Red Lentil Spaghetti Sauce

lentil tomato sauce in a pot with wooden ladle

Take those fresh tomatoes from your garden and make this delicious homemade tomato sauce! The added red lentils makes this sauce packed with protein. This Red Lentil Spaghetti dish is perfect for your vegan weight gain goals!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Vegan

Keyword red lenti spaghetti, red lentil pasta sauce, red lentil sauce

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings servings (5 cups of Sauce)

Calories 226kcal

Author Gina Marie

Equipment

Cooking Pot
Immersion Blender or Potato Masher

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon vegan butter
1 tablespoon garlic paste
½ large onion, chopped
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup tomato paste
½ cup red cooking wine note 1
7-8 medium tomatoes, chopped (should equal about 5 cups of tomatoes chopped) note 2
1 cup Vegan Bone Broth note 3
handful fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon organic cane sugar
¾ cup dried red lentils note 4
additional fresh basil for garnish optional
store bought Vegan Parmesan Cheese optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Place pot over medium high heat and add oil and butter allowing the oil and butter to get hot and melt. Next add your garlic paste and onions and saute' for 2 to 3 minutes until onions start to soften.
Next add salt, pepper, tomato paste, and red cooking wine to your pot and stir until tomato paste is well combined with the wine, onions, and garlic for about 20 to 40 seconds. It should look like a sauce.
Then you will add your fresh tomatoes and stir until it fully combines with the red wine sauce for about 30 to 60 seconds.
To your fresh tomatoes you are going to add Vegan Bone Broth, fresh basil, dried oregano, and organic cane sugar. Stir until seasonings are fully combined for about a minute. Turn down heat to low and allow it to simmer for about 20 minutes uncovered.
Next take you're Immersion (Handheld) Blender and blend your tomato sauce until it is smooth. I you don't have an Immersion Blender, use a potato masher to get it as smooth as you possibly can. Or you could or carefully add your sauce to a blender, blend until smooth and add it back to your pot.
Once sauce is smooth, add your dried red lentils and stir them into your sauce. On low heat, simmer for about 20 to 25 minutes uncovered until lentils are tender and thoroughly cooked through. Do NOT over cook your red lentils are they will become too mushy. (Unless you like them that way).
Once lentils become tender, turn off heat and serve your red lentil spaghetti sauce over spaghetti pasta. Garnish with additional basil if you like and some vegan Parmesan cheese. This goes really well with vegan garlic bread or a fresh salad!
This sauce will keep in the refrigerator for about 4 to 5 days and it can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Video

Notes

RED COOKING WINE: If you prefer not to use red wine in your sauce you can omit it and replace with an equal amount of vegan broth.
FRESH TOMATOES: Although fresh tomatoes is highly recommended, canned tomatoes can be substituted. Just make sure the canned tomatoes aren't seasoned as it might throw off the flavor of the sauce. I have only personally made this recipe with fresh tomatoes.
VEGAN BONE BROTH: For this recipe I used my homemade Slow Cooker Vegan Bone Broth but you can substitute with whatever vegetable broth you desire.
RED LENTILS: I used red lentils because they cook faster than traditional brown lentils. But if all you have is brown lentils, feel free to use those. You will just need to adjust to a longer cooking time. I have only tried this recipe with red lentils. You could also omit the lentils all together for a plan tomato sauce and store it for later. When you are ready to use, you could add your choice of vegan crumbles, mushrooms, walnuts, etc.

Nutrition