Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce

This creamy and easy hidden veggie pasta sauce is the pasta sauce everyone needs to try. The kids and adults would never know that there are 5-6 hidden veggies in here that you would never be able to taste. This sauce is silky and smooth and if you don’t like adding vegetables to your meals, this pasta sauce will change your mind. There are many reasons why kids and adults don’t like eating vegetables and it all comes down to the texture for me. This recipe is for anyone looking to incorporate more vegetables into their diet without the overwhelming taste or texture. My motto is; if they don’t ask, simply don’t tell. If your loved ones are picky eaters, serve them this pasta dish without them knowing what’s in it and let me know if they even noticed or not. I served this to Steve, and he had no clue what was in this sauce. Once I told him, he was shocked. He said that this was one of the tastiest pasta sauces he has tried and would enjoy a bowl any time of day. This recipe is perfect for back-to-school, and I promise you, everyone will be blown away.

Hidden veggie pasta sauce by the modern nonna hidden veggie pasta sauce

Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce

Themodernnonnathemodernnonna
This recipe is for anyone looking to incorporate more vegetables into their diet without the overwhelming taste or texture.
This recipe is perfect for back-to-school, and I promise you, everyone will be blown away.
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 diced onion
  • 2 diced celery ribs
  • 2 peeled diced carrots
  • 1 diced red bell pepper
  • 1 large, diced zucchini
  • 3 minced garlic cloves
  • salt to taste
  • 1.5 cups of tomato sauce any you like, mine has tomatoes, salt, and basil in it
  • boiled pasta of choice I boiled 300 grams of rigatoni which was about 4 cups

Instructions
 

  • Add the olive oil to a large pan with high sides or to a big pot on the stove. Add all the chopped veggies and sauté everything until translucent for about 10 minutes.
  • Season with salt to taste and make sure the heat is on medium-low.
  • Stir in the garlic and add the tomato sauce. Reduce the heat to low, partially cover it with a lid leaving a small opening on the side, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.
  • Once it has simmered, take it off the heat and add all the veggies to a blender. Blend until smooth for about 1-2 minutes on high speed.
  • In the meantime, boil your pasta of choice in boiling salted water until al-dente. I used half of my sauce and added the cooked pasta to it with a touch of the pasta water.
  • Garnish with parm and enjoy. I reserved the remaining sauce for the week but you can use it all up if you are a family of 4 or 5 as this recipe makes a lot of sauce.

Notes

  • Please note that the vegetables should be chopped small but all the same size so that they cook evenly. You don’t have to precise as everything will get blended at the end regardless.
 
  • Feel free to use passata or your favourite tomato sauce. Since we make hundreds of jars of tomato sauce every year, I am not able to share a recipe for ours but feel free to use a good quality sauce like Rao’s. I used half of my pasta sauce and saved the other half as there was only the two of us eating.
 
  • You can also make a big batch and freeze this pasta sauce as it will last you for months. You can even freeze it into small portions into a small Ziplock bag too. When boiling your pasta be sure to boil the water and season generously with salt as it’s your only chance to flavour the pasta.
 
  • You are more than welcome to add a splash of heavy cream or coconut cream at the very end if you want a more luxurious and silky sauce. If you are taking this meal for work or sending it for the kids at school, you can boil the pasta in the morning, coat it with the sauce and pop it in a thermos. A trick to keeping the thermos warm is to add boiling hot water to your thermos and dump it out before you add the pasta in so that it ensures the thermos stays hot for longer.
 
  • If you don’t feel like eating this with pasta you can also add a touch of veggie broth as you will be left with the most delicious and creamy veggie soup. Please let me know how you liked this recipe in the comments or let me know what you did differently.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
If you love one of my recipes, please leave a review. It would mean so much to me if you did. Thank you for being here and bringing me into your kitchen.

4 Responses

  1. Just made this recipe and I can’t tell you how much my husband and I are enjoying it (he’s licking his plate). Such a delicious, easy and healthy recipe!!!! Thank you so much for sharing it

  2. 5 stars
    I’ve been making this recipe since it hit the website. It’s made so often in our house now. Super simple & it’s packed full of veg that we wouldn’t normally like to each on their own. Great way to up the veggie intake 🙂 very impressed!

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