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This vegetarian Lentil Bolognese is the ultimate healthy comfort food. It’s loaded with vegetables and lentils and can be enjoyed on your favourite pasta, spaghetti squash, or even on its own!
Easy Vegan Bolognese
In the mood for some comfort food? You’re in the right place!
This Lentil Bolognese recipe is the ultimate comforting meal to cozy up with on a cold night. It’s loaded with vegetables, lentils and red wine for a flavour-packed bolognese. Plus this recipe gives you an excuse to open that bottle of red wine and even pour yourself a glass while you cook, I won’t tell 😉
This is one of my top dinner recipes to make when I want a hearty and cozy meal, along with my Vegan Ramen Stir Fry and my Peanut butter noodles.
You’ll need to devote a little more time to make this pasta sauce, but what’s the rush anyway? Time is your friend when making a super-rich and flavourful bolognese sauce! And trust me, it’s SO worth it. Time is actually the secret ingredient that makes a bolognese taste so delicious. It allows all the flavours to really come out and creates a sauce that is just so damn good.
What is Bolognese?
Bolognese is an Italian meat-based sauce typically made from ground beef mixed with tomato. There are a few different ways to prepare bolognese sauce but one of the most traditional ways is to prepare it as a ragu and let it cook slowly to develop flavour. Bolognese is traditionally served with an egg noodles like tagliatelle.
Is Bolognese typically vegan?
Bolognese is not traditionally vegan but can be easily made vegan by substituting ground beef for lentils. The lentils give the bolognese that meaty flavour and texture so even meat lovers won’t miss the meat in this recipe.
Why you’ll love this Vegan Bolognese
- Packed with flavour. This bolognese is the ultimate comfort food. It’s packed with cozy warming flavours and delicious to enjoy on pasta, spaghetti squash or rice.
- Vegan and gluten-free. While this lentil bolognese is vegan and gluten-free, I promise any meat-eaters will fall in love with this recipe! (Some may not even know that it doesn’t have meat in it!)
- Perfect for meal prep. As the sauce sits in the fridge for a couple days, the flavours will intesify making it even more delicious. That makes it a great dish to make for meal prep at the beginning of the week.
- Freezer-friendly. This bolognese freezes like a dream! It will store well in the freezer for up to 3 months in a sealed container.
- Super nutritious. Each serving of this bolognese has 240 calories, 14 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein!
What is Vegan Bolognese Sauce made of?
- Onion
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Celery
- Portobello mushroom
- Red pepper
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Red wine
- Lentils
- Crushed tomatoes
- Bay leaves
- talian seasoning
- Oregano
- Coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- pasta
How to make Lentil Bolognese (step-by-step instructions)
Step 1
Roughly chop the vegetables then add them to a food processor. Pulse the veggies in a food processor until finely chopped like in the picture below. Make sure not to over-process the vegetables. You don’t want them to turn to mush!
Step 2
Heat some olive oil in a large pot then add the vegetables to brown. Let the vegetables simmer for about 15 minutes stirring constantly to prevent them from burning. (Don’t rush this step and only cook them for a few minutes. You want them to really cook down and build flavour.)
Step 3
Next, add the red wine. And not just a splash, an entire 3/4 cup of red wine. Again, don’t skip this and use water or broth instead! Red wine is a key ingredient in baking this bolognese taste incredible. Let the wine cook-off in the pot. Then add the crushed tomatoes and lentils, Italian seasoning and oregano and stir everything together.
Step 4
Give the lentil bolognese about 20-30 minutes simmering on low. Or if you have the time, let it cook on low for up to an hour. Then, use an emulsion blender (or regular blender) and pulse the mixture just slightly to break it down. Don’t over pulse it though! You want to make sure to have texture in your bolognese.
Boil your favourite pasta, some spaghetti squash, zucchini noodles, rice, or however you like. Top it off with some fresh basil or parsley and parmesan cheese, nutritional yeast or vegan cheese.
How to store leftover Lentil Spaghetti Bolognese
Fridge: store any leftover bolognese sauce in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 7 days. The flavour of the bolognese will actually intensify after a day and it will taste even better! Reheat the bolognese sauce in a pot on the stove or in the microwave.
Freezer: Let the bolognese cool completely then transfer to a freezer-safe container. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. To defrost let the container sit on the countertop until dinnertime, or defrost it in the microwave on the “defrost” setting.
Lentil Bolognese Recipe FAQs
Bolognese is often served with spaghetti (aka spaghetti bolognese)which is a traditional recipe in America. However, you can serve the bolognese on many different shapes of pasta. Any pasta with some ridges like penne, rigatoni or tagliatelle will hold onto the sauce well so you get more of that delicious bolognese in every bite.
Absolutely! This is one of the most freezer-friendly recipes and holds up so well in the freezer for up to 3 months.
French lentils or green lentils are best for this bolognese as they hold their shape and texture when being cooked which we want for this sauce. Some other types of lentils like red lentils will fall apart too much and become mushy in the sauce.
You can reheat this recipe in the microwave or in a pot on the stovetop.
Yes! The bolognese sauce is gluten-free, so just make sure to use your favourite gluten-free pasta.
Tips for perfect Lentil Bolognese Vegan Sauce
- Give the veggies time to brown in the pan. Don’t rush through this step and only cook them for 5 minutes! Browing the veggies builds flavour which is essential for a delicious vegetarian bolognese.
- Don’t replace the red wine in this recipe with water or broth. Red wine is also essential in this dish for making a super flavourful bolognese sauce. Any type of red wine will work.
