Pasta is a pantry staple for many people, but it’s an invaluable ingredient for vegans and vegetarians. So many plant-based casseroles and main dishes feature noodles as a base or added component.
Pasta is a great equalizer in vegan cooking because the flavor in pasta dishes is in the sauce and other ingredients. Tomato-based sauces taste delicious without meat, and creamy white sauces can get their flavor from vegan butter and plant-based milk to make them dairy-free.
Whether you want to make mac and cheese, vegan lasagna, vegan pad Thai, or another noodle dish, you’ll find something tempting in this list. One of the vegan pasta recipes below could be dinner tonight and make a great addition to your meal rotation.
1. Creamy Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff by Rainbow Plant Life
If you love pasta and mushrooms, your mouth will water when you make this mushroom stroganoff. Nisha uses a combination of mushrooms like shiitake, chanterelle, king oyster, and maitake instead of standard button mushrooms to set this recipe apart.
Leeks, white wine, coconut milk, soy sauce, and vegan Worcestershire create layers of flavor in this dish. It’s so delicious that she claims it turned her mushroom-hating boyfriend into a mushroom fan.
She has the successful Rainbow Plant Life YouTube Channel and recently published a cookbook filled with more delicious vegan pasta recipes.
2. Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Fettuccine by Plant Based Dads
A jar of roasted red peppers adds flavor to the plant-based milk sauce made richer and creamier with raw cashews. Those ingredients and fettuccine are the bulk of the recipe. You’ll only need garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and lemon juice to finish it off.
Chopped basil can be a garnish, or you can skip it and start eating immediately. You won’t want to wait long with the simple but delicious pasta recipe.
3. No-Boil Pesto Pasta Bake by From My Bowl
Pesto traditionally contains parmesan cheese with all that basil, but vegan pesto typically uses nuts or seeds to mimic the texture and umami of the cheese. This recipe calls for vegan pesto, and Caitlyn offers her pumpkin seed pesto recipe that’s easy to make in a food processor.
Cremini mushrooms and grape tomatoes combine with the Kalamata olives and pesto to make a pasta bake that’s a comforting casserole anytime. It’s easy enough to make on a weeknight.
4. Healthier Vegan Cauliflower Mac & Cheese by Avant Garde Vegan
Gaz Oakley’s vegan pasta recipes are always exciting, and this version of macaroni and cheese is no different. Cauliflower and sun-dried tomatoes, with grated vegan cheese, make a creamy, nutritious, and tasty sauce for macaroni or your favorite pasta.
Whole grain mustard and smoked paprika add a depth of flavor, and the breadcrumb and herb topping baked on for the last 15 minutes add crunch and another layer of taste to enjoy.
5. Vegan Peanut Butter Noodle Casserole by Vegan Richa
This Thai-inspired noodle casserole uses firm, cubed tofu as its protein and includes thinly sliced carrots, green cabbage, and bell peppers. When you’re craving Asian food and in the mood for noodles, skip the take-out and make this simple recipe.
A spicy peanut sauce from peanut butter, soy sauce, and sambal oelek or your favorite Asian chili sauce adds traditional Thai flavor to rice noodles. Richa features several vegan pasta recipes on her site, many with Indian spices.
6. Spicy Pasta Arrabbiata by Sweet Potato Soul
If you want pasta with tomato sauce that kicks it up a notch, try this pasta with a spicy arrabbiata sauce instead. Tomato sauce often has onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning flavors, but this tomato sauce gets some zing from red chili flakes.
You can make this easy recipe if you have canned, plain tomato sauce in your pantry. A walnut parmesan made with walnuts, miso paste, and nutritional yeast is the perfect topping for this pasta dish.
7. Quick & Easy Pasta Salad by Food With Feeling
Vegan pasta recipes don’t have to be heavy with creamy sauces or tomato gravy. Pasta salads are often light and perfect for summer or picnic food. Use the short pasta of your choice like rotini, farfalle, or shells to customize this recipe to your tastes.
In this healthy and delicious pasta salad recipe, a simple mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar dresses your favorite pasta and fresh veggies like cherry tomatoes, red onion, and green pepper.
