This comforting Lentil Bolognese is the ultimate healthy comfort food. It’s loaded with veggies and lentils and can be enjoyed on your favourite pasta, spaghetti squash, or even on its own!
A comforting vegetarian bolognese
This recipe for Lentil Bolognese is loaded with flavour, and is equally as delicious as a traditional bolognese sauce.
This is one of my top dinner recipes to make when I want a hearty and cozy pasta dish, along with my Vegan Taco Pasta and this Sun-Dried Tomato Spaghetti Squash.
You’ll need to devote a little more time to make this recipe, but what’s the rush anyway? Time is your friend when making a super-rich and flavourful bolognese sauce! And trust me, it’s SO worth it. Time is actually the secret ingredient that makes a bolognese taste so delicious. It allows all the flavours to really come out and creates a sauce that is just so damn good.
The good news is, since you’re going to have to open a bottle of red wine anyways for this recipe, you can put on some music, pour yourself a glass, and relax in the kitchen while you cook!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- This dish is the ultimate comfort food. Need I say more?
- It’s naturally vegan, gluten-free and high in protein so it’s a great dish that everyone can enjoy.
- The combinations of salty, sweet, and tangy give this sauce incredible flavour!
How to make a Lentil Bolognese
Pulse the veggies in a food processor then add them to a pan or pot to brown. Cook the veggies down for about 15 minutes stirring constantly to prevent them from burning.
Don’t rush this step and only cook them for a few minutes. You want them to really cook down and build flavour.
Next, add the red wine. And not just a splash, an entire 3/4 cup of red wine. Again, don’t skip this and use water or broth instead! Red wine is a key ingredient in baking this bolognese taste incredible. Let the wine cook off in the pot.
Now, add the lentils, crushed tomatoes and seasoning and let everything cook down. Give it about 20-30 minutes simmering on low. Or if you have the time, let it cook on low for up to an hour.
Then, use an emulsion blender (or regular blender) and pulse the mixture just slightly to break it down. Don’t over pulse it though! You want to make sure to have texture in your bolognese.
Serve up this bolognese on top of your favourite pasta, some spaghetti squash, zucchini noodles, rice, on its own, or however you like!
Tips for making this recipe perfectly
- Give the veggies time to brown in the pan. Don’t rush through this step and only cook them for 5 minutes! Browing the veggies builds flavour which is essential for a delicious vegetarian bolognese.
- Don’t replace the red wine in this recipe with water or broth. Red wine is also essential in this dish for making a super flavourful bolognese sauce. Any type of red wine will work.
- French lentils or beluga lentils work best in this recipe. Don’t substitute with red lentils.
- Make sure to remove the bay leaves before blending the sauce! Bay leaves are very tough and it will be unpleasant to eat little chunks of them.
- Only blend the sauce ever so slightly! Don’t go crazy and blend it up into a puree. You want the sauce to still have a nice chunky texture and be able to see some pieces of lentils in there.
- Store any leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge, or freeze leftovers.
More lentil recipes to try
If you tried this Lentil Bolognese or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more deliciousness!
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A delicious and Comforting Lentil Bolognese sauce that is vegetarian/vegan-friendly, gluten-free and packed with flavour!
Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 big carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 portobello mushroom
- 1 red pepper
- 2 tbsp avocado oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup red wine
- 2 cups cooked lentils (I use french lentils)
- 2 cups crushed tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 large handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- pasta, spaghetti squash, rice…etc. for serving
Instructions
- Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, mushroom, and pepper to a food processor and chop into small bits.
- Heat the oil in a pan on medium-high heat and add in the chopped vegetables and salt.
- Brown the vegetables in the pan for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. (Do not skip this step! Browing the vegetables is where all the flavour happens!)
- Once the vegetables are browned, add in the wine. Cook on medium heat until the wine evaporates.
- Next, add in the lentils, and crushed tomatoes, and the rest of the ingredients (except the pasta) and mix together until well combined.
