This thick and easy Lentil Quinoa Bolognese Sauce is just what you need for dinner on a chilly evening. Add in some carrots, kale, some Italian herbs, a little red wine or balsamic vinegar, serve over pasta or zoodles, and poof – you’ve got an amazing meal!
I wanted to re-introduce you to The Great Vegan Bean Book, which is one of my favorite books. I loved writing it because I got to play around with dozens of different types of beans. Each recipe starts with a common bean, like the humble lentil in this Lentil Quinoa Bolognese.
If you try out my favorite one, Beluga lentils, it will cook up a little faster. I also like the way the smaller lentil looks in the sauce. It’s the kind used in these beautiful photos by Renee Comet.
Not only does this hearty pasta sauce make your meal, it even sneaks some greens into any picky eaters you might have in the house!
More Bean Recipes to Try
- Instant Pot Vegan Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya
- Slow Cooker Lentil Quinoa Taco Filling
- Bean Queso From The Great Vegan Bean Book
Lentil Quinoa Bolognese Sauce
These thick and hearty pasta sauce is from The Great Vegan Bean Book.It makes about 8 servings, but go ahead and make the whole batch and freeze the leftovers for later.
Ingredients
- 1 cup 192 g lentils (green, brown, or beluga)
- 3 medium carrots, peeled if not organic, each cut into 4 large pieces
- 1-2 cups 235 to 475 ml water
- 2 tablespoons 28 ml olive oil
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 can, 20 ounces, or 560 g crushed tomatoes, or 3 cups (750 g) homemade puree plus 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 1/2 t. dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon 2 g dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or crushed dried chilies, optional
- 1 small bunch kale, stems removed and torn into small pieces (about 3 cups [201 g]) (optional)
- 1/2 cup 87 g quinoa, rinsed well
- 1/2 cup 120 ml red wine or 2 tablespoons (28 ml) balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Cooked pasta, for serving (use GF pasta for a GF meal)
Instructions
- Add the lentils, carrots, and water to a large soup pot. Turn the heat to high, cook until the mixture is simmering, and then decrease to low and cover. Cook until the lentils are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
- While the lentils cook, heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Then add the bell pepper and garlic and saute for 1 minute more.
- Once the carrots and lentils are cooked remove the carrots from the pot of lentils and add them to a food processor or blender along with the tomatoes, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, kale, and sauteed veggies, and puree until smooth.
- At the same time, add the quinoa and red wine to the pot of lentils. Turn the heat to medium, cook until it starts to simmer again, and then cover and decrease the heat to low. Cook until the quinoa start to show their white tails.
- Add the puree to the lentil-quinoa mixture and cook, covered, over low heat until the sauce melds and heats thoroughly, about 20 minutes.
Nutrition Information
Amount Per Serving Calories 188Saturated Fat 1gSodium 340mgCarbohydrates 30gFiber 5gSugar 5gProtein 8g
Mary Worrell says
This recipe looks great! I have the bean book, but it’s nice to be reminded of a good recipe. I also have your slow cooker book and I’m wondering how I might adapt this one for the slow cooker. Any ideas?
Kathy Hester says
You could put everything except for the greens, salt and pepper into the slow cooker and cook 7 to 9 hours. The quinoa will cook very soft, but I think it would be fine.
Add the greens about 20 minutes before serving and add salt and pepper before serving.
I would still saute onions first, but you could do it w/out that step in you’re in a hurry.
Victoria Buldak says
Have you tried making this as a slow cooker sauce by dumping everything in at once and not pureeing the tomatoes, carrots etc. then tossing in the kale a 1/2 hour before serving? If yes, how did it go?
Kathy Hester says
I have only made it like the recipe states.
debbie grimmer says
I love this cookbook. The Lentil Quinoa Bolognese is absolutely my favorite. My non vegan adult grandson praises this sauce and comes always comes back for seconds and thirds.
Chris says
This looks and sounds so good I think I would eat it like a chili or soup – found out late in life that eating pasta is about like eating sugar – it raises my blood sugar too much.
Kathy Hester says
You could use zoodles.