I am often in the mood for a creamy comforting pasta, and this 10-Ingredient Creamy Vegan Pantry Pasta is the easiest option that actually tastes amazing.
It’s made with just pantry ingredients, is quick and simple to make, and is packed with flavor. It’s also easy to customize, so you can round it out with your favorite vegetable or protein.
This recipe is straightforward, but if you want a few cooking tips (including the proper way to dice an onion and peel garlic) or want to see me cooking in action, I’ve included the video down below.
If you love the sound of a pantry-friendly pasta, you should also try my 10-Ingredient Lentil Bolognese and my Italian White Bean and Pasta Stew!
And for even more pasta-recipes, check out my round-up of 30 amazing vegan pasta recipes right here!
Watch: How to make Creamy Pantry Pasta!
Why you’ll love this vegan pantry pasta
10 main ingredients. Okay, not counting water, oil, salt and pepper. But yeah, just 10 main ingredients, woohoo!
Pantry staples. And all those ingredients are pantry staples (i.e., you might already have all the required ingredients in your pantry).
Budget-friendly. In addition to being a pantry meal, it’s budget-friendly!
Weeknight-friendly. It takes 20ish minutes to make, from start to finish.
Comfort food heaven. It’s creamy, cheesy, and smoky, and incredibly indulgent. It tastes like a slightly smoky version of fettuccine Alfredo! It was inspired by my Creamy Mushroom Stroganoff, which is one of my most popular recipes, so you know it’s good!
Easy to customize. Feel free to make this your own meal. Toss in frozen peas at the end, pair with a side of roasted broccoli, bulk up with some beans or tofu or your favorite protein source. I personally love it with roasted broccoli or charred zucchini and smoked tofu.
Substitutions for this recipe
Gluten-free? Use gluten-free soy sauce (aka tamari), use gluten-free flour or cornstarch, and use gluten-free pasta.
Plant milk. Canned lite coconut milk is the most pantry-friendly option, but I typically use oat milk because I always have it on hand. Any creamy plant-based milk such as oat, coconut, cashew, or soy will work—just make sure it’s a plain / unsweetened variety.
No tahini? The tahini adds extra richness and creaminess, so you can omit it, though at least one reader subbed almond butter with delicious results.
No Dijon or coarse-grain mustard? Add a splash of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. The acidity at the end helps balance the creamy richness.
If you give this recipe a try, be sure to tag me on Instagram with your recreations and please rate and review the recipe below 🙂
Introducing
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
10-Ingredient Creamy Vegan Pantry Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 generous tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, for mild heat)
- 3/4 cup (180 mL) vegetable broth or water
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour*
- 3/4 cup (180 mL) canned “lite” coconut milk or unsweetened oat milk (ideally a creamy full-fat version)**
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 6 ounces (170g) linguine, fettuccine, or any pasta of choice (including gluten-free)
- Optional garnishes: chopped flat-leaf parsley or vegan parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente.
- Meanwhile, heat a deep sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onions and season with a pinch of kosher salt. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned around the edges. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes (if using), and stir to combine for 1 minute, until fragrant.
- While the onions are cooking, pour the vegetable broth (or water) into a measuring cup or bowl and add in the tamari or soy sauce and flour. Whisk to combine until all the flour is dissolved.
- Pour the vegetable broth-flour mixture into the onion-garlic mixture and whisk to combine, ensuring there are no flour clumps. It should thicken almost immediately. Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour in the coconut milk or oat milk, tahini, nutritional yeast, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes***, or until the sauce is thickened and very creamy, whisking occasionally.
- Stir in the Dijon mustard, and taste for seasonings, adding more salt as needed. Turn on the pan with the sauce to low heat and add the hot cooked pasta. Use tongs to toss the pasta until it's well coated in the sauce and it's all heated through. Garnish with parsley and/or vegan parm, if using.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this? Leave a rating below!
Really enjoyed this recipe! I added some miso and a can of white beans to the dish, I think sun dried tomatoes could also be a great additional ingredient . Will be making again!
Thanks for sharing, Claire!
I made this for my father who’s recently become interested in veganism! Super simple and adaptable recipe, I’ll definitely be adding it to my rotation. We added some mushrooms along with the onions and steamed broccoli at the end – the mushroom flavor in the sauce was divine!
Awesome, Rin! We hope he loved it! Thanks for sharing that with us 🙂
This is a stellar sauce. I added in delicata squash, which lapped it up and was so good. My husband is celiac and I used chickpea flour / besan – I find it works really well in these sorts of situations. I also added it to the onion mix before the broth, making a bit of a roux.
Thanks for sharing, Antonia! We’re so happy to hear you two are fans of the pasta!
This was soo good! Even my Husband liked it and he normally doesn’t like when I try new recipes ha ha!
Wonderful, Alisa! Thanks for giving the recipe a shot, we’re so happy your husband enjoyed the pasta!
This dish was a quick, awesome vegan go-to recipe. I added mushrooms and did not have vegetable stock or nutritional yeast, but it still ended up tasting good. I would recommend going very light on the red peppers.
Thanks for sharing, Mikayla!
Oh my, oh my!!!! This is a wonderful recipe. So flavorful and so easy to make, which is always a plus point. The whole family loved it and no one missed the non vegan Mac and cheese! I sautéed some chopped mushrooms which I added at the end! I am thinking about bringing this to potlucks as well. My husband asked me to take the serving bowl away from him before he finished the whole thing! Thanks Nisha. You never disappoint.
Awesome, Rosie. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
This has been part of my regular meal rotation for months now. It’s just the thing when you need a hearty, creamy pasta fix, and is so quick and simple to throw together.
Awesome, Nicole. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
I knew this had thyme in it from the video and cooking it previously but I can’t find it mentioned in the recipe apart from where it says ‘add garlic and thyme (if using)’ so maybe it’s been missed by accident from the ingredients list? Will refer to the video to find out how much I need to use 🙂 made this many times and it’s so tasty!!
From Nisha: “Sorry about that! The recipe originally had dried thyme, but upon further testing, I thought it added a floral flavor that felt off. I replaced the thyme with red pepper flakes for a subtle kick, as I think the flavors work better. But if you want to add the thyme back in, it was 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.”
Delicious! I added the Thyme, some fresh spinach and mushrooms that needed to be eaten.
Thanks for sharing, Jo!
Very good!!!! Super tasty. Really great base to add other veggies or even vegan ground substitute.
Only thing I did differently was instead of mixing the vegetable broth with the flour in a separate bowl, I just sprinkle the flour right in the pan with the cooked onions and garlic and cook out the flour a bit, then add the vegetable broth and soy/tamari. Less dishes and still thickens the sauce, and still delicious.
Thanks for sharing, Paulina! Glad the recipe was a hit!