Nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of pasta, and this tasty vegan nod to Italian goodness is perfectly seasoned and oh-so-delicious. Our Vegan “Sausage” Mushroom Pasta is full of rich flavors and packed with zesty onions, hearty mushrooms, earthy garlic, protein-packed lentils, nourishing spinach, and tender pasta. A must-try flavor experience that is sure to have the whole family seated at the dinner table in a flash!
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Hi there, Ameera here!
OK, can you handle another mushroom dish? Sorry, but we absolutely LOVE mushrooms, they are so healthy and hearty, so they make the perfect ingredient for a lot of Whole Food Plant Based dishes.
We could easily fill a cookbook dedicated to mushroom recipes!
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
“Sausage” Flavors
We used the typical seasonings that go into sausage, but mainly focusing on fennel seeds, which really shines in Italian sausage.
You get all the wonderful “sausagey” flavors without the actual sausage, which it totally awesome, right?
Lentils
You’re probably looking really hard at the photos… where’s the lentils? Yup, there aren’t any lentils in the photos. We accidentally left the lentils out during out photoshoot.
Those tasty lentils were there in all our kitchen tests, and we totally love them in this dish, but things were a little crazy that day and we simply forgot them. Ughhhh.
The dish tastes fabulous both with and without the lentils, but we think it tastes heartier with them in the dish.
I’ll let Mom tell you more about this tasty dish!
Hi! Robin here!
Loved this dish! LOVE MUSHROOMS! I adore them, so does TP109. He is always a happy camper whenever we make mushroom dishes. Plus, he is always bringing home mushrooms from the grocery store to ensure new recipe development includes mushrooms. I think it is part of his master plan! LOL
We would love for you to give this recipe a try! We just know you are going to love it too.
If you try this tasty dish, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
Products Used:
- Ceramic/enamel lined skillet, Dutch oven, nonstick skillet or similar large stock pot.
- Medium stock pot to cook the pasta.
Vegan “Sausage” Mushroom Pasta
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 20 Minutes
- Total Time: 30 Minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Cozy and so delicious, this Vegan “Sausage” Mushroom Pasta is full of rich flavors, nourishing vegetables, and tender pasta all coated in a creamy sauce. Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Ingredients
- 8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 2 Tablespoons tamari, divided *
- 1 cup yellow onions, small dice
- 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
- ¾ cup vegetable broth *
- ¼ cup unsweetened plain plant milk
- ½ cup hot pasta water
- 2 teaspoons white miso *
- 2 teaspoons tahini (optional) *
- 3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 cup cooked brown lentils (optional) *
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped (or greens of choice)
- 10 oz. GF penne pasta (or pasta of choice)
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried crushed fennel seeds (+/-) *
- ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (+/-)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (+/-) *
Other Optional Ingredients:
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Fill a medium stock pot with water to boil the pasta. Start cooking the pasta, cook according to package directions. Retain one cup of hot pasta water to use in Step 5 below. Once the pasta is done cooking, drain, rinse well with cold water to stop the cooking process and to remove any excess starches, shake to remove any water, set aside.
- In the meantime, place the Spice/Herb Ingredients (except the red pepper flakes) in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
- In a large ceramic/enamel lined skillet/Dutch oven/pot (or similarly large stockpot) add the sliced cremini mushrooms and 1 Tablespoon tamari, sauté over medium-high heat for 4 minutes to allow the mushrooms to release some of their water.
- Then add the diced onion to the skillet with the mushrooms, sauté over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes to soften the onions, then add the finely minced garlic. Sauté over medium heat for one minute.
- Add the vegetable broth, plant milk, hot pasta water, nutritional yeast, tahini, miso, and 1 Tablespoon tamari (remaining amount), then increase the heat to a boil, add the Spice/Herb ingredients and cooked brown lentils, stir well, then immediately lower to a low simmering boil.
- Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the pasta and baby spinach, simmer for a few minutes to allow the flavors to marry.
- Add the red pepper flake, simmer one minute. Taste test and add additional seasoning to achieve the desired flavor. Remove from the stove and allow to sit for a few minutes to allow the pasta to absorb some of the liquid.
- Serve and top with Vegan Parmesan Cheese, and some freshly chopped parsley and red pepper flakes.
Notes
*Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
*Miso: We use Miso Master Organic Mellow White Premium Lite Miso, Certified Gluten Free. Miso really lends itself to balancing flavors when you don’t use oil. You can also substitute with chickpea miso for a soy free version.
*Tahini: We added just a hint of tahini to this dish to add some richness to the broth. You can leave it out if you wish, but we felt it was totally worth it.
*Hot Pasta Water: Pull 1 cup of hot pasta water. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of hot pasta water; however, if you need a little more to loosen up the broth to suit your tastes, you’ll have it on hand. You may not need more than 1/2 cup of hot pasta water.
