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 :)
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.
Notes
Another great recipe Nisha!
Thanks so much, Kim!
So delicious! I added tofu for extra protein, and swapped raw almond butter for the tahini. Also delicious with more veggies like bell peppers, spinach, and mushrooms! Will make this again and again!
Awesome. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Nisha your recipes are the best <3 This pasta is so delicious! I forgot to add coconut milk but added smoked tofu and it taste like vegan carbonara
Literally the best pasta I have ever tried in my 14 years of living. This pasta is SUPER easy to make even though it has 10 ingredients. I have already made 4 batches of this pasta in 3 days. This pasta is deliciously smoky yet is super ‘cheesy’ because of the nutritional yeast. Also, the name of this pasta is really NOT a stretch…this pasta is soooooooooooooooo creamy it’s unbelievable. Thanks so much for the recipe, Nisha!
P.S. I’ve been binge-watching Nisha on a youtube for a week now and I have done her buffalo chicken quesadillas, her breakfast burritos, her brownies, her cashew cream sauce and of course her creamy vegan pasta.
P.P.S Love ya Nisha!
I tripled this recipe because I wanted to make it with a full box of pasta and it came out delicious! My only changes were that I used Italian seasoning instead of thyme, I used almond milk (the only milk I had at home), I used a creole spice blend that had paprika in it (I was out of plain paprika), and I added some peas to the pasta. Whisking the flour/broth mixture before adding it is such a good tip; I almost always have trouble with clumping flour in recipes and there was no clumps with this! I’ll definitely repeat this recipe. It came out great, and it’s helpful to have a recipe with ingredients I most likely already have at home!
This was really good easy to make! I jazzed it up with grape tomatoes and fresh sage/rosemary and some lemon juice for brightness. It would also be amazing with vegan chckn and spinach in it. Very rich umsmi taste
Sounds delicious, Lizzy. Thanks for your feedback and for trying this recipe!
I love this recipe. It’s in my weekly routine. Sometimes I add more nooch to make it more “cheesy,” veg additions (just add a little pasta water as stated in the recipe), and/or plant based meat if you’re wanting a more “heartier” dish . It’s super customizable and I never have leftovers.
DELICIOUS! Wow, so creamy and tasty. Love this recipe.
Very delicious and creamy. It’s correctly named! It’s nice to have something vegan for once.(:
Made this for my 16 year old grandson and he loved it! Very flavorful and a quick week night meal.
I make this so much now! It’s so easy and delicious. I add a 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes for a little spice!
Very good, it feels like a low-key version of your mushroom stroganoff, and it was simple to make for lunch. I will probably omit the thyme next time, because the herby flavor wasn’t my favorite, but the texture and the subtler umami flavors were spot on.
Wow wow wow!! A lovely recipe that’s simple and quickly prepared, with just the right spices and sooooo creamy *-* Thank you for this amazing recipe! <3
I made this pasta for my non-vegan family and they absolutely loved it! I recommend sprinkling some nutritional yeast on top for some added cheesiness :)
I love a lot of recipes that you create but this was not quite our taste. I am not sure why, the flavours came out really strong and did not work well together for us.
Mad this for the fam they loved it said it tasted like”heaven” and was “da bomb” so great!
Was okay, much too salty though. My husband said it reminded him of hamburger helper which I thought was a fair comparison. Probably wouldn’t make it again, but it was okay, especially if you like hamburger helper type of flavour.
So easy, simple and delicious! Saved me on a low-grocery, parenting solo night! And my toddler loved it! I love that it’s a great base recipe and can be customized. I added sun-dried tomatoes for my daughter and spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, vegan parm, hot sauce and red pepper flakes for myself. Will definitely make again and I look forward to trying more vegetable combinations and possibly mushrooms as well!!
Needed a last minute simple meal for the family and this was a savory and tasty meal! Thank you!
Thank you for this recipe! It’s a favourite in our household :)