Vegetarian Baked Spaghetti Recipe - Build Your Bite (2024)

FAQs

What is the one ingredient that makes spaghetti sauce so much better? ›

Nutmeg. Nutmeg is the key to boosting earthiness and adding a touch of nuttiness to your spaghetti sauce. Nutmeg also has a slightly sweet flavor, which we know goes great with acidic canned tomatoes. Overall, it accentuates the other ingredients in the sauce and adds complexity.

Quick and easy vegetable spaghetti with lots of veggies and a simple tomato sauce made completely from scratch. For vegan spaghetti, skip the cheese and serve with a little nutritional yeast scattered on top. The sauce can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

Stir in mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers, and zucchini; cook until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sausage and beef mixture to the pot, then stir in spinach, basil, garlic, thyme, oregano, sugar, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 to 5 minutes, then pour in tomatoes and stir well.

Great tomato flavor is all about balancing acidity and sweetness. Too much of either can leave you with asauce that tastes one-dimensional. Many sources recommend adding a pinch of baking soda to a sauce that's overly tart, which raises the pH and makes it less acidic.

SIMMER YOUR SAUCE AND NOODLES IN A PAN

A pan is the best method to combine noodles and sauce. Period. Not a giant pot, and certainly not the bowl you'll be serving in. Heating the pasta and sauce together in a skillet helps infuse the pasta with the flavor of the sauce, melding them together into a flavorful whole.

Toss in Olives or Capers

Briny ingredients like olives or capers are another way to brighten up your pasta sauce while also introducing texture and depth of flavor. Roughly chop a handful and stir them into your sauce while it's heating up on the stove.

If you do not have crushed or diced tomatoes, you can use tomato sauce and tomato paste instead. If using tomato paste, you will need to add 1 cup of water and allow the sauce to simmer. Worcestershire sauce – (Optional) Deepens the flavor of the sauce.

If you want to make a vegetarian version of this hidden vegetable pasta sauce, I suggest mincing an 8oz. container of mushrooms and sautéing them with the onions and garlic. The minced texture will mimic the ground meat and mushrooms have that umami flavor that is similar to ground meat.

Is veggie spaghetti better than regular spaghetti? ›

“If you're aiming for fewer carbohydrates and calories, try veggie pastas,” Thayer said. “They'll have slightly fewer or similar amounts of fiber and much less protein than traditional pasta, but they're a great alternative for anyone – especially for those with gluten sensitivities, wheat allergies or celiac disease.”

Substituting veggie pasta for traditional varieties can indeed provide a health benefit. It may not be as pronounced as swapping out your pasta entirely for a spaghetti squash, but the added benefit of not needing to take the time to prepare vegetables ahead of time is a definite win for pasta.

You may have heard of spaghetti squash: a yellow stringy squash that can look and taste like spaghetti when cooked. A good source of potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin A, spaghetti squashes serve as a nutritious and delicious replacement for traditional spaghetti.

Starting with good quality tomatoes and crushing them by hand offers great flavor and texture later on. The combination of butter and oil releases fat-soluble aromatics and gives the sauce a creamy texture. Slowly cooking the sauce in the oven creates rich caramelization without burning.

To incorporate anchovies into your sauce, chuck the canned or jarred fish into your pan as you begin to cook down your onions and garlic. This will give the anchovies ample time to dissolve and allow this ingredient to smoothly integrate into your silky sauce, per MyRecipes.

Once the pasta is in the sauce, add pasta water. This is the most vital step in the process. Starchy pasta water doesn't just help thin the sauce to the right consistency; it also helps it cling to the pasta better and emulsify with the fat and cheese you're going to be adding.