- You can substitute the crushed tomatoes with diced tomatoes. Diced tomatoes will give you a bit more of a chunky bolognese.
- French lentils or beluga lentils work best in this recipe. Don’t substitute with red lentils.
- Make sure to remove the bay leaves before blending the sauce! Bay leaves are very tough and it will be unpleasant to eat little chunks of them.
- Only blend the sauce ever so slightly! Don’t go crazy and blend it up into a puree. You want the sauce to still have a nice chunky texture and be able to see some pieces of lentils in there.
- Add red pepper flakes for some heat. Like your sauce spicy? Try adding a teaspoon or two of crushed red pepper flakes (also called chilli flakes) to the bolognese sauce.
More lentil recipes to try
If you tried this Lentil Bolognese or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!
Lentil Bolognese Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Main
- Method: Cook
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A delicious and Comforting Lentil Bolognese sauce that is vegetarian/vegan-friendly, gluten-free and packed with flavour!
Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 big carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 portobello mushroom
- 1 red pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup red wine
- 2 cups cooked lentils (I use french lentils)
- 2 cups crushed tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 large handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- pasta, spaghetti squash, rice…etc. for serving
Instructions
- Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, mushroom, and pepper to a food processor and chop into small bits.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat and add in the chopped vegetables and salt.
- Brown the vegetables in the pan for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. (Do not skip this step! Browing the vegetables is where all the flavour happens!)
- Once the vegetables are browned, add in the wine. Cook on medium heat until the wine evaporates.
- Next, add in the lentils, and crushed tomatoes, and the rest of the ingredients (except the pasta) and mix together until well combined.
- Lower the heat to low, add in the water and let cook down for another 20 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaves and slightly pulse the sauce with an emulsion blender.
- Serve over your favorite spaghetti or pasta.
Notes
Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for 7 days or in the freezer for 3 months.
For the tastiest results don’t replace the red wine in this recipe with water or broth. Red wine is essential for a delicious and flavourful bolognese!
Use green lentils or french lentils in this recipe for the best results. Red lentils won’t hold their texture and will become mushy in the sauce.
Don’t forget to remove the bay leaves before pulsing the sauce. You don’t want to end up with little chunks of bay leaves mixed in.
Add 1 tsp of red pepper flakes if you like your bolognese sauce spicy.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
- Calories: 240
- Sugar: 8g
- Sodium: 370mg
- Fat: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Fiber: 14g
- Protein: 11g
My husband and I are obsessed with this recipe. I have been sharing it with everyone turning this time of needing both comfort food but also maintaining health, Love everything that she creates!
So happy you both enjoyed the recipe Courtney!
I’ve been eating the leftovers from this meal for 2 days now and I swear it ages like fine wine. The flavors really marinate well. I grew up eating spaghetti with pasta sauce, diced veggies, and ground turkey and I can say with certainty that this recipe taste better! I love that it is guilt free and so filling! My grandmother told me she’d never eaten lentils until 2 years ago when I introduced her to them and this recipe is now probably my favorite lentil recipe to date. I did tweak it a tiny bit by adding a little bit of jarred pasta sauce, about 2 or 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, an extra tablespoon of lemon and I did not have peppers (though I suspect that would make it even better!). Thank you for a great recipe, Jess. I’m a new mom who fell off of the vegan train, but I love finds like this that remind me how great vegan meals are. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes! Maybe look to satisfy sweet tooth next? I’ve yet to make a delicious vegan cake if you’ve got one? Thanks again!
Hi Simone, thank you for your comment and review! I’m so happy to hear you loved this recipe! It’s definitely one of my favourite lentil recipes. I have plenty of desserts on the blog you may enjoy. Including some raw vegan cakes and some vegan donuts which are just delicious!
Hey! This bolognese looks sooo delicious!! I really want to try it but I don’t really like celery, can I replace it with some other vegetable? Thanks!
Hi Mariana, you don’t taste the celery in the recipe but if you prefer you can just leave it out!
When do you add the lemon juice?
Hi Bri, you add the lemon juice with the rest of the seasoning
What do I do with the parsley? What do I do with the lemon juice?
Hi Derek, you add it in with the rest of the seasoning to the bolognese
Do I cook the lentils first
Hi Lyn-ann, yes you do. it is listed to used cooked lentils in the recipe 🙂
Just made today with Spanish pardina lentils, it really surprised me in good way. I’m trying to find ways for my daughter to get more iron, this is definitely going into my recipe rotation.
Such a great idea for your daughter, I’m glad you loved them! Thanks for the review Paula ?
This was great! I omitted the sugar because I really am not a fan of sweet, and it turned out awesome! It was still a little sweet for my taste, I think I probably used a sweeter wine. So next time I’ll go with a drier red. But it was still really good! I used green pardina (Spanish) lentils and they held their shape well. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Jerome, happy you liked the recipe!
Made tonight and overall not bad. I found it tasted too sweet for my preference. Would you suggest omitting the brown sugar to get rid of the sweetness? Any suggestions to reduce the sweet taste would be appreciated. I think this would be perfect once I can neutralize that aspect.
Hi Christina, you can omit the brown sugar and try a different brand of tomatoes. some canned tomatoes are sweeter than others
The recipe called for both lemon and brown sugar but instructions didn’t mention where to use it. Bummer to buy those things to not know when to use. Are they considered seasoning?
Hi Kiley, the lemon and sugar are part of the seasoning for the sauce and are added into the sauce in step #5!