This Creamy Vegan Mushroom Pasta recipe is quick and easy to make. We're talking chewy, dense pasta, loaded up with sautéed mushrooms and spinach, and tossed in a heavenly, but low fat, creamy sauce. It can be ready in a little over the time it takes the pasta to boil!
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This is so good! Creamy Vegan Mushroom Pasta, only without the cream, and with all the flavour.
We're talking deliciously dense pasta, coated in a creamy, slightly cheesy, velvety, creamy sauce. Then, we're adding super yum sautéed mushrooms and spinach for good measure.
Pasta + Mushrooms + Spinach + Creamy Sauce = Perfection.
Am I right? Comfort food right there in all it's stick to your ribs glory.
But guess what? It's actually really low in fat so feel free to pile your bowl high.
Most vegan creamy sauces (like my cashew cheese sauce and vegan carbonara sauce) tend to be made with cashew nuts, and although they are super delicious, they end up quite high in fat and calories.
This sauce is different though! Like my Vegan Asparagus Pasta it's made with tofu. Yes, it's one of my many vegan tofu recipes! In fact, this recipe is an adaptation of my very popular Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce recipe which is also made with tofu.
Tofu in a creamy sauce might sound weird but stick with me because it does a really great job of adding a really silky tone to the sauce that cashew nuts, soaked or not, don't.
Ingredients
This Vegan Mushroom Pasta is really easy to make and takes no time at all. The only equipment you will need is a blender.
You will also need a skillet or frying pan to sauté the mushrooms and spinach and to toss everything together in.
For the super easy sauce that takes a minute or two to prepare in your blender, you need:
- tofu
- nutritional yeast
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- smoked paprika or chipotle powder
- Dijon mustard
- white wine vinegar
- salt
- soy milk (or other unsweeteend milk of choice)
Then the other necessary bits and bobs are:
- pasta (whatever your jam is. Anything goes. macaroni, spaghetti, fettuccine, penne, rigatoni .... literally any of them).
- mushrooms
- spinach
A note on nutritional yeast
Please be sure to use a good tasting nutritional yeast for this recipe. All nutritional yeasts are not created equally. Some brands taste a lot better than others.
My personal favourite is Hoosier Farms and an added bonus is it’s super cheap too. It comes in a massive tub that lasts ages. I get mine from Amazon.
How to make vegan mushroom pasta
Step 1 - Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta. While it's boiling blend up the sauce ingredients.
Step 2 - Sauté the mushrooms and the spinach.
Step 3 - Add the cooked pasta and the sauce to the mushrooms and spinach.
Step 4 - Stir it all together.
That's it. The whole recipe can be ready in little more than the time it takes the pasta to boil. How good is that?
Picture this.
You. A big bowl of Creamy Vegan Mushroom Pasta. Spinach tucked in there too because VEG. (And because it tastes super nice with the creamy sauce). Vegan parmesan sprinkled ALL over. Feet up. Relax. Stuff your face.
In that order. Thank me later.
Recipe
Creamy Vegan Mushroom Pasta
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 500 g / 1 lb spaghetti or pasta of choice
- 1 tablespoon / 15 mls olive oil , OPTIONAL - use water to sauté to make the recipe oil-free
- 300 g / 10 oz mushrooms (white, cremini or portobello) , wiped clean and sliced
- 200 g / 7 oz fresh baby spinach
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the sauce
- 340 g / 12 oz oz silken or soft tofu (not firm or extra firm)
- ½ cup / 35 g nutritional yeast make sure it's a good tasting one
- 1½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika or chipotle powder
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup / 120 mls unsweetened milk of choice soy milk gives the best result tastewise
INSTRUCTIONS
- Fill a large pan with water and bring it to a boil on the stove top.
- While it is heating, wash the spinach and wipe the mushrooms clean then slice them ready for cooking. Get a large skillet or frying pan ready with a tablespoon of oil in it on the stove top.
- Blend up the sauce ingredients.
- Add the pasta to the boiling water.
- Warm the frying pan over a medium heat and sauté the mushrooms for about 7 minutes until golden on each side. Add the spinach and allow it to wilt. You will struggle to fit it all in the pan but squish it down and it will melt down to more manageable levels very quickly. Season them with a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn the heat down to medium low.
- Drain the pasta, reserving about ⅓ cup of the starchy water. Just keep it to one side for now. Add the pasta to the pan with the mushrooms and spinach, then pour over the sauce. Stir everything together really well. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Allow it to warm through over the heat, adding a little of the reserved starchy water if you want to thin the sauce a little. You shouldn't need much, if any at all.
- Serve immediately.
NOTES
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BDK says
I wanted it to be good, and it almost was. I am not a good cook typically, so there's a chance I messed something up, but it came out too pasty for me and the leftovers were like, whoa. Like I ate some really sticky organic peanut butter and then tried to talk. It was ridiculous.
