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
Absolutely scrumptious.
Your positive feedback is the best reward for our hard work. Thank you, Brianna!
Woohoo, we’re happy to hear it, Brianna!
Absolutely addictive! So easy and quick. Perfect for work lunches and it tastes better with age. Added some mushrooms and chopped up walnuts, and I may add some crispy tofu for protein next time. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing, Mel! Great to hear you’ve been enjoying the pasta :)
Great base recipe for me, I add vegan bacon bits, mushroom, shallots & peas. One of my favourite recipes and I love how fast it is to make.
We’re happy you love the recipe, Denise! I also love the addition of peas in this recipe. Vegan bacon bits, mushrooms and shallots sound lovely as well :)
This was so good and so satisfying. I tasted so decadent that it was hard to believe that it was healthy. My husband, a meat and potatoes guy, loved it too. He had two platefuls! I will be making this again!
Hi Ann, we’re so happy you two enjoyed it! Thanks for leaving a review :)
I have been WAITING for a good creamy vegan pasta. I love pasta and I finally felt the joy of having an excellent vegan pasta recipe around. This is better than good I will be making more recipes by rainbowplantlife. I love the combination of flavors this pasta brought out in the recipe. I don’t know if she went to cooking school or not but I am impressed with the accuracy and flavor profile in this recipe. Look forward to more recipes!
Thank you for such a wonderful review, Aria! It makes us happy to know you’re such a fan of the recipe and we can’t wait for you to try even more!
This was so good! I had full fat coconut milk, and only sweetened oat milk, so I just used a little extra vegetable broth to thin down the sauce and it was perfection. It passed the kid test too, win in my book! I served with some simple steam in the bag broccoli. Will make again!
We’re over the moon to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Beth. Thanks for your kind words!
First time making this last weekend and its another one of your recipes that I will continue to make!
I couldn’t get over how creamy it was with that “cheesey” taste!
I am making it today for my mum and my friend but this time I’m adding vegan “bacon” lardons to it along with strips of asparagus.
Also purchased jalepeno stuffed Olives to increase the heat a little more – no baby mouths here 😋
Jalapeño stuffed olives… I’m drooling at the thought, Laura! We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed the pantry pasta, thanks for the sweet review!
OMG decadent and warming, exactly what I felt like on a cold evening thank yoooou!
Thank you for your lovely comment, Emily! It makes us happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe.
This was super delicious! Will make it again. Thanks for sharing!😋
This was super good!! So creamy and delicious! Followed the directions exactly and used unsweetened soy milk. Yum!
We’re over the moon to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Sarah. Thanks for your kind words!
Fabulous!!! Made exactly as directed using penne pasta & added in left over baked broccoli(salt, pepper, olive oil), diced tofu & sliced portobello while sauce was simmering. Amazing!!
Thanks for sharing, Denise! That combo sounds lovely.
This turned out amazing! I doubled the recipe and used half full coconut milk and half unsweetened soy milk because thats what I had on hand. I added some fresh broccoli to the pasta 3 minutes before it was done cooking per a recommendation from another recipe of yours and everything was perfectly done. I had to cook the sauce a bit longer for it to thicken up since I used cornstarch instead of all purpose flour. My family loved it! I will definitely add this to our week night rotation.
We’re over the moon to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Heather. Thanks for your kind words!
Great dish but I did add some extra hot chilli for a bit more heat. Definite make again recipe.
Thanks for sharing that with us, Alison! So lovely to hear the pasta is a favorite :)
Was looking for a creamy pasta dish with a different flavor profile than what I usually make… this fit the bill perfectly! Used tri-color rotini. Omitted the red pepper flakes. Added yellow+orange bell pepper with the onion. Subbed Braggs liquid amino. No Dijon on hand. Mixed ground mustard+ACV+water for an alternate prepared mustard. Used full fat coconut milk but was satisfied with thickness so watering down was not necessary. Enjoyed paired with Curry/ Maple roasted cauliflower…. delicious!
Great to hear you enjoyed the pasta even with all of the modifications, C! Thanks for sharing :)
Great Pasta Dish
Hi Theresa, thank you so much for your kind review!
This sauce is so flavorful and sosososo easy!! It literally took me 8 minutes since I had to use both powdered garlic and onion and oh my goodness this did not disappoint. I had this with gnocchi and it was AMAZING.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Madeleine! It makes us happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe.
Really quick to make but not one of my favourites. I used oat milk and added mushrooms. If I made it again, I would try coconut milk but I think there are other pasta dishes on here that are much better!
Yummy! I was looking for a healthy recipe for pasta sauce with things I had in my pantry – I used unsweetened almond milk and Parmesan cheese instead of nutritional yeast. Easy and yummy! Thanks!
This was very good! I made it for my family and we all liked it. I absolutely love how quick and easy this recipe was and I already had all of the ingredients. I would definitely make it again & i think adding some veggies (especially mushrooms & spinach) would level this dish up a bit.
Hi Emily, mushrooms and spinach sound like a great addition! Thanks for taking the time to leave a kind review :)
Excellent and very flavorful!
I used whole wheat spaghetti and sautéed mushrooms, along with the onion and garlic.
Hi Rev, we’re so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for leaving a review :)