8. Creamy Vegan Garlic Pasta With Roasted Tomatoes by Minimalist Baker
Grape tomatoes are delicious in salads or as a snack, but they add rich, fresh flavor to this creamy garlic sauce after they’re roasted. Did you know that tomatoes have even more health benefits after roasting? All the more reason to make this one of your go-to vegan pasta recipes.
This penne pasta drenched in garlic sauce and mixed with roasted tomatoes is pure comfort food that only takes 30 minutes in the kitchen.
9. Vegan Pasta Primavera With Creamy Garlic Cashew Sauce by Ambitious Kitchen
This pasta dish gets its creamy sauce with soaked cashews that add richness and ensure the sauce sticks to every bite of pasta. Penne pasta is ideal, but you can use your favorite variety.
Red onion, carrot, red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and broccoli florets add color, texture, and nutrition to this sumptuous, silky pasta dish.
10. Gluten-Free Pasta With Balsamic Reduction Sauce by Fork and Beans
Brown rice pasta makes this one of the better gluten-free, vegan pasta recipes, and the unique sauce offers something different than creamy or tomato sauces. You can use any pasta you want if you don’t need to avoid gluten.
To make this recipe, saute cauliflower and asparagus with mushrooms, then saute garlic and cherry tomatoes for a few moments.
The addition of balsamic vinegar gets caramelized in the pan. It makes a rich sauce that’s less acidic than straight vinegar and thick enough to coat the pasta and veggies.
11. Creamy Tomato Vegan Pasta by Fit Foodie Finds
Garlic, roasted tomatoes, and soaked cashews almost guarantee that this will be one of your new favorite, easy vegan pasta recipes.
The recipe calls for roasting onion, garlic, and tomatoes while boiling the pasta. Then the veggies get blended with the cashews to make a creamy, bright-tasting sauce for tossing the pasta. It’s easy enough for a weeknight and delicious enough for guests.
12. The Best Vegan Lasagna by Nora Cooks
This recipe combines the convenience of store-bought marinara with the richness of homemade vegan mozzarella and tofu ricotta. This version is one of the best vegan pasta recipes and one that’s less complicated to make than some other vegan lasagna versions.
Cashews, nutritional yeast, and tofu make the ricotta filling as satisfying as the real thing without the dairy. You can serve this lasagna to non-vegan friends and family and be prepared for them to ask for seconds.
13. Vegan Chili Pasta With Veggies by The Vegan 8
This macaroni dish has a creamy chili sauce seasoned with chili powder and the nutrition of healthy green vegetables like spinach and broccoli.
You’ll need to use homemade cashew milk instead of store-bought to get the sauce to thicken, but that only requires ½ cup of raw cashews soaked until soft and blended with 1.5 cups of water until smooth.
Making the cashew milk from scratch doesn’t take much extra time and is worth it for this delicious recipe.
14. Gluten-Free Vegan Buffalo Mac ‘n Cheese Balls by Keepin’ It Kind
If you’re in the mood for macaroni and cheese with a twist, try these buffalo mac ‘n cheese balls.
You’ll make the mac and cheese recipe linked in the instructions, then add sriracha, white wine vinegar, vegan butter, nutritional yeast, and bread crumbs with a few seasonings to form the mixture into balls.
After baking the balls, you can eat them with a fork or enjoy them as finger food. They’re especially delicious when dipped in vegan ranch sauce and make fun appetizers.
15. Creamy Vegan Harissa Pasta by Pick Up Limes
Jarred harissa sauce makes this one of the vegan pasta recipes you can whip up in no time. Onion, garlic, jarred roasted red peppers, canned tomato paste, and a vegan bouillon cube are basic ingredients in this pantry-friendly recipe.
Fresh spinach, frozen peas, seasonings, and pine nuts add even more delicious flavor to this spicy pasta dish.
16. Vegan Pasta alla Vodka by Bon Appetit
Your favorite short pasta gets a boost from a sauce made from tomato paste and whole peeled tomatoes with a quarter-cup of vodka. The vodka adds a kick of its own to enhance the already delicious taste of the tomatoes.
Raw cashews make it creamy, and since the tomatoes are canned, you can make this even when you don’t have fresh, ripe tomatoes on hand.
