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!
I finally made this tonight. Wow! Absolutely delicious! I added a little red pepper flake and some toasted pumpkin seeds as a topper. Didn’t use lime juice but would’ve been a great addition. Thank you for your amazing recipes! 💕
Thanks for sharing, Ann! We’re thrilled you love the pasta!
This dish is in our regular rotation, we sometimes substitude the oat milk for vegan cooking cream. It’s equally delicious! 😋
Yum, Ivana! Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely delicious 😋 ! I made this yesterday and my taste buds did the happy dance. I used corn starch and whole grain pasta and followed your instructions to the letter. I had all the ingredients in my pantry other than the low sodium soy sauce! This is a winner! One of the best I’ve had since I started eating vegan . Thank you so much for sharing, you and your skills are greatly appreciated 💜
Clare, So glad to hear you loved this recipe! Thanks for the lovely review!
This is the recipe that I adore to make after work when I am tired and hungry. Perfect for cold weather which is almost all year round where I live 😀 Delicious and simple, low effort dinner :)) Thank you for the recipe!
JP, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
Do you think this would still be good without the soy sauce? Or anyway I could substitute it? I’m allergic to soy.
Thanks!
Hi Shivani, you could use coconut aminos instead which are soy free 🙂
Delicious. I found that the tamari/soy sauce wasn’t quite enough liquid to get a a good consistency paste before mixing in, so next time, I’d use some of the water the recipe calls for. I used full fat coconut milk and it was great. Excellent recipe. I’ll for sure make this again.
Thank you for your feedback Brian, glad you enjoyed the pasta!
Oh, holy $#!@ this was good. I followed the recipe as stated … with one small addition. I added a handful of spinach at the end to appease that little voice in my head that said to eat my veggies. Thank you for such a yummy meal.
Sorry. Forgot to hit the 5-stars. 😀
Awesome, Curtis. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Great recipe. I was annoyed because I left my garlic in the shopping trolley. I made it without, and it still tasted great.
Great, Melinda! We are happy the pasta turned out great despite it not having garlic.
So good!! Added some lentils for extra protein and some kale that would have gone bad if I didn’t use it today. The sauce is soooooo creamy and delicious. Thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed the pasta, John! And thanks for sharing your additions!
it’s great that you write recipes for single or 2 servings, but i have to tell you – most pasta is sold by the pound (16 oz), and it’s annoying to have to scale up.
i love you. just saying.
Hi Carolyn,
If you hit the Print button on the recipe card, you can actually adjust the serving size yourself (which will adjust all the ingredient amounts as well). Hope this helps!