*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
*Dried Thyme Leaves: We use Penzeys French Thyme. It has amazing flavor. If you can’t find dried thyme leaves, you can use ground thyme, but use half the amount.
*Dried Crushed Fennel Seeds: We really enjoy the flavor of fennel. You can typically taste the fennel in the sausage so that is where we are coming from when we named this dish. Please feel free to use as much or as little fennel as you wish.
*Red Pepper Flakes: We love red pepper flakes. It totally adds a lot of flavor to this dish. If you are concerned about the heat, start on the lower end (1/4 teaspoon), and then sprinkle additional red pepper flakes on individual servings. We used ½ teaspoon in several kitchen tests. We also had family members that preferred the full teaspoon, but that really cranks up the heat, not for the timid at a full teaspoon. We consistently preferred ½ teaspoon on final kitchen tests.
*Lentils: You can leave the lentils out of the dish or you can substitute just about any bean you wish. In previous kitchen tests, we used canned lentils and they were fantastic. For our photoshoot, we accidentally left them out and the dish still tasted amazing. The measurement of one cup of lentils was after the lentils had been cooked. Select lentils that hold their shape after cooking. If we don’t have time to cook lentils, we like to use Delallo Imported Italian Lentils. They come in a 14 oz. can. Most grocery stores carry them in the specialty aisles.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Serving: 4
*Storage: Refrigerate and use within 5 days.
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
You recommended a GF pasta but specifically what brand did you use or did I miss seeing it?
Hi there Diane 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We like a brown rice pasta. Our favorite gluten free brands are Delallo, Bionaturae, and Tinkyada. For this recipe we used Delallo gluten free penne pasta.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Yum! Another easy and delicious recipe that my husband has agreed to have served to him again in the future!!! Used organic red lentil penne pasta, added the lentils (but not the red pepper flakes). Thank you again!!!
Hi there Marlo 🙂
Woot!!! We are so thrilled to hear that you and your husband enjoyed this recipe. Glad to hear it is a dish you’ll be making again! We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this a while ago and am just getting around to letting you know how it went. This was quite tasty and I didn’t regret having to eat it several times during the week to use it all up. It is just me and sometimes I get sick of eating the same thing every day. This is one of your smaller recipes, so it was easy to finish this one off. Thanks for the great recipe.
Hi there Helene 🙂
Awesome!!! We are so glad that you enjoyed this recipe! Yes, we tend to make a little larger portions for 4-6 to feed everyone in our family, plus we enjoy leftovers too. But we can see how that can be overwhelming for just one. We are so glad you looked forward to this one a couple times through the week. We appreciate your support and wonderful feedback! Thank you 😀
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I’m probably blind – I don’t see where to add the tahini.
Hi there Susan 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. You are correct, we forgot to add the tahini into the instructions. We just added it to step 5. Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Great – thanks – and why is the soy sauce divided?
We updated the instructions to include more information about the tamari. Step 3, add in 1 tablespoon tamari to sauté the mushrooms. Then you add in the second tablespoon of tamari in step 5. We hope this helps. Thank you so much!
This was absolutely delicious! I have a ton of y’alls recipes saved but this was my first time making one of them. I did it exactly to the instructions. I’m salivating right now just thinking about it. The flavors meld together extraordinarily well! I used banza chick pea pasta shells. Thank you so much!
Hi there Julie 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this pasta dish. We appreciate your kind words and wonderful feedback! Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
The ingredients say 1/2 cup pasta water but Step 5 says add one cup. Can you clarify please. I am in the process of making this now so here’s hoping!
Hi there Suzanne 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We say to take out one cup of pasta water in step 1, but only add in 1/2 cup in step 5. This way, if you find the sauce is too thick at the end, you have some left over pasta water to use.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Another winner!! You two have transformed my WFPB journey. Before I discovered your recipes, I thought I was doomed to a never-ending variation of chickpeas, sweet potatoes and curry. My SAD-eating husband tried to be a good sport, but even I was ready to give up. Literally everything I have made from your collection has blown us both away. Thank you so much for all the love and work that goes into developing so many unique and delicious recipes.
Hi there Laurie,
WOOO HOOOO!!! We are so happy that you and your husband enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for your support and taking time to write us an awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
I make a lot of your recipes and have liked all of them but this one knocked it out of the park!
Hi there Francene,
YAYYYY!!! We are so happy that you are enjoying our recipes! Thank you so much.
-Ameera and Robin
I was a bit skeptical that it would taste like sausage but wow! It does! I doubled the recipe except for the pasta. Just used 16 ounces since that’s a whole bag. I just added extra chopped spinach and it was fine. Careful on the red pepper flakes. It can get pretty spicy. Will def keep in the rotation because my husband loved it so much.
Hi there Karen,
YAYYYY!!! We are thrilled that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it. Thank you so much for taking time to leave us a fantastic review.
-Ameera and Robin