Lentil Bolognese
Lentil Bolognese is a delicious vegetarian pasta sauce made with lentils, vegetables and tomatoes. It’s richly flavored and full of good-for-you ingredients!
Looking for more vegetarian Italian recipes? You’ll love my Vegetable Lasagna, Minestrone Soup and Marinara Sauce recipes!
Lentil Bolognese: A hearty and flavorful vegan pasta sauce
This lentil bolognese is proof that you don’t need meat to make a hearty, satisfying pasta sauce. Traditional Bolognese sauce, which originated in Bologna, Italy, is made with ground beef and sometimes pork, slowly simmered and finished with milk. With this recipe, we get the same rich flavors, but with lentils and cremini mushrooms standing in for the meat. There’s no dairy in this recipe – the creamy element is just not needed when the sauce is so flavorful!
I love to toss this lentil bolognese sauce with wide pasta noodles, such as fettuccine, tagliatelle or pappardelle. To round out the meal, make a quick batch of Garlic Bread (or Garlic Knots if you have more time) and toss together an Italian Salad.
Ingredient Notes
- Onion, Carrots and Celery: These three veggies create a flavorful base for the bolognese sauce. Dice the vegetables up finely so that they cook down into the sauce.
- Cremini Mushrooms: Mushrooms bring hearty, meaty flavor. I love the richer flavor of cremini mushrooms, compared to white button mushrooms.
- Garlic: A must for any Italian sauce!
- Tomato Paste: Brings richness and helps to thicken the sauce.
- Crushed Tomatoes and Vegetable Broth: These form the base of the sauce. Using canned crushed tomatoes saves you the work of crushing the tomatoes yourself.
- Lentils: Use green or brown lentils, which are commonly found in most grocery stores.
- Balsamic Vinegar: Adds richness and depth of flavor.
- Seasonings: You’ll need dried oregano, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Sugar: The sugar is optional, but I find that a teaspoon or two of granulated sugar helps to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.
I’ve also on occasion deglazed the pot with a cup or so of dry red wine (reduce the vegetable broth accordingly) for another layer of flavor.
Pro Tip
When cooking with lentils, start by looking through the lentils to check for any small stones or other debris. I’ve found a small pebble in packaged lentils on more than one occasion, and you definitely don’t want to bite into that! Then give them a good rinse in a fine mesh strainer under cool running water before using.
How to Make Lentil Bolognese
Sauté vegetables. Start by heating the olive oil in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot. Add the onion, carrot, celery and mushrooms and cook until the veggies start to soften.
Then stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. This cooks off the raw garlic and tomato flavor, and is the secret to a richly flavored sauce.
Deglaze and add remaining ingredients. Deglaze the pot with ½ cup of the broth, scraping up any bits that are stuck to the bottom. Add the remaining broth, crushed tomatoes, lentils, balsamic vinegar, salt, dried oregano, Italian seasoning and pepper.
Simmer the sauce, covered, for 45-60 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Taste the sauce and stir in the sugar if needed to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.
Serving Ideas
This lentil bolognese is delicious served over pasta, spaghetti squash or polenta. You can also use it in place of marinara sauce in my Stuffed Shells and Manicotti recipes, for an added boost of plant-based protein.
Lentil Bolognese
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 small/medium carrots, finely chopped
- 1 rib celery, finely chopped
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 3 ½ cups low sodium vegetable broth, divided
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- ¾ cup green or brown lentils, picked over, rinsed and drained
- 1 tablespoon good quality balsamic vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and mushrooms and sauté, stirring often, for 6-8 minutes, until the vegetables start to soften.
- Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Pour in ½ cup of the broth and stir for about 1 minute, scraping up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the remaining broth, crushed tomatoes, lentils, balsamic vinegar, salt, dried oregano, Italian seasoning and pepper to the pot. Stir.
- Increase heat to bring the pot to a simmer and then reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer. Cover the pot and simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender. Taste and stir in the 2 teaspoons of sugar if needed to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.
Notes
- Sauce may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