Melanie McDonald says
Pasty? I think that you almost certainly made a mistake, either with the ingredients used or the method. This sauce is really loose, velvety, and smooth and with the pasta water being added you can make it even thinner if you want to. It's not claggy or sticky at all. Did you make any substitutions? Use the wrong type of tofu? It needs to be silken or soft. It won't work with any other kind. Maybe the pasta was overcooked too. That could have contributed. It's important to cook it al dente. Or when the sauce was added to the pasta maybe it wasn't served immediately? You can't leave pasta hanging around in the pan because it will continue to cook and thr sauce will dry out.
Just a few guesses as to what might have happened. I hope it helps!
Lance-Robert says
Thank you, Mel. I really enjoyed this and it was a breeze to make. I didn't have any spinach so I used kale (the green curly kind) and it turned out perfectly. Hard to believe a sauce could be that rich and tasty sans dairy. Amazing! I will make this again on a regular basis with kale and double the mushrooms. I will also find other applications for that amazing sauce. Thanks again!
Kenzie says
I make this recipe almost every week now. Me and my better half(both vegans) devour it. The flavor is absolutely perfect. I never need to change a single thing, besides doubling the recipe for guests. Thank you so much for sharing. This will always be a go to recipe for us!
Melanie Faragosa says
Soooooooooo good, it almost tastes like stroganoff...delicious!!!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. I'm really pleased you enjoyed it!
Susan Putnam says
Great recipe. I had to use some frozen spinach - squeezed extra water out, and used edemame pasta as that is what I had in the cupboard. It has 25 grams of protein per serving..I will definitely make it again.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm glad you enjoyed it Susan!
Jennifer says
It's hard to find creamy vegan recipes that my husband (who is allergic to nuts) can eat, so I really appreciated this recipe. Made it tonight and we both really liked it. I just made a few tweaks--because of the quarantine I didn't have silky tofu so I subbed firm tofu (but only about 10 oz) plus about 1/4 cup extra soymilk. I also added 2 Tbs of vegan butter (earth balance) to the sauce for creamy richness, and I also added a little fresh squeezed lemon juice at the end to brighten up the flavor--it was yummy. I didn't see the note about adding sauteed mushrooms to the sauce until after I was done cooking, though, and I think that would be a good idea. In fact, my only complaint about the recipe is it needs more mushrooms! I would use at least 16 oz, plus adding some to the sauce. Thanks for the recipe! It will go in my regular rotation. It's great that we vegans can get so much protein from a cream-sauced pasta dish! Plus it's heart healthy!
Melissa K. says
Oh, my, this is what I have been searching for! A low-fat pasta sauce that is absolutely incredibly delicious! THANK YOU!
Rosa K says
I’ve noticed in your recipes when you use tofu they don’t specify if you are pressing it when using the firm style?.
A Virtual Vegan says
If the tofu needs to be pressed it will say clearly in the recipe. If I don't mention it that's because it doesn't need to be pressed. In this recipe the moisture in the tofu is needed to keep the sauce the right consistency.
Charlotte says
Im not exaggerating when I say this recipe is a lifechanger. Soo easy and soo tasty! After eating part of the sauce with my noodles earlier, Im currently dipping veggies in the rest. Absolutely LOVE it! Thank you for this post.
A Virtual Vegan says
That's awesome Charlotte! I'm thrilled you enjoyed it so much. Thank you for stopping by to leave feedback. I really appreciate it!
Beth says
YESH! I developed an allergy to all nuts right when the cashew trend in vegan cooking was hitting it's stride (and it's still going) so there are many, many recipes I missed out on making. I certainly don't expect recipe developers to offer alternatives to using cashews but I'm really glad that you developed this recipe using tofu. (It's hard to please everyone, I'm sure folks with soy allergies or those who just prefer to not eat soy are having a sad face right now instead of a happy face.) Anyway, thank you again and I look forward to trying this recipe soon.
A Virtual Vegan says
That's great Beth. I hope you enjoy it!
Beth says
P.S. The recipe calls for 7 oz of fresh baby spinach. Sometimes the fresh spinach at my grocery store looks glorious, other times not so much. Today was one of those not-so-much days. Can I sub 7 oz of frozen spinach as I long as I defrost it properly and squeeze out all the excess water?
A Virtual Vegan says
I would think that will be ok yes. As long as it's not watery so it doesn't dilute the sauce. Hope you enjoy it!
Beth says
P.S. Again. Hopefully I'm not making you bang your head against the wall. I clicked over to your original easy vegan cheese sauce recipe and you indeed say that every single ingredient has a purpose and you don't advise subbing. that being said, I don't have white wine vinegar. Although you may not approve, could I sub 1-1/2 tsp each of white wine and apple cider vinegar? Or just a full TBS of cider vinegar or rice vinegar?
A Virtual Vegan says
Apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar will be ok yes. I find though that white wine vinegar, for some odd reason, makes it taste cheesier.
Genevieve says
Yum I can't wait to make this for dinner! Sounds so simple and quick to make. Perfect for a work night!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you. Hope you enjoy it!