Vegetarian Mushroom Bolognese

This vegetarian mushroom bolognese gets its meaty texture from a pound and a half of finely chopped cremini mushrooms, browned until their moisture is gone and they turn deep brown. Onion, carrot, and celery, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and a tablespoon of soy sauce build a thick, savory sauce in about 45 minutes, and it’s tossed with tagliatelle and finished with a vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese. It serves 6 and contains no meat or meat broth.

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A Meatless Bolognese That Still Feels Hearty

A classic Bolognese ragù from Italy is a slow-cooked meat sauce, so this isn’t one, and it doesn’t claim to be. It borrows the structure: a finely chopped soffritto of onion, carrot, and celery, browned tomato paste, a thick sauce rather than a loose marinara, and wide ribbon pasta to carry it. The mushrooms do the job the meat would. Chopped small and cooked hard, they turn chewy and savory, and the soy sauce and a little smoked paprika deepen that savory, slightly smoky note without any meat.

Ingredient Notes

Measurements are in the recipe card at the end. These ingredients shape the sauce.

• Cremini mushrooms: Also sold as baby bella. Wipe them clean rather than rinsing, then chop them into pieces about 1/4 inch across. A food processor does it in a few pulses; work in batches and stop before they turn to paste. Hand-chopping takes longer but gives the same result.
• Soy sauce: One tablespoon adds savory depth, not a soy flavor. It also brings roughly 900 milligrams of sodium, which is why the recipe calls for only 1/2 teaspoon of salt at first. Use tamari if you need it gluten-free.
• Crushed tomatoes and broth: A 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes is thick from the start. Half a cup of low-sodium vegetable broth gives the sauce enough liquid to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, which melds the flavors without scorching the bottom.
• Dried herbs: Basil leads, with smaller amounts of oregano and thyme. Too much oregano pushes the sauce toward pizza sauce.
• The cheese: True Parmigiano Reggiano must be made with animal rennet, so it isn’t vegetarian. For a fully vegetarian dish, buy a hard Italian-style cheese labeled vegetarian or made with microbial or vegetable rennet; many domestic parmesan-style cheeses qualify, so check the label. If vegetarian rennet doesn’t matter to you, regular Parmesan works the same way.
• Tagliatelle: Dried egg tagliatelle is sold in nests. The wide, flat ribbons hold a chunky sauce well. It contains egg, so the dish is vegetarian, not vegan.

How to Make Mushroom Bolognese

1. Chop the mushrooms finely

Pulse the mushrooms in a food processor in two or three batches, 6 to 8 short pulses each, until the pieces are about the size of lentils, with a few larger bits. Finely chop the onion, carrot, and celery the same way or by hand.

2. Brown the mushrooms until dry

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil in a 12-inch straight-sided sauté pan or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of the salt. They’ll release a lot of liquid at first. Keep cooking, stirring every minute or so, until that liquid is gone, the pan sizzles again, and the mushrooms are browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Don’t rush it; mushrooms that are still wet will make the sauce taste steamed and watery.

3. Add the soffritto, garlic, and paste

Push the mushrooms aside, add the remaining oil, and cook the onion, carrot, and celery for 6 to 7 minutes, until soft. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, herbs, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes, if using, and cook for 2 minutes, until the paste darkens and starts to stick to the pan.

4. Simmer uncovered until thick

Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, and soy sauce and scrape the bottom of the pan. Simmer uncovered over medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then. The sauce is ready when it’s thick enough to mound on a spoon and you can see a line on the side of the pan where it started. Stir in the butter, if using, for a rounder, silkier finish. Taste, and add salt if it needs it.

5. Toss with the pasta

While the sauce simmers, cook the tagliatelle 1 minute short of the package time, scoop out 1 cup of the cooking water, and drain. Add the pasta to the sauce with about 1/4 cup of the water and toss over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sauce clings to the ribbons. Add more water if it looks tight. Off the heat, toss in half the cheese and the parsley, and serve with the rest of the cheese.

Tips for a Rich, Not Watery, Sauce

• Watery sauce: The mushrooms went in with the tomatoes before their liquid had cooked off. Brown them until the pan is dry, even if it takes 15 minutes.
• Mushy texture: The mushrooms were processed to a paste. Pulse in small batches and stop while some pieces are still visible.
• Too salty: Soy sauce, broth, and cheese all add salt. Taste only after the sauce has reduced, then season.
• Too acidic: Some canned tomatoes are sharper than others. The optional butter rounds it out; a pinch of sugar also works.

Substitutions

• Mushrooms: Mix in some shiitake caps or white button mushrooms with the cremini, keeping the total at 1 1/2 pounds.
• Pasta: Pappardelle, fettuccine, or rigatoni all hold this sauce well.
• Vegan: Skip the butter, use egg-free pasta, and finish with olive oil and a vegan grated cheese or toasted breadcrumbs.
• Soy sauce: Tamari or coconut aminos work. Don’t use Worcestershire sauce unless the label says vegetarian; the standard kind contains anchovies.

What to Serve with It

A simple arugula salad, garlic bread, or roasted broccoli rounds it out. For more meatless cooking, try our vegetarian cowboy bean soup, our French lentil soup with potatoes, or the creamy pumpkin gnocchi. More ideas are in our dinner recipes.

Make Ahead

The sauce keeps and even improves overnight. Make it through step 4 up to 3 days ahead, cool, and refrigerate it. Reheat it gently with a splash of water while the pasta cooks, then toss as directed.

Storage, Reheating, and Freezing

• Refrigerate: Cool and refrigerate within 2 hours. The sauce alone keeps 4 to 5 days; sauced pasta keeps 3 to 4 days.
• Reheat: Warm the sauce in a saucepan over medium-low heat with a splash of water. Reheat sauced pasta in a skillet with a few tablespoons of water, or covered in the microwave, until hot (165°F).
• Freeze: Freeze the sauce without pasta for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat gently. Cooked tagliatelle doesn’t freeze well.

Mushroom Bolognese FAQ

Can I skip the soy sauce?

You can, but the sauce will taste flatter. Add 1/4 teaspoon more salt and an extra tablespoon of tomato paste, browned well, to make up some of the depth.

Why isn’t there red wine?

Many Bolognese-style sauces use wine. This one leaves it out so it’s alcohol-free and simpler. If you’d like to use it, add 1/2 cup dry red wine after the tomato paste and simmer until it’s nearly gone before adding the tomatoes.

How do I know the mushrooms are browned enough?

Listen and look. When the liquid has cooked off, the pan goes from a bubbling simmer to a sizzle, and the mushroom bits turn from gray to a deep, even brown, and a brown film starts to form on the bottom of the pan.

Recipe Card