• Spices. We’re using a mix of dried thyme, basil and oregano, with some fennel seeds.
• Salt & pepper.
• Fresh basil.

How It’s Made

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

• Do all of your prep work before you begin cooking the sauce. Chop your onions, carrots and celery, and mince your garlic.
• Finely chop the mushrooms. You’ll want them small to mimic the texture of meat. They’ll shrink a bit when you cook them, so don’t knock yourself out though!

Tip: Make sure to clean your mushrooms correctly. Don’t rinse them — they’ll suck up water like crazy and get soggy when you cook them! Instead, wipe them down with a damp cloth.

• Heat some of your oil in a large skillet and add your finely chopped mushrooms. Cook them for a few minutes, flipping them here and there, until they darken and shrink.
• Take your cooked mushrooms out of the skillet and transfer them to a plate.

Tip: Resist the temptation to stir your mushrooms while they’re cooking. Let them sit and sizzle for a few minutes so they brown.

• Heat a bit more oil in the skillet, then add your diced onion, carrots and celery. Sweat the veggies for a few minutes, until they start to soften.
• Add the garlic and cook it with the veggies for about a minute, until it becomes very fragrant.

• Return the mushrooms to the skillet and pour in the wine. If you’re omitting the wine you can obviously skip this step!
• Let the wine simmer for a few minutes in order for the alcohol to cook off. It will reduce by about half during this process.

• Stir in the coconut milk, tomato sauce, spices and soy sauce. Bring your mushroom Bolognese up to a simmer and let it cook until it’s thickened a bit and the vegetables are tender.

• Take the sauce off of the burner and season it with salt and pepper. Stir in some fresh basil.
• Toss the mushroom Bolognese sauce with cooked pasta and enjoy! You can optionally serve it with a sprinkle of vegan Parmesan cheese.

Leftovers & Storage

Leftover pasta with mushroom Bolognese will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days or in the freezer for about 3 months. The sauce may thicken a bit during storage, so feel free to thin it with some water if needed.