- Lower the heat to low, add in the water and let cook down for another 20 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaves and slightly pulse the sauce with an emulsion blender.
- Serve over your favorite spaghetti or pasta.
Notes
Don’t replace the red wine in this recipe with water or broth. Red wine is essential for a delicious and flavourful bolognese! French lentils or beluga lentils work best in this recipe. Don’t forget to remove the bay leaves before pulsing the sauce! You don’t want to end up with little chunks of bay leaves mixed in. Only blend the sauce slightly. You don’t want to end up with a puree. You should still have texture and be able to see the lentils in the sauce.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
- Calories: 240
- Sugar: 8g
- Sodium: 370mg
- Fat: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Fiber: 14g
- Protein: 11g
Keywords: vegetarian bolognese, vegan bolognese, healthy bolognese
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Such a great recipe! My mum was sceptic about this recipe but once it was done she really-really enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for sharing!
★★★★★
Thank you! So happy you both enjoyed!
Absolutely incredible! Even though it worked out for like 10 servings or more, it´s super duper yummy! The good thing is that this recipe actually works, it´s easy to cook when you follow it.
★★★★★
Thank you Tyna, so happy you loved this recipe 🙂
This was a great recipe because there was minimal chopping involved haha. My 9 year old approved so that means it’s a hit. I’d use less parsley just cause I’m not a fan I guess maybe it was just cause we used flat leaf. But it was DELICIOUS AND EASY.
★★★★★
Thank you Jean! Happy to hear this recipe is 9 year old approved! 🙂
My partner and I are doing a Standard Process 21-day purification cleanse, and this recipe was an amazing addition to our program (ok, we’re not supposed to have sugar or alcohol, but they weren’t in large quantities). We ate it over zucchini noodles, and it felt like a tremendous cheat! I accidentally overblended just the onion and garlic, and I think it might have been fortuitous flavorwise – plus my partner isn’t a fan of chunky onions anyway. Thanks for the delish dish.
★★★★★
Your welcome Stacey! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
This recipe is SO flavorful, I didn’t have mushrooms so I did more carrots and it turned out perfect! There was a lot left over too and this will now be a goto for meal prepping!
★★★★★
Thanks for the review Lindsey! Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
This was an amazing meal! My family loved it, and the little one cleaned her plate…which is rare! This will definitely be on rotation in our home.
★★★★★
Thank you so much Kyla, glad you and your family enjoyed it! 🙂
Delicious sauce!! Easy and a good excuse to drink some wine while you cook!
★★★★★
Thank you so much Hailey!
taste amazing. for those that say it is “watery” did you let it simmer for 20 minutes like the recipe says?
★★★★★
Thanks for the review Tim! and yes the recipe should definitely not be watery at all, if anything it is quite thick and sometimes I add even more water to loosen it back up! Letting it simmer,with the cover off will make all the liquid in the sauce evaporate
My husband and I are obsessed with this recipe. I have been sharing it with everyone turning this time of needing both comfort food but also maintaining health, Love everything that she creates!
★★★★★
So happy you both enjoyed the recipe Courtney!
I’ve been eating the leftovers from this meal for 2 days now and I swear it ages like fine wine. The flavors really marinate well. I grew up eating spaghetti with pasta sauce, diced veggies, and ground turkey and I can say with certainty that this recipe taste better! I love that it is guilt free and so filling! My grandmother told me she’d never eaten lentils until 2 years ago when I introduced her to them and this recipe is now probably my favorite lentil recipe to date. I did tweak it a tiny bit by adding a little bit of jarred pasta sauce, about 2 or 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, an extra tablespoon of lemon and I did not have peppers (though I suspect that would make it even better!). Thank you for a great recipe, Jess. I’m a new mom who fell off of the vegan train, but I love finds like this that remind me how great vegan meals are. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes! Maybe look to satisfy sweet tooth next? I’ve yet to make a delicious vegan cake if you’ve got one? Thanks again!
