Best Bolognese pasta ever! I tried some recipes using teaspoon (textured soy protein) before and although they tasted good, I prefer this recipe because lentils are not a processed food unlike the TSP. In addition, the flavor and the texture are AMAZING.
I didn't like celery until a couple of years ago and I only added this detoxifying vegetable to my soups and salads, but now I can understand why the Italians use it to make delicious sauces and dishes. When celery is raw it has an intense flavor, but when it's cooked it has a lighter flavor.
I eat pasta once or twice a week and I'm in love with soba noodles (they're made with buckwheat flour, a gluten-free cereal).
If you're following a gluten-free diet, avoid processed gluten-free food because they're made with refined flours and other unhealthy ingredients. I know non-refined pasta is more expensive, but your body's worth it and you can use half gluten-free pasta and half zucchini pasta, which is cheaper, healthier and tastes amazing. To make this kind of pasta I use my Spiralizer, although you can make zoodles (zucchini noodles) using a peeler and a knife.
Tips:
- Red wine can be replaced for vegetable broth, water or any other wine. You can also add some soy sauce or tamari.
- Vegan Parmesan cheese is optional, but it's so delicious. It can be replaced by nutritional or brewer's yeast.
- Use any other dry herb instead of the oregano, I also love thyme.
- Tomato sauce can be hard to find in some countries, but you can use fresh or canned tomatoes instead, although you should cook the sauce longer.
Lentil Bolognese
Best Bolognese pasta ever! I used soba noodles, which are made with buckwheat flour. The sauce is made with lentils and it tastes AWESOME.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main dish
- Cuisine: Vegan, Italian
Ingredients
- ½ cup dry lentils (100 g)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 stick of celery
- 1 carrot
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- Dry oregano
- 1 cup tomato sauce (250 g)
- ¼ cup red wine (75 ml)
- 9 oz soba noodles (250 g)
- Vegan Parmesan (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the lentils and the soba noodles according to package directions.
- Heat some oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion, celery and carrot (finely chopped). Add sea salt, black pepper and oregano to taste. Cook over medium heat until golden brown.
- Add the tomato sauce and cook for 5 minutes more.
- Add the wine and cook until the alcohol evaporates.
- Blend the lentils using a hand blender or a food processor and add the mixture to the frying pan. Stir well.
- Serve the soba noodles with the Bolognese sauce and some vegan Parmesan cheese on top. Add oregano to garnish (optional).
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ of the recipe
- Calories: 373
- Sugar: 5.1g
- Sodium: 841mg
- Fat: 4.3g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7g
- Carbohydrates: 69.8g
- Fiber: 9.2g
- Protein: 16.6g
Keywords: lentil bolognese, vegan bolognese
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
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Linda Szymoniak says
It's been a while since I made this, but have had a taste for it and am making it this week. I have at times served it over polenta. Makes an interesting flavor and texture combination. I could practically live on this recipe!
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Linda! So glad you like it so much 🙂
Serene Lee says
It look tasty. I would make some meal prep for this on my off-day for work. All your food recipes looks yummy.
Iosune Robles says
Hi Serene! Thanks for your kind comment 🙂
Yalp says
I did it... EXCELLENT ! Thank you for share it with us 😉 I Must tell dare to add mushroom in slices and vegan mozzarella cheese into your deliciuos sauce and...yummy yummy !!
★★★★★
Iosune Robles says
That sounds good! So glad you liked it 🙂
Julee says
Delicious! I made it last night and it was the best pasta sauce I’ve made! I didn’t have much time so I skipped blending the lentils (the ones I have cook up very soft and almost falling apart anyway) and just served them on top of the spaghetti covered by the sauce. We had it with brown rice spaghetti instead of buckwheat noodles. 2 of us (moderate eaters but we love pasta) ate only this for dinner and there was barely any leftover. Thanks for the great recipe!
★★★★★
Iosune Robles says
Hi Julee, sounds so good! I am so glad you liked it 🙂 Have a nice day!
Neal says
Great recipe to follow! I made a few small tweaks based on how I’ve made bolognese sauce in the past. I used fresh tomatoes instead of sauce, simmering red lentils directly in the sauce to give the tomatoes more time to disintegrate. Using red lentils and simmering them for enough time (20 minutes or so), in my opinion, removes the need for blending anything. And I added a splash of soymilk during the final simmering stages. Really happy with the results!
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Neal! So glad you liked it 🙂
Siena says
Is it a half cup cooled or dry lentils?
Iosune says
Hi Siena! I used dry lentils 🙂
Dan says
I added white cup mushrooms a little bit of garlic and blended a tin of brown lentils and treated them as you would regular mince as well as chilli. Absolutely love this. Thanks for giving me the base to tweek for myself.
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Dan! Sounds so good 🙂 Thank YOU!
Kathie C says
So easy and so delish! I put a tablespoon of the nutritional yeast as suggested since I didn’t have vegan cheese. It was perfect over whole wheat spaghetti. 💛
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Kathie! So glad you liked it 🙂
Bonnie says
Yummy!
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Bonnie! Thanks a lot 🙂
Irizelma Robles says
Better than meat boloñesa! Thank you for this recipe.
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Irizelma! I'm so happy to hear that 🙂
Shazkins says
Made this yesterday. It was delicious. The only thing I did differently was processed the celery and carrots but didn't blend the lentils. The celery and carrots were still crunchy (the bigger bits) so I'm wondering how crunchy it would be if you only chopped it. Nevertheless I'll make it again because it was easy, tasty and so healthy.