17. Baked Sweet Potato Mac & Cheese by the Whole Foods Plant Based Cooking Show
Some people think they have to give up rich and creamy mac and cheese when they go vegan. There’s no need to long for cheese or dairy products with vegan pasta recipes like this one.
Cooked sweet potatoes are mashed with plant milk, soy sauce, white wine vinegar, and nutritional yeast to make a creamy, cheesy tasting sauce. A parmesan-like topping of sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, and seasonings tops off this baked, comforting dish made from whole foods.
18. One-Pot Creamy Vegan Pasta by Taste of Home
Cashews, a can of diced tomatoes, and tomato paste make an easy, delicious pasta sauce seasoned with pantry staples like onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, cumin, and salt.
Vegan pasta recipes don’t get any easier than one-pot cooking, and this one cooks the noodles in the prepared sauce for easy clean-up and better pasta flavor.
19. Easy Butternut Squash Ravioli by Sweet Simple Vegan
Wonton wrappers (Nasoya makes a vegan brand) make quick work of these ravioli with healthy roasted butternut squash. The roasted squash and shallot blend with tofu and seasonings to make a nutritious and creamy ravioli filling.
No one will know you didn’t roll out your homemade pasta, and even non-vegans will love this sage-seasoned recipe that tastes like fall.
20. Easy Creamy Vegan Pasta by School Night Vegan
Vegan pasta recipes often use thickened plant milk, coconut milk, or blended cashews for a creamy sauce. This recipe uses blended canned cannellini beans and the liquid from the can to make the sauce.
Miso paste and white wine layer in the flavors to make this simple blended bean sauce something truly inspiring.
21. Garlic and Ginger Butter Ramen Noodles by Olives for Dinner
This recipe is like an extreme sports version of ramen noodles, with sambal oelek for a kick and soy curls to add protein and texture. Soy curls are merely cooked soybeans pulled, stretched, and dehydrated to create a terrific vegan meat replacement.
Along with ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, and additions like scallions and garlic, the ingredients in this recipe make a ramen noodle dish that kicks spicy Chinese take-out to the curb.
22. Creamy Pasta Pomodoro by Love & Lemons
The tangy tomato sauce in this recipe starts with finely diced canned tomatoes and becomes a rich and creamy sauce thanks to cashews. Pomodoro is Italian for tomato, but more than the name gives the recipe an Italian flair.
Oregano, thyme, zucchini, and leafy green vegetables like spinach, arugula, and basil offer Mediterranean flavors in a dish easy to make on a busy weeknight.
23. Vegan One Pot Pasta by From the Comfort of My Bowl
Most vegan pasta recipes can handle any pasta, but this recipe is especially delicious with casarecce. Rotini and any other short textured pasta also work well.
This recipe is even easier than some dishes that require making the sauce first to cook the pasta. You can throw almost all the ingredients, including the dry pasta, into the bowl and let it all cook together.
Broccoli, spinach, and coconut milk go in for the last few minutes of cooking to add fresh veggies and make a creamy sauce.
24. Vegan Pasta Primavera by Grateful Grazer
If you love a lot of veggies in your primavera vegan pasta recipes, this delectable dish is for you. Enjoy all the fresh flavors of spring with asparagus, snow peas, red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, shallot, garlic, and zucchini.
The beauty of a good recipe like this one is that you can mix and match the veggies in your kitchen and still have a delicious and satisfying meal.
25. No-Boil Broccoli Pasta Bake by Vegan Yack Attack
Are you tired of boiling pasta? Blend a sauce, saute some vegetables, and throw it into a baking dish with the dry pasta. You can put it in the oven and walk away while the pasta cooks in the sauce with no need for you to stand and stir.
This noodle casserole uses cashews for the creamy sauce and contains a can of chickpeas for protein and texture. Add broccoli cut fresh or thawed from a bag of frozen florets.
26. Adriana’s Fave 10-Minute Pasta by Oh She Glows
The entire prep time for this recipe involves boiling pasta. Once you’ve boiled and drained the noodles, toss in some pre-made marinara sauce, pre-made hummus, and some hemp hearts.
The hummus thickens the tomato sauce, and the hemp hearts add a lovely crunch. You can add peas, lentils, beans, and fresh greens to plump out the meal, but it’s delicious with basic ingredients.