★★★★★
Hi Simone, thank you for your comment and review! I’m so happy to hear you loved this recipe! It’s definitely one of my favourite lentil recipes. I have plenty of desserts on the blog you may enjoy. Including some raw vegan cakes and some vegan donuts which are just delicious!
Hey! This bolognese looks sooo delicious!! I really want to try it but I don’t really like celery, can I replace it with some other vegetable? Thanks!
Hi Mariana, you don’t taste the celery in the recipe but if you prefer you can just leave it out!
When do you add the lemon juice?
Hi Bri, you add the lemon juice with the rest of the seasoning
What do I do with the parsley? What do I do with the lemon juice?
Hi Derek, you add it in with the rest of the seasoning to the bolognese
Do I cook the lentils first
Hi Lyn-ann, yes you do. it is listed to used cooked lentils in the recipe 🙂
Just made today with Spanish pardina lentils, it really surprised me in good way. I’m trying to find ways for my daughter to get more iron, this is definitely going into my recipe rotation.
Such a great idea for your daughter, I’m glad you loved them! Thanks for the review Paula 😊
This was great! I omitted the sugar because I really am not a fan of sweet, and it turned out awesome! It was still a little sweet for my taste, I think I probably used a sweeter wine. So next time I’ll go with a drier red. But it was still really good! I used green pardina (Spanish) lentils and they held their shape well. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Hi Jerome, happy you liked the recipe!
Made tonight and overall not bad. I found it tasted too sweet for my preference. Would you suggest omitting the brown sugar to get rid of the sweetness? Any suggestions to reduce the sweet taste would be appreciated. I think this would be perfect once I can neutralize that aspect.
Hi Christina, you can omit the brown sugar and try a different brand of tomatoes. some canned tomatoes are sweeter than others
The recipe called for both lemon and brown sugar but instructions didn’t mention where to use it. Bummer to buy those things to not know when to use. Are they considered seasoning?
★★★★
Hi Kiley, the lemon and sugar are part of the seasoning for the sauce and are added into the sauce in step #5!
This recipe was great! I didn’t use sugar though and added a couple of tablesppons of nutritional yeast and crushed red pepper. So yummy! I will definitely make it again!
★★★★★
Nutritional yeast is such a great addition! I’m glad you loved it, Dulce! 🙂
Made this tonight and it was a hit with all 3 kids. Definitely will make it again.
★★★★
Thanks for the review Allison! So happy to hear this recipe is a hit with kids!
Really nice, I added a mild chilli and had it with Spaghetti Squash, which I grew in my garden
★★★★★
Thanks for the review Janice! Glad you enjoyed the recipe. It’s great on spaghetti squash 🙂
Can I freeze this recipe? I want to batch cook…
★★★★★
Hi Claire, yes you can! 🙂
The macros, micros, and fiber content look amazing. I am so excited to test this out.
Thanks Autumn! Hope you enjoy!
AMAZING. Also tastes great under soft scrambled eggs for breakfast. Bonus points if you add white cheddar (for my non vegans) 🧀
★★★★★
Hi CJ, thank you for the review! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Loved it!
★★★★★
I’ve got this recipe simmering as we speak. It smells great and will be nice way to get the kids to eat more veggies!
Hi Myriam, yum! I hope you and your kids enjoy the recipe!
It looks delicious ! As the years go by, I cannot stand vegetarian food that tastes too much meat food (I’ve been a vegetarian for almost 20 years), I’ve tried other recipes with TSP and don’t really them but never tried with lentils so far and I love lentils, so pinned to try it soon ! 🙂
Hi Maeva!
I totally understand. I don’t really cook much with “fake meats.” I definitely prefer the natural textures and flavors of the lentils and mushrooms in this recipe. I hope you like it too!
This lentil bolognese looks incredible and I love that you used sprouted lentils. Wonderful recipe, Jess 🙂
Thanks Ela! I actually just ate some more for dinner this evening! Expect tonight I had it over quinoa 🙂