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Shazkins! Thanks a lot 🙂 So glad you liked it!
Linda Chapter says
I made your bolognese sauce (the one where you used TVP) last week. Not having TVP, subbed in 8 oz of tempeh. Before beginning, I researched the classic sauce recipe from Marcella Hazen. Hers called for some cream and a bit of nutmeg so I used plant milk, about half a cup, adding before the wine. Important to let it cook until it is absorbed into the dish, then add wine. I added a can of diced tomatoes too, adjusting the amount of broth. I used some pasta cooking water too at the end because it was a little dry, probably because tempeh absorbs lots of water, it was amazing and very reminiscent of the classic version.
Iosune says
Hi Linda! Sounds AMAZING 😀 Thanks for sharing!
Patti Pierce says
Iosune, where do you buy soba noodles?
Thanks, Patti
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Patti! I live in Spain, so I can't help you, sorry! However, I think you should find soba noodles at Asian supermarkets, online (Amazon is great) or your local health store. Have a nice day!
Linda Szymoniak says
I love serving bolognese over polenta. This recipe sounds like it would be perfect for that. And, a healthy vegan (if not using cheese) or vegetarian (if using cheese - for my daughter cheese is its own food group). I'm definitely going to make this recipe!
Iosune says
Hi Linda! Hope you like it 😀
Linda Szymoniak says
I made this for dinner tonight and love it! I did do the polenta instead of noodles, and I kept my veggies a little chunkier than they show in your photos. I'll be honest - I have only cooked lentils in something (stew, soup, etc.) so I had to guess how much water to use to cook them. I think I used too little, as they came out a little dry. I'll know better next time. I also might take one of the other suggestions in the comments and add some mushrooms. I love mushrooms in just about anything!
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Linda! I'm so glad you liked it 😀
Carly S says
I made it and it was delicious. I added some garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes for heat. I don't have a hand blender thing, so I used red lentils, which turn out mushier. Thank you for the great recipe!
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Carly! Thanks a lot 😀 I'm so glad you liked it!
Dani says
Hello,
What wine would be used in this recipe? White or red?
Thank you!!
Iosune says
Hi Dani! I used red whine 😉
Anne says
Hi 🙂
Are these lentils cooked ahead? If so, what is your preferred method? 🙂
Iosune says
Hi Anne! As you can read in the recipe, I used raw lentils and them cooked them using package directions. You just need to boil them until they're ready. Have a nice day!
Anne says
Thanks for your reply... I bought dry lentils, but it seems the brand I chose assumes we all already know how to cook them hehe
Iosune says
Then boil them until they're tender, most people add salt to the water, but I prefer to add the salt later 😉
Tatiana says
Hi! I'm so excited to try this recipe, but I have a question - what exactly is one stalk of celery? One whole head or bunch, or just a "stick" of celery? I've heard stalk as being referred to as the whole head and also one "stick" (or rib) of celery.
Thanks!
Iosune says
Hi Tatiana! I'm so sorry, it was a mistake, it's a stick of celery 😛 Have a nice day!
Tatiana says
Thanks - I made the recipe and it's perfect! I'm obsessed.
★★★★★
Iosune says
I'm so glad you liked it! 😀
Lisa says
Just made this tonight. Threw in some mushrooms as well. This sauce is a revelation. No more plain old spaghetti sauce for me. The depth of flavor plus the protein kick from the lentils makes this my new pasta sauce.
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Lisa! I'm so happy to read that! I'm glad you liked it 😉
Emilie @ Emilie Eats says
Mmmmm this looks incredible!! And those pictures are GORGEOUS! Can't wait to look through your site at all the yummy recipes 🙂
Iosune says
Hi Emilie! Thanks a lot, you're so kind 😀 Have a nice day!!!
Jon@JuicingLeafyGreens says
Recipe looks delicious. I never liked the taste of faux meat products, not to mention the questionable ingredients, so this recipe looks very cool. Lentils are fantastic, but I've never tried them in a pasta sauce, only added to short pasta like rigatoni and penna for added protein. I think if more people tried cooking with lentils they would enjoy it, they are easy to cook, super flavorful, and filling.
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Jon! I'm totally agree with you! Lentils are awesome! 🙂
Lisa malcolm says
What kind of lentils are used? Thanks.
Iosune says
Hi Lisa! I used Spanish Pardina lentils, but you can use any kind 🙂
CuriousEater says
Split red lentils will not work as they will turn to a mush. Green, beluga or puy lentils would work.
Iosune says
Hi! Thanks a lot for your comment 😀
The Vegan Junction says
This recipe sounds great. Who doesn't love soba noodles?! 😉 And lentil bolognese, yumm. I like how many veggies there are, adding plenty of flavour!
Iosune says
Thanks a lot!!! Soba noodles are amazing 🙂
Vibeke says
This recipe works perfectly! I added 200 grams of mushrooms (I cut them in very small pieces and toasted them on a dry frying pan - them added them with the smashed lentils) - it tasted wonderful! Thank you Iosune for all your nice recipes! I allways look forward to your posts 🙂
★★★★★
Iosune says
Hi Vibeke! Thanks a lot for your kind words 🙂 I can't eat mushrooms, but they're so nutritious!
Selena La Rue says
How long should the Red wine cook of the alcohol?
Sally says
This dish looks beyond delicious! I can't wait to try it!
★★★★★
Iosune says
I hope you like it Sally 😉 Have a nice day!