27. BLT Mac & Cheeze by Post Punk Kitchen
If you miss the taste of bacon as a vegan, you’ll enjoy the eggplant bacon in this recipe flavored with soy sauce and liquid smoke. You can make the eggplant recipe on its own and enjoy it in other dishes and sandwiches, too.
The “cheezy” cashew sauce pulls together the macaroni, arugula, cherry tomatoes, and bacon eggplant for a classic BLT flavor. Dijon mustard makes the sauce even richer.
28. Roasted Cauliflower Alfredo by Hot for Food
Alfredo sauce is delicious and decadent, but try this roasted cauliflower recipe if you want something lighter.
Many vegan pasta recipes use a cashew sauce, but cauliflower with miso paste and tahini also makes a creamy pasta sauce that’s much lower in calories and fat. Roasting the cauliflower is an extra step, but the taste is worth it.
29. Cheese Linguine Pasta With Rosemary Garnish by Your Daily Vegan
Pre-packaged soy cheese or your favorite homemade version combined with vegan butter, oil, and garlic juice gets melted into a thick, hearty cheese sauce to coat your favorite linguine pasta.
You’ll enjoy even more flavor if you can find pre-seasoned noodles like the recommended spinach and chive pasta. Fresh rosemary is the crowning touch on this easy recipe.
30. 15-Minute Vegan Pad Thai by Delish Knowledge
There are hundreds of vegan pad Thai recipes to choose from, but this one comes together so quickly you can make it in the time it takes to get Thai food delivered.
A Thai sauce with peanut butter, soy sauce, and chili paste has an authentic taste, while tofu adds hearty protein and texture to the noodles.
31. Easy Vegan Baked Ziti by The Curious Chickpea
Traditional baked ziti contains ground sausage, sometimes with ground beef. This vegan version uses crumbled seitan sausage you can find in a grocery store to replicate the flavor without the cruelty.
A homemade vegan mozzarella sauce made with cashews, coconut oil, and apple cider vinegar gets cooked in a saucepan until the tapioca starch makes it stretch like real melted cheese.
32. Vegan Ragu by Lazy Cat Kitchen
This rich ragu uses porcini and oyster mushrooms for umami and a meaty flavor and texture. Red wine, pureed tomatoes, walnuts, and the spice combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cumin give this dish a bold taste.
Hearty dishes like this are great vegan pasta recipes to serve non-vegans who won’t miss the meat.
33. Pumpkin Mac and Cheese by Chocolate Covered Katie
Try this recipe if you want to make a vegan mac and cheese lower in fat than most cashew-based cheese sauce pasta dishes.
Pureed, canned pumpkin makes the sauce thick and creamy, and you can use nutritional yeast instead of purchased, pre-packaged vegan cheese to lower the fat even more. Roasted butternut squash works well in place of pumpkin, too.
34. Vegan Stuffed Shells With Spinach Ricotta by Holy Cow Vegan
Purchased vegan cheeses combined with homemade cashew spinach ricotta make this a cheesy, satisfying baked dish.
To make it a convenient dish, you can purchase most of its ingredients already prepared, like marinara sauce, cheese shreds, vegan parmesan, and vegetable stock. The spinach in the ricotta is frozen, so you don’t even need fresh veggies on hand to enjoy this meal.
35. Greek Pasta Salad by The Simple Veganista
In the mood for a cold pasta salad for a change of pace? Small pasta like elbow macaroni or rotini works best, and Kalamata olives add a familiar Greek flavor.
The fresh flavors of red bell pepper, cucumber, and grape tomatoes shine through the light dressing of olive oil, lemon, and seasonings. Or you can go oil-free by leaving out the oil entirely.
Easy Vegan Pasta Recipes, Final Thoughts
If you can’t eat gluten, any gluten-free noodles work in place of wheat pasta. And if a recipe you want to try calls for gluten-free noodles but you prefer regular, substitute wheat pasta in its place.
Comfort food often starts with noodles, and you don’t have to give up your favorites in a vegan lifestyle. Whether you like spaghetti, fettuccine, vegan ramen, or something else, these vegan pasta recipes can help fill out a meal plan and make it easier to stay meat and dairy-free.