These Vegan Zucchini Noodles are topped with a delicious homemade vegan Bolognese sauce. It’s the perfect meal: healthy, balanced, and tasty!
This recipe may require a little more time if you spiralize your own zucchini noodles, but you can just as easily buy zucchini noodles from the store for this recipe. Then all you need to do is make the sauce!
To make this delicious, vegan meal, just spiralize your zucchini and cook it for 4 minutes, make your sauce, and toss it together! Now you have a delicious Italian-inspired dinner.
This vegan zucchini noodles recipe is...
- vegan
- vegetarian
- plant-based
- gluten-free
- Italian-inspired
- ready in 45 minutes
- a filling low-carb meal
How to Make Vegan Zucchini Noodles
- Make your zucchini noodles using a mandoline or a spiralizer.
- Place your noodles in a colander and squeeze them gently to drain the water.
- Pan fry the zucchini noodles until they are slightly softened. Don’t overcook.
- In a large pot, heat oil.
- Prepare your vegetables. Chop the onion, carrot, garlic, and green pepper. Add these to the pot and stir occasionally.
- Once the onions are translucent, add the fresh herbs and vegan wine. Simmer and cover.
- Next, add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and maple syrup.
- Stir your sauce, season with salt and pepper, and then cover it to cook.
- While the sauce is cooking, boil the soy protein in boiling water. Do this until you get a “minced meat” look, adding water as needed. Use a colander to get rid of extra water.
- Add the soy to the sauce and combine.
- Serve the vegan Bolognese sauce over the zucchini noodles.
Scroll down for the full recipe with measurements and detailed instructions.
Tips & Tricks
Mandolines & Spiralizers
Nowadays, you can buy zucchini noodles in the produce section at your local grocery store. It’s just more expensive and typically sold in smaller portions.
But if you want to make your own zucchini noodles, you’ll need a mandoline or a spiralizer. A mandoline is kind of like a grater, but it allows for attachments that cut vegetables with various shapes and designs. A spiralizer is similar, but it cuts vegetables into pasta-like strands. It’s probably the easier option for making zucchini noodles.
If you don’t have a mandoline or a spiralizer, you can use a peeler or a knife. Just know that it will take quite a lot more time.
Zucchini Noodles
If you don’t make the zucchini noodles right, they might turn out too soggy. You can squeeze them lightly in a colander, but if it seems like they still have too much liquid in them, you can use a paper towel to pat them dry. You can also try sprinkling them with salt, letting them sit and then wrapping them in a paper towel and then lightly squeezing them to release the excess water.
The trick is to get your zucchini noodles as dry as possible without squishing them.
Vegan Zucchini Noodles with Vegan Bolognese FAQs
How do you keep zucchini noodles from getting soggy?
There are a couple things to remember if you don’t want soggy zucchini noodles. First, always pat the zucchini noodles dry after spiralizing them. Second, make sure to cook them on medium-high heat. Also, don’t cover them while they’re cooking, and don’t overcook them.
What can I use instead of zucchini noodles?
If you don’t have zucchini, you can spiralize other vegetables, make cabbage noodles, or cauliflower couscous.
If you aren’t going for a pant-based noodle, you can use egg, flour, or rice noodles.
Why do my zucchini noodles get watery?
If your zucchini noodles are watery, it means you didn’t get them dry enough. Make sure to pat them dry multiple times after spiraling to take off as much moisture as possible.
Recipe
Vegan Zucchini Noodles with Vegan Bolognese
Ingredients
- 1 cup textured soy protein
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 large zucchinis
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dry oregano
- ½ cup vegan red wine
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 can diced tomato
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ½ red or green pepper
- 1 cup water
- Salt & black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- The zucchini noodles can be made in different ways, using a mandoline or a spiralizer is the easiest one. But I’ve done it with a peeler and a knife too, it just takes a little bit more time.
- Place the noodles in a colander and squeeze them gently to release any additional water.
- Pan fry zucchini noodles for 3 to 4 minutes over medium-high heat. Do not overcook them, they should reduce just a little until they are softened. Set aside.
- In a large pot heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat.
- Chop the onion, carrot, garlic, and pepper. Transfer to a pot and sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once onions are fragrant and translucent, add fresh herbs and wine, bring to a simmer, and cover for 10 minutes to let the wine cook down.
- Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and maple syrup to the simmering vegetables. Stir to combine, season with salt and pepper, then cover again and let cook for another 10–15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, hydrate the soy protein in boiling water. The water should easily cover it. To get the tender “minced meat” texture, add as much water as you need. You can always use a colander to get rid of extra water.
- Finally, add the soy “meat” to the sauce, cook for just another minute.
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